Albert de Dion

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

De Dion
De Dion

Marquis Jules Félix Philippe Albert de Dion (1856-1946) was a pioneer of the automobile industry in France.

[edit] His life

Scion of a leading French noble family and "a notorious duellist",[1] de Dion had a passion for mechanics.[2] He had already built a model steam engine when, in 1881, he saw one in a store window and inquired about the toymakers, to build another.[3]

The engineers, then making a starvation living on scientific toys[4] at a shop in Léon,[5] were Georges Bouton and his brother-in-law, Charles Trépardoux,[6] who needed money for Trépardoux's long-time dream of a steam car.[7] De Dion, already inspired by steam (though in the form of rail locomotives)[8] and with plenty of money,[9] agreed.

Before 1883 was over, they had formed a partnership (which became the de Dion-Bouton automobile company, world's largest automobile manufacturer for a time), tried and dropped marine steam engines, and produced a steam car.[10] Driving the front wheels by belts and steering with the rear,[11] it burned to the ground on trials. They built a second the next year, with a more conventional layout, capable of carrying four.[12]

Comte de Dion entered one in an 1887 trial, "Europe's first motoring competition",[13] the brainchild of one M. Fossier of cycling magazine Le Vélocipède.[14] Evidently, the promotion was insufficient, for the de Dion was the sole entrant,[15] but it completed the course.

The "dead axle" named for him was actually invented by steam advocate Trépardoux, just before he resigned because the company was turning to internal combustion.[16]

Comte de Dion also founded the Mondial de l'Automobile (Paris Motor Show) in 1898. He died in 1946, age 90.[17]

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Wise, David Burgess, "De Dion: The Aristocrat and the Toymaker", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. The World of Automobiles (London: Orbis Publishing, 1974), Volume 5, p.510.
  2. ^ Wise, p.510.
  3. ^ Wise, p.510.
  4. ^ Wise, p.510.
  5. ^ Wise, p.510.
  6. ^ Georgano, G. N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930. (London: Grange-Universal, 1990), p.27.
  7. ^ Georgano, p.27.
  8. ^ Georgano, p.27.
  9. ^ Georgano, p.24 cap.
  10. ^ Georgano, p.27.
  11. ^ Georgano, p.27.
  12. ^ Georgano, p.27.
  13. ^ Georgano, p.27.
  14. ^ Georgano, p.27.
  15. ^ Georgano, p.27.
  16. ^ Wise, p.511.
  17. ^ Wise, p.514.

[edit] Sources

  • Georgano, G. N. Cars: Early and Vintage, 1886-1930. London: Grange-Universal, 1990 (reprints AB Nordbok 1985 edition).
  • Wise, David Burgess, "De Dion: The Aristocrat and the Toymaker", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. The World of Automobiles (London: Orbis Publishing, 1974), Volume 5, p.510-4.
 This automobile biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
 This French business-related biographical article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.