VETERAN CAR GUIDE
1902 Dennis
6.5hp, single-cylinder engine, three-speed gearbox and shaft drive. Two- and four-cylinder cars were added to the range in 1903, and in 1904, and pressed steel frames were adopted. Darracq had a long involvement with motor racing, which established both a healthy profile and a very profitable business.
De Dietrich The De Turkheim family became involved in the Lorraine-based De Dietrich ironworks business in 1806, following which large factories were established in both French and German territory. Both the French and the German parts of the business initially made cars and commercial vehicles under licence from Amédée Bollée in 1897, with tube ignition and a complex transmission system involving primary belt drive and final drive by two sets of bevels. The French concern began production of the Turcat-Méry, with its two- and four-cylinder engine options, tubular radiators, flitch plate frames, and chain drive. The German business, at its Niederbronn factory, initially made a version of the single-cylinder, belt-driven Belgian Vivinus under licence, before Ettore Bugatti arrived to design a four-cylinder, chain-driven car. There were two engine sizes: a 5305cc unit, variously called 20hp or 24hp, and a 7430cc, 24hp option. After Bugatti left the company in 1904, no further cars were made in Niederbronn.
De Dion Bouton The partnership between the Comte de Dion, Georges Bouton and Charles Trépardoux was forged in the summer of 1882, leading to the production of a wide range of steam vehicles. Motor tricycles and quadricycles followed, and by 1900, ensconced in new premises on the banks of the Seine in Puteaux, De Dion Bouton was comfortably the largest producer of compact, lightweight, high-revving singlecylinder engines, which it supplied to many other manufacturers. Rear-engined, two-seater voiturettes were launched in 1899, followed by front-engined vehicles in 1901 that were equipped with more powerful engines, as passenger capacity expanded, including two twin-cylinder options from 1903. The use of expanding clutch gearboxes and Cardan shaft transmission was consistent across all models.
Decauville The Decauville company was based at Seine-et-Oise, France, and in 1898 it produced a small tubular-framed car powered by two 1.75hp De Dion Bouton engines on the same crankcase mounted under the seat, with a two-speed gearbox, called a voiturelle. The front suspension was independent, by a transverse spring and sliding pillars, and was the first known example of IFS on a petrol-engined car. There was no rear suspension. By 1899, a water-cooled engine of 5hp had been installed, along with rear suspension and a three-speed gearbox. For 1900, an 8hp in-line twin, 1416cc engine was placed in the front, with a round bonnet and dashboard radiator, and now there was a four-speed gearbox. This was followed by a model with a 2090cc, twin-cylinder engine with a fully floating rear axle that achieved prominence because Henry Royce used several design features in his first Royce car of 1904. Thereafter the company focused on twincylinder 12 / 14hp and larger four-cylinder vehicles.
Delahaye Emile Delahaye began manufacturing motor cars on a limited scale in the mid-1890s in Tours, France, and participated in the 1896 Paris-Marseille-Paris race in 1896. The vehicle he used had certain characteristics of an early Benz, but the steel frame was tubular, and the tyres were pneumatic. Léon Desmaris and Georges Morane bought the business in 1897, and gradually moved the production to Paris. Delahaye’ s 6hp Type 0 was replaced with the Type OA in 1901, and there were Types 6, 7, and 8, each with horizontal engines. In 1902, a vertical twin appeared, with a 12hp, 2194cc engine, and thereafter there were numerous engine upgrades, revised chassis lengths, and transmission arrangements. In 1904, it was possible to buy a 5320cc, four-cylinder model.
Dennis John and Raymond Dennis manufactured‘ Speed King’ bicycles initially, and then turned their attention, in 1899, to motor tricycles and quadricycles, and then Dennis-branded motor cars from 1901. The Dennis company, despite its expressed focus on technical development, procured its chassis in complete form from Lacoste et Battmann. Along with Speedwell and Brush, it was one of the earliest adopters of complete vehicles from Paris that it simply re-badged. The company offered a single-cylinder shaft-driven vehicle with a De Dion Bouton engine of 8hp, and from 1903 there was a twin-cylinder 12-14hp option, or the larger,
www. veterancarrun. com F / veterancarrun. I @ veterancarrun 53