In New Zealand, blokes are only expected to work until they are 65 years old, so it was with great excitement that I made the journey to Matakana to see a car that was well past our standard retirement age — John and Kaye Murray’s 1908 de Dion-Bouton AV.
De Dion, Bouton et Trepardoux was founded by Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton and Charles Trepardoux in Paris, France, in 1883. Bouton and Trepardoux were engineers by trade and had long dreamed of building a steam car, but a lack of funds put paid to that idea. Then along came de Dion, inspired by a toy locomotive and with plenty of money, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Full Steam Ahead
The first car built by the company was steam powered, with the boiler over the front wheels, which were driven via belts. Steering duties were performed by the rear wheels. However, this early car burned to the ground during trials, and the following year a more conventional and successful rear-wheel-drive steam-powered car was built. Albert de Dion himself entered the car in a trial — advertised as Europe’s first motoring competition — in 1887, but he was the only entrant! The car did complete the course with de Dion at the tiller, having reportedly reached speeds as high as 60kph.
In 1894 Trepardoux left for reasons unknown and, as a consequence, the company was renamed De Dion, Bouton et Compagnie, and eventually the de Dion Bouton Automobile Company.
Despite those early forays into steam-powered vehicles, as early as 1889 the writing was on the wall as far as de Dion was concerned. Internal combustion engines were the only way forward, and by 1895 the company had produced its first engine of the type — a 137cc single cylinder.
The engine created plenty of headaches at its original running speed of 900rpm. Bearing problems and generally rough running were the main issues. However, those problems were apparently cured during the testing phase, when the engine was run to a then extreme 3500rpm.
The engine’s surface carburettor and atmospheric valves meant a running speed of 2000rpm would minimise running problems. In this they were successful, as the reliability of the de Dion engine became famous in the early 1900s.
This engine found its way into the back of a commercially available three-wheel frame from fellow French company, Decauville. With the addition of pneumatic tyres from Michelin, this became known as the Voiturelle. By the time the engine had made its way into the Voiturelle in 1896 it had been enlarged to 185cc, and delivered a whopping 0.9kW (1.25 horsepower), which increased to 1.3kW (1.75 horsepower) in 1897.
Power output continued to grow until production ceased just after the turn of the century in 1901, the final figure being 2kW (2.75 horsepower), with racing versions rumoured to have as many as eight raging horse under the hood!
World Leaders
By 1900, de Dion-Bouton had become the world’s largest automobile manufacturer, producing 400 cars and 3200 engines that year. During the course of the same year it also opened a factory in Brooklyn, New York, to cater for the demands of the American market. As well as this, it was supplying engines by licence to approximately 150 manufacturers.
Another move of factory by 1904 meant the company employed as many as 1300 people, who between them were hand building over 2000 cars a year — a staggering feat.
Another change around that time — 1903 to be precise — saw the first car de Dion-Bouton produced with a front-mounted engine, known as the Populaire, which was available with both 700 and 942cc motors. By the end of the year they even had a reverse gear!
Also in 1903, de Dion dipped its toes into the two-cylinder automobile market with the 1728cc, 12 horsepower S, and in 1904 also introduced a 2545cc four-cylinder option, the engine going in the AD model with 11kW and the AI with 15 and 24 horsepower. It was also around this time that all of de Dion’s cars became slightly more conventional, with the radiator moved in front of the engine and the clutch from a hand operated lever on the dashboard (with the throttle), to a floor-mounted pedal like the brakes.
A pair of twin-cylinder 10 horsepower de Dion cars were entered for Georges Cormier and Victor Collignon to contest the infamous 1907 Peking to Paris Rally. Both men faced an arduous task, travelling 16,000 kilometres across China, through the Gobi Desert into Mongolia, through Russia then all the way through Eastern Europe to the French capital. Both the de Dions finished, albeit 20 days behind the winning Itala. The following year Bouvier St Chaffray had an unsuccessful run in the New York to Paris Rally.
Despite being the first to mass produce a V8 engine, in 1910 — a 6.1-litre unit, closely followed by 7.8 and 14.7-litre options for the American market, and a 3.5 litre in 1912 for the European market — de Dion-Bouton started on a slippery slope downhill from 1908. The company had a stint building rail cars after WWI before finally shutting up shop in 1932.
Centurion
The car featured in this article is a 1908 de Dion-Bouton AV, a 10hp twin-cylinder model, the same type used for the 1907 Peking to Paris campaign. This particular car was found in 1953 abandoned in a sawmill near Taradale, any earlier history of the vehicle being near impossible to come across as all individual de Dion-Bouton factory records have long since been destroyed.
The car is believed to be one of five remaining in the world — amazingly, three of these survivors reside in New Zealand (the other two are in Christchurch). After moving to Auckland in 1953, the car remained in a sorry state until 1986, when Bruce and Wilma Madgwick purchased it and gave it a full restoration over the course of the next 12 years.
Since the restoration the car has been roadworthy, although the Madgwicks only used it to take part in veteran rallies, including the Sun Alliance event in 2000 and an event around Mt Egmont in 2004.
The car also appeared on occasional events around the Auckland and Waikato areas until 2006, when it was sold to its current owners, John and Kaye Murray. It can safely be said that they paid more for it in 2006 than the original 1908 asking price of £265 for a chassis, or £334 for a complete car.
For John, this car takes pride of place sitting inside his shed alongside his equally immaculate Model T Ford. However, with both cars he is of the attitude that they are there to be used, and if they get messy in the next 10 years or so — “Well we will just pull them down and restore them again!”
So, if you are out around the Matakana area it is not an uncommon sight to see John out for a cruise, and the car recently completed the Horseless Carriage Car Club of New Zealand’s Spring Tour.
Ten Horsepower of Grunt
The car is more or less as it left the factory, with a few modifications for practicality’s sake. The de Dion-Bouton originally came with a hand-operated throttle that stuck out of the dashboard, something that is more than a little impractical and bordering on dangerous in modern traffic. To replace this, John fitted a Model T carburettor with foot-mounted throttle. However, he still has the fully restored and functional original carburettor in the shed and, given about three hours notice, this could be refitted. The car also has a modern, greasable driveshaft for practicality.
John had a new set of wheels made around the original hubs (interestingly, the front has a five-stud hub and the rear a six-stud. As John explains; “It’s to handle the sheer 10 horsepower of grunt!”) to fit more easily available 30×3.5-inch tyres. Like the hubs, the standard wheels (and those used on John’s car) have 10-spoke front wheels and 12-spoke rears, for the same reasons.
The tyres for the car are made in Malaysia, and can come with the branding of any tyre from back in the 1900s.
Quite an Experience
The de Dion’s 1207cc two-cylinder motor struggles to get up John’s driveway, which is steep and gravel based; it can get to the top but it is strictly a one person job. However, once there it is an amazing experience to ride in a car that is 100 years old and not out. Although it will not get you anywhere in a hurry, once you take off and feel the wind in your hair — with everyone clapping and waving as you pass by — quite frankly there is not a care in the world that could ruin such an experience, and this is coming from a motor sport nut.
Driving seems like quite an experience — the gear shift alone resembles some sort of Olympic sport, and John definitely deserves a gold medal for it. Apart from that — and keeping a continual eye on traffic behind you — it all seems normal. The only point where the car really struggles is on any sort of incline. “It shows up hills where you would never have thought there were hills in the first place.
Sometimes I think it just sees the hill ahead and slows down,” John comments.
As the car cruised into the seaside town of Omaha, John was quick to point out how the car handles. “Look at this,” he said. “Absolutely no body roll!” Although that wasn’t exactly what this reporter was looking for in a test of a 100-year-old car, I have to admit he had a point. How many modern cars can take a 90-degree corner at about half of their top speed with absolutely no body roll, tyre squeal and neither under or oversteer?
John was kind enough to offer me a turn behind the wheel of his beloved de Dion-Bouton. However, having watched him work his way around the gearbox; and after hearing him tell me that although he has two spare engines, there are no transaxles that will fit this vehicle remaining in the world, and if one were to break it would be a rather expensive exercise to fix it; I chose to politely decline.
A big thank you to John for taking the time out to show his beautiful car off to us, all I can say now is if I ever make it to 100, if I can perform half as well as this old girl it will be more than a miracle.
