Georges Bouton (1847–1938) was a French toymaker and engineer who with fellow Frenchman

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 ...

founded the

De Dion-Bouton De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1953. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, and Bouton's brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux. Steam cars T ...

company in 1883. The pair first worked together in 1882 to produce a self-propelled steam vehicle. The result gave birth to the company which, at the time, went under the name de Dion. Bouton was the nominal winner of the 'world's first motor race' on 28 April 1887, when he drove a de Dion-Bouton vehicle 2 kilometers from Neuilly Bridge to the

Bois de Boulogne The Bois de Boulogne (, "Boulogne woodland") is a large public park located along the western edge of the 16th arrondissement of Paris, near the suburb of Boulogne-Billancourt and Neuilly-sur-Seine. The land was ceded to the city of Paris by t ...

. He was also the only competitor.

Personal life

Georges Bouton and his brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux ran a 'scientific toys' shop in

Léon Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

, Landes.

De Dion-Bouton

The genesis of De Dion-Bouton was in 1881 when 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 at "passage Léon" (covered passage in Paris) and asked the toymakers to build another. The engineers Georges Bouton and Charles Trépardoux had been making a bare living selling scientific toys, and 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 could not afford it. Dion, who was inspired by steam railway locomotives, could finance the work. De Dion, Bouton et Trépardoux was formed in Paris in 1883. This became the

de Dion-Bouton De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1953. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, and Bouton's brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux. Steam cars T ...

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. However, both Bouton and Dion survived the company they had founded, as De Dion-Bouton went out of business in 1932.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bouton, Georges 1847 births 1938 deaths People from Landes (department) Vintage vehicles French automotive pioneers French automobile designers French founders of automobile manufacturers

Personal life

De Dion-Bouton

See also

References