Our bank branches: witnessing the history of the car

Rue du Quatre Septembre, Paris, and the CNEP Opéra branch. The cars are three Renault type AG 9CV taxis, which were built between 1905 and 1922 and were known as the “Taxis de la Marne”.

Branch of Banque de Paris et des Pays-Bas, avenue de l’Opéra, Paris. Here are Renault 4CVs add Citroën traction avant 15-Sixes (15 HP, six cylinders, built after the war).

BNCI Béziers branch. The three vehicles to the right are (from right to left): a Citroën Rosalie, a Peugeot 203 and a Renault Dauphine.

Paris head office of BNCI, circa 1938-1939. This photograph shows three Peugeot 202s and a Simca 5 – the French version of the Fiat Topolino (on the left of the photo).

View of Café de Paris (now a BNP Paribas branch), avenue de l’Opéra, Paris. The two vehicles on the right are probably a Renault (taxi?) and a Peugeot 301.

Cover of a BNCI brochure from 1942. The car on the left in the street is a Citroën Traction avant limousine type 22CV (doubled rear bumper), quite a rare car (unless it is an 11B limousine). The car parked on the far left may be a Peugeot 302 cabriolet.

Close-up of a BNCI advertising lorry around 1955. The vehicle is a Citroën type H (manufactured from 1948 to 1981).

CNEP branch. In the foreground to the left is a Panhard PL 17 (1959-1965) and to the right a Simca Aronde P 60 (1959-1963).

Head office of Société générale de Belgique (a forerunner of BNP Paribas Fortis), 30 rue Royale, Brussels, 1910. The car chassis cannot be identified, as the bodywork was custom-built. However, the very wide split windscreen, very low bonnet and klaxon may indicate a Panhard Levassor type U9 from 1910.

Reproduction of a 1928 post card showing the CNEP branch in Cognac.

Reproduction of a post card showing the CNEP branch in Loches in 1910. In front, a Citroën 5 HP.

Nice branch of the BNCI, avenue de la Victoire, end of the 1950s.

BNCI office in Shamshuipo, Hong Kong, 1966. In the foreground a Ford Anglia Perfect (4-door) 100E (1953 -59).

Head office of BNCI-Afrique in Algiers in 1952. From left to right: a Citroën traction avant 15-Six D (8-cylinder), probably a Peugeot 402 limousine, a Citroën 15-Six, passing (and slightly blurred) a Simca Aronde. Under the arcades, a Peugeot 203. In the perpendicular street from right to left, a Simca Aronde, a Renault 4CV and a Citroën traction followed by a Peugeot 202; in front of BNCI passing from right to left, in grey, probably Peugeot 202.

Reproduction of a post card showing the head office of BNCI-Afrique in Casablanca (now BMCI) in 1952. In the foreground, a Peugeot 202.

View from Place de France in Tangiers (Morocco) with the BNCI-Afrique building, across on the right.

Conakry branch (in Guinee) of BNCI-Afrique. The cars parked in front of the branch are (from left to right) a Citroën 15-Six traction avant and a Peugeot 203. Parked close to the building is a Renault 4CV.

Tunis branch of the UBCI (Union bancaire pour le commerce et l’industrie – BNP Paribas group) in 1966. The two cars parked alongside the branch are (from left to right): a 1963 Volkswagen Beetle, a Ford Cortina Mark I 4-doors with the new 1962 grill (Ford UK).

Branch of Banco del Atlantico (Mexico), bank acquired by BNCI in 1949. A Buick stands in front of the branch office.