| Tuar (Garage Moderne) | |
| Foundation: | 1913 |
| Defunct: | 1925 (end of auto-production) |
| Location City: | Thouars |
| Location Country: | France |
| Key People: | Adrien Morin (1880–1968) |
| Industry: | Automobile repairs (1913–1956) Automobile production (1913–1925) |
| Products: | Automobiles |
The Tuar was a short-lived French automobile.
Adrien Morin was born at Brion-près-Thouet on 8 May 1880. the son of a successful local lawyer. Initially Morin followed his father into the law, but he was seduced into a career switch by the lure of the new and rapidly expanding automobile industry then growing up around the Paris hub.[1] He gained experience in the automobile sector, working successively for Vinot & Deguingand, Decauville and Cornilleau & Sainte-Beuve.[2] In 1913 he returned to western France and established the Garage Moderne, an automobile repair business, at Thouars, some 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the village where he had been born.[1] He also started producing light cars, using bought-in components, and powered by Chapuis-Dornier engines.[2] The cars carried the Tuar name, this being a phonetic spelling of the name of the small town where they were assembled.[1] The first of them was a "Torpedo" bodied car with an 8HP 1,726cc engine: it was registered on 15 January 1914 and sold by Morin to a local lawyer, who would have been one of his father's business rivals.[1]
Morin's automobile manufacturing business grew following the war to a point where in 1922 he was employing more than 50 people.[2] However, located in a small country town the manufacturer was isolated from the synergistic networks of expertise and suppliers available to automakers in the Paris hub, and Morin found himself out-competed. Production ended in 1925 by which time about 800 cars had been produced.[2] The Garage Moderne nevertheless continued in existence till 1956.[3]
During the war the factory was requisitioned for munitions production.[4]
Less than a year after peace broke out Tuar took at stand at the 15th Paris Motor Show in October 1919 and promoted a 10HP car designated as the "Tuar Type B2".[5] [6] The 10HP Tuar used a 1,790 cc 4-cylinder engine of unspecified provenance.[5]
The list of engines fitted in Tuar cars during the next few years is a long one. It included 4-cylinder engines of 1244cc, 1327cc 1495cc, 1503cc, 160acc, 1821cc.[2] Although the company's leading engine supplier was Chapuis-Dornier they were also fitting 4-cylinder units from CIME, Fivet and Ruby.[2] A 6-cylinder 1496cc engine from CIME also featured.[2]