Structural element for a motor vehicle, and a method of fabricating such an element

A method of fabricating a structural element (2) comprising a hollow elongate first body (4) made of metal and of closed cross-section, and a continuous second body (6) of plastics material overmolded on the metal first body (4), the second body (6) being an upright;

• in which the plastics material second body (6) is connected to the metal first body (4) by overmolding at least two longitudinally spaced-apart rings (24) of the plastics material second body (6) onto the metal first body, each ring (24) surrounding the metal first body (4),
• wherein, in any cross-section of the metal first body (4), the plastics material second body (6) is situated entirely outside the outline of the metal first body (4), and the ratio of the axial length (l) of each ring (24) over the longitudinal distance between the rings (e, e1) is less than 1, and
• wherein said structural element (2) fabricated is a structural member for an automotive vehicle front face comprising a metal cross-member and two plastic uprights.