Automobile Year - L'année Automobile - Auto-Jahr

Automobile Year was launched in 1953 by Ami Guichard, a young Swiss entrepreneur, who surrounded himself with the best authors and photographers – from Charles Faroux to Comte Lurani and Yves Debraine – and received the encouragement of Paul Frère, a journalist, engineer and pilot, who was a regular member of the editorial team.

From the outset, Automobile Year was published in English, French (Année Automobile) and German (Auto-Jahr). The publication forged an international reputation for excellence, thanks to the originality of the subjects it covered, the quality of the photographs and the high standard of the printing.

When Ami Guichard died in 1986, Jean-Rodolphe Piccard took over the publication of Automobile Year. He had joined the team in 1976 as Editorial Secretary, before working his way up to the position of Editor-in-Chief.

In January 2005, Automobile Year was taken over by Christian Philippsen, a longstanding car-lover. For four years, he carried on the work of his predecessors with enthusiasm.

Now the baton has passed to E-T-A-I, France’s leading publisher of fine books on automotive subjects, which had previously been the book’s distributor for many years.

Under the leadership of Serge Bellu, the editorial team is committed to preserving and reinvigorating the spirit of Automobile Year, so that this book remains the definitive reference work on the worldwide car market, the car industry, motorsport and the heroes of the world of motoring.

Current page is 2.5.1: history