De Dion-Bouton 3.5-hp Vis-à-vis

Words like gezinsauto and massaproductie are perfectly applicable to this Petite Voiture by De Dion-Bouton, even though these expressions were not yet in common use around 1900.

Words like gezinsauto and massaproductie are perfectly applicable to this Petite Voiture by De Dion-Bouton, even though these expressions were not yet in use around 1900. In 1899 this four-seater car was launched on the market as light, simple and easy to drive, with a certain degree of comfort. The passengers sit two by two facing each other (in French: vis-a-vis), a body style from the world of carriages that was used more often around the turn of the century. Of this very popular car with the engine in the rear and an easy-to-operate two-speed gearbox, around 3,000 examples were built in the four years the model was in production. The earliest models of this type, like this one, are steered with a lever and shifted with a wheel, exactly the opposite of what is the case today. This car uses the famous De Dion rear axle design, developed for the marque's heavier steam cars. In this system, the forces from the engine are distributed by a differential over two independent axles that drive the rear wheels. The De Dion axle is still in use today, particularly in sports and racing cars.