De Dion Bouton 3-1/2hp Type-E Vis-a-Vis Voiturette.
Bronwen kindly sent this old photograph over, showing her father driving a friend in a De Dion Bouton Voiturette, registration CD 97. A look online shows that this car is still taking part in the London to Brighton run, some 50+ years after this photograph was taken. Bronwen's father used to maintain this car on behalf of a customer. The car in the background is also a De Dion Bouton, registration AA 863, which is a 1904 6hp Rear Entrance Tonneau, again a member of the V.C.C. (Veteran Car Club).
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The De Dion Bouton company started out supplying their engines to other companies for their own purposes, and used them in powered tricycles. The 3 1/2hp car, the Type D, first saw light of day in 1899. In 1900, the Type E was introduced, which still had the single cylinder 3.5hp engine, capacity 402cc, and introduced brakes on the rear axle. By this time the company had 950 employees, and was still rising. The engine on these cars is located under the driver's seat, driving the rear 'De Dion' axle.
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A De Dion Bouton Torpedo Roadster.
Kerry Metcalfe posted the following two photographs onto the OCC Facebook page, in the hope that the car might be identifiable. My thanks to the Metcalfe family for allowing me to share them here, and to Varun who identified the tourer as a 1912/1913 De Dion Bouton Torpedo Roadster. With the photos, Kerry included the following information: "The car we're interested in is on the right in the second photo and belonged to my great grandfather. My granny, aged 93, remembers it being around when she was very young, so late 1920s". Regarding the car's owner, Chris Metcalfe adds: "His name was Arthur Leslie Kemp, he used to live in Crayke near York and was a farmer then later a photographer when he moved to Filey".
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The first photograph is a side-on view of the Roadster, note the large horn, and the fact that in both pictures, the acetylene headlamps have been removed from their brackets on the scuttle.
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This front view of the De Dion Bouton, parked alongside an early-1930s Standard Little 9, reveals its registration number - AJ 1556, a Yorkshire North Riding issue. The Standard, FS 4829, was first registered in Edinburgh, perhaps not surprisingly given that in the background is the famous Forth Rail Bridge, which opened for business in 1890 and continues in use today, just a few miles to the west of Edinburgh. Both cars are photographed on the deck of the ferry that operated a service across the Firth of Forth at Queensferry. The "De Dion Bouton" script can be seen on the car's distinctively-shaped radiator. Such an atmospheric old photo, thanks again for permitting me to share them here.
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Elsewhere on OCC.
A rare photo of a De Dion Bouton engine-powered tricycle can be found on this page of the vintage cycling section.
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Return to Old Vehicle Photos Page 6.
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