VETERAN CAR GUIDE
1900 De Dion-Bouton
CELEBRATING VETERAN VEHICLES
Every year , we welcome a vast selection of different marques to the Run . For 2023 , we have a gathering of vehicles whose origins span the globe .
Adler Adler was established by Heinrich Kleyer in Frankfurtam- Main in the 1880s , manufacturing pedal cycles , wheels for the Benz organisation , and then motorised tricycles under licence from Cudell of Aachen . The first Adler motor car appeared in mid-1900 . This was mechanically similar to the Renault with its 3.5hp De Dion Bouton engine and shaft drive , but differed considerably in appearance . Changes were made to the cars for 1901 , including the use of semi-elliptic springs all round , and wheel steering on an inclined column . The company continued to use De Dion Bouton engines of 4.5hp and 6hp .
Albion Two ex-employees of Arrol-Johnston , Norman Fulton and Thomas Murray , founded Albion in Glasgow , in 1899 . The first vehicle , a dogcart , appeared in 1900 , powered by a flat-twin 8hp engine , and equipped with a ‘ Patent Combination Clutch ’ gearbox . It had solid tyres , which continued to be a feature after many other manufacturers had abandoned the practice . The company produced twin cylinder vehicles of increasingly large capacity , and in 1903 , it launched a 3115cc , 16hp vertical twin-engine powered vehicle . Commercial vehicles became the mainstay after 1918 .
Alldays The company was formed in 1898 from two longestablished Birmingham engineering firms that dated back to 1720 and 1650 respectively . Success in the manufacture of good quality bicycles led to the limited production of a motorised quadricycle , almost certainly a re-badged version from a French supplier , and then the ‘ Traveller ’, a lightly built , De Dion Bouton-powered , unsprung , two-seater appeared . The first motor car , with a 7hp engine and shaft driven , available as a two or four-seater , was manufactured in 1903 and 1904 .
40 The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run