De Dion-Bouton was a French
automobile manufacturer
The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % such ...
and
railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1953. The company was founded by the
Marquis
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
Jules-Albert de Dion
Marquis Jules Félix Philippe Albert de Dion de Wandonne (9 March 185619 August 1946) was a French pioneer of the automobile industry. He invented a steam-powered car and used it to win the world's first auto race, but his vehicle was adjudg ...
,
Georges Bouton
Georges Bouton (1847–1938) was a French toymaker and engineer who with fellow Frenchman Jules-Albert de Dion founded the De Dion-Bouton company in 1883. The pair first worked together in 1882 to produce a self-propelled steam vehicle. The resul ...
, and Bouton's
brother-in-law
A sibling-in-law is the spouse of one's sibling, or the sibling of one's spouse, or the person who is married to the sibling of one's spouse.Cambridge Dictionaries Online.Family: non-blood relations.
More commonly, a sibling-in-law is referred ...
Charles Trépardoux.
Steam cars
![1894 paris-rouen - count albert de dion (de dion-bouton steam tractor) finished 1st, ruled ineligible for prize](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/1894_paris-rouen_-_count_albert_de_dion_%28de_dion-bouton_steam_tractor%29_finished_1st%2C_ruled_ineligible_for_prize.jpg)
The company was formed in 1883 after de Dion saw a toy
locomotive
A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the Power (physics), motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, Motor coach (rail), motor ...
in a store window in 1881 and asked the toymakers to build another. Engineers Bouton and Trépardoux had been eking out a living with scientific toys at a shop in the Passage de Léon, near "rue de la Chapelle" in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
.
[Wise, p. 510.] Trépardoux had long dreamed of building a
steam car
A steam car is a car (automobile) propelled by a steam engine. A steam engine is an external combustion engine (ECE) in which the fuel is combusted outside of the engine, unlike an internal combustion engine (ICE) in which fuel is combusted ins ...
, but neither could afford it.
De Dion, already inspired by steam (in the form of rail locomotives)
[Georgano, p. 27.] and with ample money, agreed, and De Dion, Bouton et Trépardoux was formed in Paris in 1883. This became the De Dion-Bouton automobile company, the world's largest
automobile manufacturer
The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % such ...
for a time, becoming well known for their quality, reliability, and durability.
Before 1883 was over, they had set up shop in larger premises in the Passage de Léon, Paris,
[Wise, p. 511.] tried and dropped steam engines for boats, and produced a steam car. With the boiler and engine mounted at the front, driving the front wheels by belts and steering with the rear, it burned to the ground on trials. They built a second, ''
La Marquise'', the next year, with a more conventional steering and rear-wheel drive, capable of seating four.
The ''
Marquis
A marquess (; french: marquis ), es, marqués, pt, marquês. is a nobleman of high hereditary rank in various European peerages and in those of some of their former colonies. The German language equivalent is Markgraf (margrave). A woman wi ...
'' de Dion entered
one of these in an 1887 trial, "Europe's first motoring competition", the brainchild of one
M. Fossier of
cycling
Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...
magazine ''
Le Vélocipède''. Evidently, the promotion was insufficient, for the De Dion was the sole entrant, but it completed the course, with de Dion at the tiller, and was clocked at .
This must be taken with considerable care; the first official
land speed record
The land speed record (or absolute land speed record) is the highest speed achieved by a person using a vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C ("Special Vehicles") flying start regula ...
, set in 1898, was . The vehicle survives, in road-worthy condition, and has been a regular entry in the
London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the world's longest-running motoring event, held on a course between London () and Brighton (), England. To qualify, participating cars must have been built before 1905. It is also the world's largest g ...
.
Following this singular success, the company offered steam tricycles with boilers between the front wheels and two-cylinder engines. They were built in small numbers, evidently a favorite of young playboys. They were later joined by a larger tractor, able to pull trailers (sometimes called a "steam drag"). This larger vehicle introduced the so-called
De Dion or "dead" axle; an axle beam carried the weight of the vehicle with the non weight-bearing
driveshaft
A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connect ...
s or drive chains articulated separately alongside it.
On 22 July 1894, during the
Paris–Rouen race, it averaged over the 126 km (78 mi) route, but was disqualified for needing both a driver and a stoker.
Two more cars were made in 1885 followed by a series of lightweight two-cylinder
tricar
A three-wheeler is a vehicle with three wheels. Some are motorized tricycles, which may be legally classed as motorcycles, while others are tricycles without a motor, some of which are human-powered vehicles and animal-powered vehicles.
Over ...
s, which from 1892 had
Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...
pneumatic tyre
Pneumatics (from Greek ‘wind, breath’) is a branch of engineering that makes use of gas or pressurized air.
Pneumatic systems used in industry are commonly powered by compressed air or compressed inert gases. A centrally located and elec ...
s. In 1893, steam tractors were introduced which were designed to tow horse-drawn carriages for passengers or freight
(sometimes called "steam drags") and these used an innovative axle design which would become known as the
De Dion tube
De Dion rear axle
A de Dion tube is a form of non-independent automobile suspension. It is a considerable improvement over the swing axle, Hotchkiss drive, or live axle. Because it plays no part in transmitting power to the drive wheels, it is ...
,
where the location and drive function of the axle are separated.
The company manufactured
steam bus
A steam bus is a bus powered by a steam engine. Early steam-powered vehicles designed for carrying passengers were more usually known as steam carriages, although this term was sometimes used to describe other early experimental vehicles too.
H ...
es and trucks until 1904. Trépardoux, staunchly supporting steam, resigned in 1894 as the company turned to
internal combustion
An internal combustion engine (ICE or IC engine) is a heat engine in which the combustion of a fuel occurs with an oxidizer (usually air) in a combustion chamber that is an integral part of the working fluid flow circuit. In an internal combus ...
vehicles.
The steam car remained in production more or less unchanged for ten years more.
Internal combustion engines
Tricycles
![Saint-Saens tricycle Musica1907](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Saint-Saens_tricycle_Musica1907.jpg)
By 1889, de Dion was becoming convinced the future lay in the internal combustion engine, and the company had built a ten-cylinder two-row
rotary engine
The rotary engine is an early type of internal combustion engine, usually designed with an odd number of cylinders per row in a radial configuration. The engine's crankshaft remained stationary in operation, while the entire crankcase and i ...
.
After Trépardoux resigned in 1894, the company became ''De Dion, Bouton et Compagnie''. For 1895, Bouton created a new one-cylinder engine with
trembler coil ignition.
[Wise, p. 512.] Proving troublesome at its designed speed of 900 rpm (throwing
bearings and running rough),
when Bouton increased the revs, the problems vanished. In trials, it achieved an unprecedented 3500 rpm, and was usually run at 2,000 rpm, a limit imposed by its atmospheric valves and surface
carburettor
A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...
.
Inlet and exhaust valves were overhead, and a flywheel was fitted to each end of the crankshaft.
This engine was fitted behind the rear axle of a
tricycle
A tricycle, sometimes abbreviated to trike, is a human-powered (or gasoline or electric motor powered or assisted, or gravity powered) three-wheeled vehicle.
Some tricycles, such as cycle rickshaws (for passenger transport) and freight trikes, ...
frame bought from
Decauville
Decauville () was a manufacturing company which was founded by Paul Decauville (1846–1922), a French pioneer in industrial railways. Decauville's major innovation was the use of ready-made sections of light, narrow gauge track fastened to steel ...
, fitted with the new
Michelin
Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...
pneumatic tires
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide traction on the surface over which t ...
. It showed superb performance, and went on the market in 1896 with the engine enlarged to 1¼ CV (
horsepower
Horsepower (hp) is a unit of measurement of power, or the rate at which work is done, usually in reference to the output of engines or motors. There are many different standards and types of horsepower. Two common definitions used today are the ...
) (932 W) , with 1¾ CV (1.3 kW) in 1897. By the time production of the ''petite voiture'' tricar stopped in 1901, it had 2¾ CV (2 kW), while racers had as much as 8 CV (6 kW).
In 1898,
Louis Renault had a De Dion-Bouton modified with fixed
drive shaft
A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power (physics), power and torque and rotation, usually ...
and
ring and pinion gear, making "perhaps the first
hot rod
Hot rods are typically American cars that might be old, classic, or modern and that have been rebuilt or modified with large engines optimised for speed and acceleration. One definition is: "a car that's been stripped down, souped up and made ...
in history".
Four wheelers
![De Dion Bouton 8 HP](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/32/De_Dion_Bouton_8_HP.jpg)
The same year, the tricar was joined by a four-wheeler and in 1900 by a ''vis a vis'' ''voiturette'', the Model D, with its 3¾ CV (2.8 kW) single-cylinder engine under the seat and drive to the rear wheels through a two-speed
gearbox
Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...
. This curious design had the passenger facing the driver, who sat in the rear seat. The ''voiturette'' had one inestimable advantage: the expanding clutches of the gearbox were operated by a lever on the steering column. The Model D was developed through Models E, G, I, and J, with 6 CV (4.5 kW) by 1902, when the 8 CV (6 kW) Model K rear-entry
phaeton appeared, with front-end styling resembling the contemporary
Renault
Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufactured ...
. Until World War I, De Dion-Boutons had an unusual decelerator pedal which reduced engine speed and ultimately applied a transmission brake.
In 1902, the Model O introduced three speeds, which was standard for all De Dion-Boutons in 1904.
[Wise, p. 513.]
A small number of electric cars were also made in 1901.
Engine supplier to automobile manufacturers
De Dion-Bouton supplied engines to vehicle manufacturers such as
Hanzer
Hanzer Frères, Hanzer, was a French manufacturer of automobiles. The Petit-Ivry company of Ivry-sur-Seine began building automobiles in 1899. Production ended in 1903.Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader : The International Automobile Encyclopedia. ...
and
Société Parisienne
Société Parisienne (''Maison Parisienne'') was a French manufacturer of velocipedes, bicycles and tricycles from 1876. They began limited automobile construction in 1894 and regular light car (voiturette) construction in 1898 or 1899, and they c ...
who mounted a 2.5 hp unit directly on the front axle of their front wheel drive
voiturette
A voiturette is a miniature automobile.
History
''Voiturette'' was first registered by Léon Bollée in 1895 to name his new motor tricycle. The term became so popular in the early years of the motor industry that it was used by many makers t ...
the 'Viktoria Combination'.
Engine supplier to moto bicycle builders
The De Dion-Bouton engine is considered to the first high-speed lightweight internal combustion engine. It was licensed to more than 150 manufacturers and was a popular choice among assemblers of moto bicycles.
[Owls Head](_blank)
, 1902 De Dion-Bouton Engine. The small lightweight four cycle engine used a battery and coil ignition that was less trouble than the hot tube ignition. The bore of and stroke of gave this engine an output of . It was used on many pioneering moto bicycle brands and was widely copied by many makers including US Brands Indian and Harley-Davidson.
Hildebrand and Wolfmueller, Control and Dynamic Analysis of two wheeled road vehicles.
American De Dion
![1901-American De Dion](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d2/1901-American_De_Dion.jpg)
In 1901, the De Dion-Bouton Motorette Company began manufacturing De Dion-Bouton automobiles under license in Brooklyn, New York.
A small quantity of American De Dion Motorettes were made. These had either 2-seater
Vis-à-vis (carriage), vis-a-vis or closed coachwork and were powered by 3.5 hp American-made engines.
The venture was in operation for only one year. They gained a reputation for unreliability during that time. Representatives of De Dion in the United States claimed that the licensee violated their contract and advertised for a new licensee.
Expansion
![1906 De Dion-Bouton Type AM (6 CV)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/1906_De_Dion-Bouton_Type_AM_%286_CV%29.jpg)
In 1900, De Dion-Bouton was the largest automobile manufacturer in the world, producing 400 cars and 3,200 engines. The company soon began producing engines and licenses for other automobile companies with an estimate of 150 makes using them. Production was so great, it proved impossible to test every engine; if it failed on the bench, it was simply disassembled. Every engine was being made by hand; the
assembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process (often called a ''progressive assembly'') in which parts (usually interchangeable parts) are added as the semi-finished assembly moves from workstation to workstation where the parts are added in seq ...
had not yet been introduced. By 1904 some 40,000 engines had been supplied across Europe. That year, De Dion-Bouton's factory at
Quai National (now Quai de Dion-Bouton),
Puteaux
Puteaux () is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the heart of the Hauts-de-Seine department, from the centre of Paris. In 2016, it had a population of 44,941.
La Défense, Paris's business district hosting the ...
, employed 1,300 and produced more than 2,000 cars,
all hand-made.
The engine moved to the front in 1903 in the Populaire with engines, the latter being powerful enough to allow trucks to be added to cars, and by the end of the year reverse gear had also appeared. It was joined by the 6 CV (4 kW) 864 cc (52.5 in
3)
Types N and Q (the latter a low-priced K), the 8 CV (6 kW) R,
and their first multi-cylinder model, the two-cylinder 1728 cc (105 in
3) 12 CV (8 kW) S, followed in 1904 by the four-cylinder 15 CV (11 kW) Type AD and 24 CV (18 kW)
AI. The cars were also getting more and more conventional in
styling, with the radiator moving in front of the engine and the clutch changing from hand lever to pedal.
A pair of works 10 CV (7.5 kW) De Dion-Boutons, in the hands of Cormier and Collignon, ran in the 1907
Peking to Paris
The Peking to Paris motor race was an automobile race, originally held in 1907, between Peking (now Beijing), then Qing China (now the People's Republic of China) and Paris, France (then the Third French Republic), a distance of .
The idea for ...
rally, without success. Bouvier St. Chaffray did no better in the
New York to Paris in 1908. That year, De Dion-Bouton peaked as a manufacturer.
[Wise, p. 514.]
The company became the
first
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...
to make a successful mass-produced
V8 engine
A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration.
The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...
, a 35 CV (26 kW) CJ in 1910, followed by a 7.8 liter and a 14.7 liter for the U.S., as well as by a Type CN in 1912. (They trailed
Ader
The Ader was a French automobile designed and built by Clément Ader, a pioneer in flight and telephone service.
The Ader car was built in Levallois-Perret, Seine, by his Société Industrielle des Téléphones-Voitures Système Ader
between 19 ...
in racing the 1906
Adams, which used an
Antoinette
Antoinette is a given name, that is a diminutive feminine form of Antoine and Antonia (from Latin ''Antonius'').
People with the name include:
Nobles
* Antoinette de Maignelais, Baroness of Villequier by marriage (1434–1474), mistress of Ch ...
aircraft engine.)
This would be the company's last innovation.
[Wise, p. 513 cap.]
During
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, the company made
gun
A gun is a ranged weapon designed to use a shooting tube (gun barrel) to launch projectiles. The projectiles are typically solid, but can also be pressurized liquid (e.g. in water guns/cannons, spray guns for painting or pressure washing, pr ...
parts,
armoured vehicles, and
aircraft engine
An aircraft engine, often referred to as an aero engine, is the power component of an aircraft propulsion system. Most aircraft engines are either piston engines or gas turbines, although a few have been rocket powered and in recent years many ...
s, as well as cars and trucks. The company produced an
anti-aircraft
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
version of the French 75 mm
field gun
A field gun is a field artillery piece. Originally the term referred to smaller guns that could accompany a field army on the march, that when in combat could be moved about the battlefield in response to changing circumstances ( field artille ...
, the
Canon de 75 modèle 1897
The French 75 mm field gun was a quick-firing field artillery piece adopted in March 1898. Its official French designation was: Matériel de 75mm Mle 1897. It was commonly known as the French 75, simply the 75 and Soixante-Quinze (French ...
, mounted on a V8-powered De Dion-Bouton truck for the
French Army
The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...
between 1913 and 1918.
In
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, during the
Easter Rising
The Easter Rising ( ga, Éirí Amach na Cásca), also known as the Easter Rebellion, was an armed insurrection in Ireland during Easter Week in April 1916. The Rising was launched by Irish republicans against British rule in Ireland with the a ...
of 1916, which opened the
Irish War of Independence
The Irish War of Independence () or Anglo-Irish War was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and British forces: the British Army, along with the quasi-mil ...
,
The O'Rahilly
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Ballylongford, County Kerry, Ireland
, death_date =
, death_place = Dublin, Ireland
, resting_place = Glasnevin Cemetery
, nationality = Irish - British subject
...
drove his De Dion Bouton up to the Irish HQ in O'Connell Street, and, discovering that the Rising he had planned and trained soldiers for and then tried to prevent, was actually going on, he drove it into a barricade, walked into the GPO and said: "I've helped to wind the clock, I've come to hear it strike." He was killed in a charge against a machine gun nest in Moore Street days later. A famous photograph shows the skeleton of the car in its barricade.
Postwar stagnation
The company stagnated after
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The V8 continued to appear until 1923, and in spite of new models with front-wheel brakes, the factory closed for much of 1927. On reopening two models were listed, the Type LA with a four-cylinder
overhead valve
An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...
, aluminium-piston engine, and the Type LB with a
straight-8
The straight-eight engine (also referred to as an inline-eight engine; abbreviated I8 or L8) is a piston engine with eight cylinders arranged in a straight line along the crankshaft. The number of cylinders and perfect primary and secondary engi ...
. The latter was very expensive and sales were few, despite growth to in 1930. A rumored takeover by
Peugeot
Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis.
The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...
or
Mercedes did not materialize, leading to the end of passenger car production in 1932.
After World War II
Small numbers of commercial vehicles were made until 1950; the last vehicles to carry the De Dion badge were license-made
Land Rover
Land Rover is a British brand of predominantly four-wheel drive, off-road capable vehicles, owned by multinational car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover (JLR), since 2008 a subsidiary of India's Tata Motors. JLR currently builds Land Rovers ...
s in the early 1950s. The company name was bought by a
motorcycle
A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...
maker in 1955.
Railcars
![OC1-OC2-Billard](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7f/OC1-OC2-Billard.JPG)
De Dion-Bouton built railcars and railcar trailers used on many of the
metre gauge
Metre-gauge railways are narrow-gauge railways with track gauge of or 1 metre.
The metre gauge is used in around of tracks around the world. It was used by European colonial powers, such as the French, British and German Empires. In Europe, la ...
railways in France and abroad. The first railcars were produced in the early 1920s, with the
Chemin de Fer des Côtes-du-Nord
Chemin or Le Chemin may refer to:
Arts and media
*Le chemin (Emmanuel Moire album), ''Le chemin'' (Emmanuel Moire album), 2013 album by French singer Emmanuel Moire
*Le chemin (Kyo album), ''Le chemin'' (Kyo album), 2003 album by French band Kyo
...
receiving its first railcars in 1923.
Notes
References
Sources
* (reprints AB Nordbok 1985 edition).
*
External links
{{Commons category, De Dion-Bouton
CNN: World's oldest car for sale
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Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
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Steam cars
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