De Dion-Bouton - Steam Cars

Steam Cars

Before 1883 was over they had set up shop in larger premises in the Passage de Léon, Paris, tried and dropped steam engines for boats, and produced a steam car. With the boiler and engine mounted at the front, driving the front wheels by belts and steering with the rear, it burned to the ground on trials. They built a second, La Marquise, the next year, with a more conventional steering and rear wheel drive, capable of seating four.

The Marquis de Dion entered one of these in an 1887 trial, "Europe's first motoring competition", the brainchild of one M. Fossier of cycling magazine Le Vélocipède. Evidently, the promotion was insufficient, for the De Dion was the sole entrant, but it completed the course, with de Dion at the tiller, and was clocked at 60 km/h (37 mph). This must be taken with considerable care; the first official land speed record, set in 1898, was 63.15 km/h (39.24 mph). The vehicle survives, in road-worthy condition, and has been a regular entry in the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run.

Following this singular success, the company offered steam tricycles with boilers between the front wheels and two-cylinder engines. They were built in small numbers, evidently a favorite of young playboys, before being joined by a larger tractor, able to pull trailers (what has been called a "steam drag"). This larger vehicle introduced the so-called De Dion or "dead" axle, which only carried weight. Entered in the 1894 Paris–Rouen race, it averaged 18.7 km/h (11.6 mph) over the 127 km (78 mi) route, but was disqualified for needing both a driver and a stoker.

Two more cars were made in 1885 followed by a series of lightweight two-cylinder tricars, which from 1892 had Michelin pneumatic tyres. In 1893 steam tractors were introduced which were designed to tow horse type carriages for passengers or freight (sometimes called "steam drags") and these used an innovative axle design which would become known as the De Dion tube, where the location and drive function of the axle are separated. The company manufactured steam buses and trucks until 1904. Trepardoux, staunchly supporting steam, resigned in 1894 as the company turned to internal combustion vehicles. The steam car remained in production more or less unchanged for ten years more.