Type 57 engine

Berliet VL 16 CV
Car : Berliet VL 16 CV
Year : 1921
Engine : 4 cylinders in line
Bore and stroke : 90×130 mm
Cylinder capacity : 3308 cc
Gears : 3 forward
Brake horse power :30
Maximum speed : 52 mph
Wheelbase : 10 ft 3 ins (3.07 m)
Suspension : front: semi-elliptic leaf- springs ; rear : cantilever leaf- springs
At the end of the nineteenth century until 1930 Berliet was best known as a French car maker, but is nowadays known as a heavy vehicle manufacturer. Unlike many other manufacturers at that time, Berliet used to make his own engines rather than buy the finished product from one of the many specialist firms.
The 16 CV bore some resemblance and in technical features (a side valve engine, the lubrication system, the 3-speed transmission, the 12-volt electrical system, the rear cantilever leaf-spring suspension, the fixed wheel discs and the detachable rims). When it appeared in 1921, the 16 CV cost 9,500 francs.

Marcius Berliet, the founder, had ambitious aims. His experience as a military supplier during the First World War, when he had succeeded in deliverting 40 trucks and 40,000 bullets a day to the army, encouraged him to try to produce 100 cars a day.
A stream of models followed until 1939, the year in which a 2-litre car the Dauphine, with independent front suspension and synchromesh transmission entered production. After 1945 Berliet took over Rochet-Schneider and concentrated exclusively on trucks. In 1964 it was absorbed by Citroën-Michelin and, ultimately, by Renault.