Marquis de Dion, a prominent French pioneer

In 1886, a patent for an automobile was granted for the first time in Germany. This gave the country an important place in the history of the car, and it claims to have invented the automobile.

Neighboring country France, however, had a lead in technology. One of the most prominent French pioneers of that time was the Marquis de Dion, who initially, together with Messrs. Bouton and Trepardoux, developed steam-powered cars, but later, working only with Bouton, focused on vehicles with internal combustion engines.

Albert de Dion was born in 1856, a descendant of the noble De Dion family, which dates back to the 13th century. At an early age the Count showed a great interest in mechanical objects, especially steam engines. His interest was not shared by his parents, who sent him to a school in Munich to learn German. After these studies he stayed in Paris, where he fully enjoyed the good life and soon gained a reputation as a playboy. However, his interest in engineering remained untouched. In fact, when in 1882 he saw a miniature steam engine in the window of a technical toy shop, it was as if he had returned to an old love. The owner of the shop was a certain Trepardoux. The door was opened by Trepardouxs brother in law, a man named Bouton. They started talking and it soon became clear that the three gentlemen shared the same ideas about a mechanically powered vehicle. De Dions first idea was to build a bicycle with an auxiliary engine. Later this became a so called road locomotive. This concept was called Lidee Automobile.

De Dion hired the two gentlemen and they began developing a vehicle. Between 1883 and 1936, the firm 'De Dion, Bouton & Trepardoux' registered 394 French patents, either under its own name or in the name of De Dion himself. The first experiments, however, were not very successful and among other things resulted in an exploded boiler. This led De Dion's father to deny him access to his fortune and give him only an allowance!

Shortly afterwards, the first four wheeled vehicle was produced, La Marquise, shown below driving in action, of which aslightly later model from 1887can be seen in the Louwman Museum.

The dream of a bicycle like vehicle for one person was realized a short time later. A small steam engine powered a tricycle that had room for one person. Because the engine was mounted at the front, a steering system had to be developed in which the front wheels pointed in the same direction at the same time. The driver's seat was fitted with suspension and the vehicle ran on (Michelin) pneumatic tires. The vehicle was a success and within 10 years De Dion had made his dream come true. Even his father realized this and forgave him his earlier sins. He could once again dispose of his own money!

Despite this success, something kept nagging at De Dion. He had seen the internal combustion engines and was deeply impressed by them. Bouton "did not know it yet," but Trepardoux was strongly opposed. A conflict within the trio was looming. Now that he once again had access to his money, De Dion set up a workshop elsewhere in Paris where he wanted to develop his ideas for a combustion engine. Together with the technician Delalande, De Dion designed and built a number of highly advanced engines. He drew his inspiration from the engines that Benz and Daimler exhibited at the Expo in Paris in 1889.

Curiously, the first engines he built were a four cylinder rotary engine and a twelve cylinder radial engine, suitable for aircraft. Why this choice was made is unclear, but it is certain that De Dion applied for and received patents for these engines in his own name. All this took place in 1889. No less than 20 years later, these engine configurations had become more or less commonplace!

Incidentally, the other De Dion branch continued producing high quality steam powered vehicles.

The collaboration with Delalande was fruitful. They also designed and built a fairly small engine with a capacity of 173 cc. As a result of an ignition system developed by De Dion, this little engine turned out to be capable of reaching previously unheard-of revs for that time. Whereas a little under 1000 revolutions per minute (rpm) was already considered good in those days, this one reached no less than 3000 rpm! This power unit was ideal for the dream that De Dion had in mind: a small, simple means of transport for everyone (who could afford it, that is). The original concept of a tricycle therefore suited this perfectly. In this case it had two wheels at the rear and one at the front, exactly the opposite of the "steam bicycle". Thus the famous De Dion Tricycle was born.

The Tricycle was a great success. People started taking part in races in which regular cars also competed. Here too, success soon followed. Despite much stronger opposition, good results were achieved.

De Dion was not only a gifted engineer, he was also a highly capable driver. He was a member of the prestigious Jockey Club de France, an organization that organized horse races. Following the reliability run from Paris to Rouen in 1894, De Dion went on to organize the next major endurance trial, the run from Paris to Bordeaux and back (won by Levassor in a Panhard et Levassor).

De Dion believed that there should be an umbrella organization for motorsport and other car related activities that would have to guide the various developments in the automotive field in the right direction. To this end, he founded the Auto Club de France (ACF) together with a number of his acquaintances (including Emile Levassor, the Peugeot brothers and James Gordon Bennett). This organization would organize competitions, where the experience that some of the founders had with horse racing came in very handy.

Besides organizing races, from 1896 onward the ACF also held exhibitions such as the Salon de lAutomobile in the Grand Palais in Paris. At the time, it was one of the most influential exhibitions in the world. The ACF served as a model for many automobile clubs in other countries. Ultimately, the Federation Internationale de lAutomobile (FIA) emerged from the ACF.

De Dion had developed a real taste for it. He rallied the French automobile manufacturers into an association in order, among other things, to better promote the popularity of the car. This association, called the "Chambre Syndicale de lAutomobile", still exists today. Aviation also interested him. He founded the Aero Club de France as well as an Association of Aircraft Manufacturers.

All these developments made De Dion an increasingly influential figure in France, not only in business circles but also in high society. However, he never lost sight of his own company. In the early nineteen hundreds, De Dion Bouton was one of the largest car and engine manufacturers in the world. In 1906 he produced 2,500 cars, and in later years even 6,000, while the assembly line had not yet been invented.

One source of annoyance for motorists was the lack of road maps. De Dion also tackled this problem with determination, and before long De Dion had quite decent road maps available, which were supplied as accessories with the car. The other manufacturers protested against this, after which De Dion sold this division to a neutral party, Michelin.

In 1900, the newspaper Le Velo launched an attack on De Dion. Le Velo had ties to the rival club lUnion Automobile, and in fact it turned out to be nothing more than a straightforward power struggle. In response, De Dion founded his own daily paper, lAuto-Velo. The part Velo later had to be removed from the name, but not before the paper had taken on the organization of a major cycling race in France, the Tour de France. In the period between the wars, the name was changed to LEquipe, which to this day remains a leading sports newspaper.

These developments did not mean that technical progress at De Dion came to a halt. Despite the departure of Trepardoux, De Dion was still producing large road locomotives that pulled heavy wagons loaded with goods or passengers.

Partly because of the poor roads, the spoked wheels often broke under the high torque produced by this type of steam engine. An axle was developed that distributed these forces more evenly, the so-called De Dion axle. The De Dion axle is perhaps De Dion's best-known patent.

It is still used in passenger cars and race cars to ensure that the tires maintain optimal contact with the road.

The success of the (descendants of) the original engine was great. Many start up car manufacturers such as Renault had used De Dion engines in the early years before later developing their own engines. They continued by building a single cylinder engine, then two and four cylinder versions and eventually an eight cylinder in V configuration (V8)! And that in 1909! Over the years this engine was further perfected into a very smoothly running power unit with a lot of torque. Earlier, the simpler engines had already been exported to many countries including America. The V8 also found its way to this country, namely to the already reputable brand Cadillac. Cadillac refined the concept and developed the engine that is now inextricably linked with the American car.

Things kept going better and better for De Dion Bouton. Car production rose steadily in the years just before the First World War. At a certain point more than 4000 men were working in De Dion's factory. Not only were they still making the simple three and four wheelers, but production of luxury, larger cars was also going well. De Dion even experimented with electric cars, but the enormous weight of the batteries and the limited range appealed to him less.

The outbreak of the First World War did not benefit the production of passenger cars, and the supply of magnets for the ignition of combustion engines came to a complete standstill. Robert Bosch from Germany was in fact the largest and best manufacturer of this type of product. De Dion Bouton also produced ignition systems itself and filled the gap that had arisen.

After the war, the company focused on luxury cars. The models that were brought to market were unimaginative and not at all innovative. Production never again reached the level of the years before 1914. In the end, the doors were closed in 1932.

De Dion and Bouton outlived their company and died at an advanced age in 1938 and 1946 respectively.

Peter Helbach