thumb|Taxicab 1909
Unic was a French manufacturer founded in 1905, and active as an automobile producer until July 1938. The objective was to manufacture "unique" (rather than mainstream) vehicles, and at the start the company made only light cars and taxis with two-cylinder and four-cylinder engines.
The taxi business would remain important to Unic for more than three decades, while Rothschild's steady financial support through good times and bad, provided stability which sustained the business, critically during the immediate post-war years.
Growth and diversification
Although the manufacturer's initial range was restricted to light cars, their popularity as taxis led to the production of delivery vans and other small utility style vehicles. The 1943 cc 12 CV (9 kW) four-cylinder model (used mainly as a taxi) was extremely successful and survived in production for nearly 20 years. (The engine was enlarged later to 2120 cc.) During World War I, taxis made by the company participated in the Marne operation. After World War I, a new four-cylinder (1847 cc) was offered, along with the taxis.
First truck and founder's death
In 1922 the firm introduced a three-ton truck, called the Unic MSC, which marked the start of a switch towards production of larger commercial vehicles. 1922 was also the year when the founder of Unic, Georges Richard, died while awaiting transfer to a Paris clinic, following a motor accident en route to Rouen. All had four cylinder engines, although large 4-cylinder engines such as that fitted in the 16HP model were by now seen as rather old fashioned:
- Unic "Type L1T" 10 CV/HP: 4-cylinder 1843 cc: wheelbase
- Unic "Type L3T" 11 CV/HP: 4-cylinder 2000 cc: wheelbase
- Unic 16 CV/HP: 4-cylinder 3450 cc: wheelbase
Four years later, at the 22nd Paris Motor Show, only one of the two cars on show was fitted with a 4-cylinder engine. This was an evolution of the two-litre model exhibited in 1924, now branded as the Unic "Type L9", with a wheelbase and usually fitted with "Torpedo" or "Berline" (saloon/sedan) bodies. However, for the 1929 model year attention was now focused on the company's first 8-cylinder model. The new Unic 14 CV/HP "Type H1" featured a -litre straight-8 power unit and sat on a substantial wheelbase. It was priced at 55,000 francs in bare chassis form.
Passenger cars in the 1930s
thumb|Tour bus UNIC 1937 L20
The 8-cylinder Unic "Type H1" introduced in 1928 was progressively updated in accordance with the changing tastes of the time: by 1933 car had evolved into the Unic "Type H3" and the engine size had grown from litres to 2646 cc.
For the next few years the company focused on 4-cylinder cars in the 11 CV/HP tax band, just as they had through the mid-1920s.
The appeal of Unic passenger cars by this time derived not from technical brilliance nor from stunning originality. Those who appreciated the cars were impressed by excellent reliability resulting from a meticulous approach taken during the production process. Also admired were their elegant spacious bodies, most of which came from the coach builder Letourneur et Marchand or from their subsidiary, Autobineau. Unic cars by now were not being sold in large numbers and this was reflected in the price. At the 1937 Motor Show the standard steel-bodied Unic Type U-4 D with its 12CV engine was priced at 53,750 francs (or 35,500 francs in bare chassis form). while from the top end of the Citroën range a long wheel base "familiale" version of the Traction 11CV Longue could be had for 28,900 francs including the body, while prototype testing was already well under way of a 2867 cc (15/16CV) version of the aggressively priced and marketed Citroën Traction. Few customers in this class were willing to pay the price for the Unic's virtues of dependability, style and space, and Unic passenger car production ceased in July 1938.