c.1902 De Dion Bouton 8hp, Rear Entrance Tonneau, Engine no.… - Collectors' Motor Cars & Numberplates - Bonhams & Goodman (No longer trading)

Lot No.

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Description:

c.1902 De Dion Bouton 8hp, Rear Entrance Tonneau, Engine no. 7737, Reg: unregistered. The names of De Dion and Bouton are inextricably linked with the pioneer years of the motor car, initially in company with Trepardoux in the building of light steam carriages, the first of which appeared in 1883. In the early 1890s De Dion and Bouton turned their attention to the internal combustion engine, much to the annoyance of Trepardoux who quit in 1894, leaving his erstwhile partners to develop what was, in effect, the first high-speed internal combustion engine. Engineer Bouton's power units developed significantly greater output than their contemporaries from Daimler and Benz, yet matched them for reliability. Small wonder then that De Dion Bouton engines were adopted by many other manufacturers of tricycles, quadricycles, and light cars, both in Europe and the United States, influenced no doubt by the success of the flying tricycles in such events as the Paris-Bordeaux and other endurance races. Early 137cc engines ran at speeds of up to 1500rpm, and the first internal combustion-engined tricycles were built in 1895. The 250cc engine of 1896 developed approximately 1.75hp and made the contemporary Benz engines seem positively antiquated. Early De Dions were rear engined and of the vis-à-vis type - where the passengers sat facing the driver - but from 1902 onwards the firm began to adopt what would become accepted as the conventional layout for a motor car, one of the first of this kind being the Type O. By this time, De Dion's fast-revving, single-cylinder engines were offered in 4.5hp, 6hp and 8hp variants. All featured mechanical inlet and atmospheric exhaust valves, and were noted for their reliability, which is borne out by the number surviving today. On 24th May 1902, a Mr J Burnet-Geake, of Highgate, London took delivery of this De Dion Bouton Type O, and was so impressed with its performance on a 700 mile trip that he wrote a testimonial which was published along with a photograph of the car in The Autocar magazine of September 1902, page 39. How the De Dion came to Australia is not clear, but it is known that a Mr Berthold August Arch Tucker once owned the car and used it in conjunction with his plumbing business at 155 Glen Osmond Road, Frewville, while living at 4 Wellington Terrace Fullarton, adjacent suburbs of Adelaide. Registration records show that number '1555' was issued to Mr Tucker for a De Dion Bouton in 1911. The family advises that the car was sold in 1945 for £5. Sometime around 1957 Colin Wagener, a wrecking yard operator on Glen Osmond Road, bought the car, which had its body and mechanicals removed and was used as a trolley, while the engine drove a generator on the same property. The De Dion subsequently passed to Eric Rainsford and then in 1976 to Terry Parker, who restored the car and drove it for several years. The car competed in the 1984 Bay to Birdwood run, where, out of more than 1,000 entrants, it was selected as a finalist in the Concours d'Elegance. In about 990 the car passed to Adelaide industrialist and arts identity, Douglas Mullins who, with his wife Barbara, took it to England and completed in the London to Brighton Run in 1994. The car was used sparingly thereafter, and is now offered for sale following the death of Mr Mullins. It is one of a mere handful of surviving 1902 De Dions

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Category:

Motor Vehicles: Motor Cars