La Marquise

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia
La Marquise Marquise 1884.jpg
La Marquise

La Marquise is the world's oldest running automobile, as of 2011. [1] It is an 1884 model made by Frenchmen De Dion, Bouton and Trépardoux. The car was a quadricycle prototype named for de Dion's mother. [2]

Contents

In 1887, the Count of Dion drove La Marquise in an exhibition that has been called the world's first car race, though no other car showed up. [2] It made the 32-odd-kilometre (20 mile) Paris-to-Versailles round trip at an average speed of 25.5 km/h (almost 16 mph). The following year, he beat Bouton in a three-wheeler with an average speed of 29 km/h (19 mph). [2]

Fueled by coal, wood and bits of paper, the car takes 30–40 minutes to build up enough steam to drive. Top speed is 61 km/h (38 mph). [3]

As the oldest car, it wore the number "0" in the 1996 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run. [2] The vehicle was sold at the 2007 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance for $3.52 million. [4] It sold again in 2011 for $4.6 million, a record price for an early automobile. [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadricycle</span> Small motorized four wheeled vehicle

Quadricycle refers to vehicles with four wheels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talbot-Lago</span> Automobile manufacturer (1920–1959)

Talbot-Lago was a French automobile manufacturer based in Suresnes, Hauts de Seine, outside Paris. The company was owned and managed by Antonio Lago, an Italian engineer that acquired rights to the Talbot brand name after the demise of Darracq London's subsidiary Automobiles Talbot France in 1936.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duesenberg</span> 1913–1937 American engine and automobile manufacturer

Duesenberg Automobile and Motors Company, Inc. was an American racing and luxury automobile manufacturer founded in Indianapolis, Indiana, by brothers Fred and August Duesenberg in 1920. The company is known for popularizing the straight-eight engine and four-wheel hydraulic brakes. A Duesenberg car was the first American car to win a Grand Prix race, winning the 1921 French Grand Prix. Duesenbergs won the Indianapolis 500 in 1924, 1925, and 1927. Transportation executive Errett Lobban Cord acquired the Duesenberg corporation in 1926. The company was sold and dissolved in 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bugatti Veyron</span> Sportspes car by Bugatti (2005–2015)

The Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 is a mid-engine sports car, designed and developed in Germany by the Volkswagen Group and Bugatti and manufactured in Molsheim, France, by French automobile manufacturer Bugatti. It was named after the racing driver Pierre Veyron.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">De Dion-Bouton</span> French automobile company

De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1953. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton, and Bouton's brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jules-Albert de Dion</span> French automotive pioneer

Marquis Jules Félix Philippe Albert de Dion de Wandonne was a French pioneer of the automobile industry. He invented a steam-powered car and used it to win the world's first auto race, but his vehicle was adjudged to be against the rules. He was a co-founder of De Dion-Bouton, the world's largest automobile manufacturer for a time, as well as the French sports newspaper L'Équipe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delage</span> 1905-1953 French automotive brand manufacturer

Delage was a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bugatti Automobiles</span> French high-performance luxury automobile manufacturer

Bugatti Automobiles S.A.S. is a French luxury hyper-sports car manufacturer. The company was founded in 1998 as a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group and is based in Molsheim, Alsace, France. The Bugatti name was first made famous by Ettore Bugatti (1881–1947), who established the original Bugatti automobile brand in 1909 at Molsheim and built sports, racing and luxury cars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW 507</span> Motor vehicle

The BMW 507 is a grand touring convertible that was produced by German automobile manufacturer BMW from 1956 until 1959. Initially intended to be exported to the United States at a rate of thousands per year, it ended up being too expensive, resulting in a total production figure of 252 cars and heavy financial losses for BMW.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renault Voiturette</span> Motor vehicle

The Renault Voiturette was Renault's first ever produced automobile, and was manufactured between 1898 and 1903. The name was used for five models.
The first Voiturettes mounted De Dion-Bouton engines. Continental tires were used for the car, a make still used for several modern Renaults today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gaston de Chasseloup-Laubat</span> French racing driver (1866–1903)

Count Charles-François Gaston Louis Prosper de Chasseloup-Laubat was a French aristocrat and race car driver.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of steam road vehicles</span>

The history of steam road vehicles comprises the development of vehicles powered by a steam engine for use on land and independent of rails, whether for conventional road use, such as the steam car and steam waggon, or for agricultural or heavy haulage work, such as the traction engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lamborghini Sesto Elemento</span> Limited edition Lamborghini

The Lamborghini Sesto Elemento is a high-performance limited edition car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Lamborghini, which debuted at the 2010 Paris Motor Show. The Sesto Elemento's name is a reference to the atomic number of carbon, referring to the carbon fibre used in its construction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Lemaître</span> French racing driver

Albert Lemaître, , was a French sporting motorist and early racing driver. He was the first petrol powered finisher in what is described as 'the world's first competitive motoring event' when he drove his Peugeot Type 7 from Paris to Rouen at 19 km/h (12 mph) in 1894. The Comte de Dion had finished first but his steam-powered vehicle was ineligible for the main prize which was shared between the manufacturers Peugeot and Panhard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Société Parisienne</span>

Société Parisienne was a French manufacturer of velocipedes, bicycles and tricycles from 1876. They began limited automobile construction in 1894 and regular light car (voiturette) construction in 1898 or 1899, and they ceased operation in 1903. The vehicles, variously known as Parisienne, Victoria Combination, Eureka, l'Eclair, Duc-Spider and Duc-Tonneau, were manufactured by Société Parisienne E. Couturier et Cie of Paris.

Rétrospectives Automobiles Miniatures was a French manufacturing company that made diecast scale model collector vehicles mostly of classic French automobiles in 1:43 scale. The acronym was seen on packaging without the periods between the letters of the acronym, but on some of the vehicle bases with the punctuation. "J.M.K." was a further acronym that stood for the three founding members of the company: M. Jarry, Henri Malartre and M. Koch. Though the models were often known simply as RAMI, the full name of the company was RAMI by J.M.K.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Duesenberg Model J</span> Motor vehicle

The Duesenberg Model J is a luxury automobile made by Duesenberg. Intended to compete with the most luxurious and powerful cars in the world, it was introduced in 1928, the year before the stock market crash that led to the Great Depression. The Model J, available with a supercharger after 1932, was sold until Duesenberg Motors Company went bankrupt in 1937.

Auto racing began in the mid-19th century. It became an organized sport, which has grown in popularity ever since.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plymouth XNR</span> Chrysler concept car of 1960

The Plymouth XNR is a concept car developed by Chrysler. It was designed by Virgil Exner, and first shown in 1960. Also called the XNR 500, the car is an open roadster with some asymmetric features, and was proposed as a sporty addition to the Plymouth model lineup, and as competition for the Chevrolet Corvette.

References

  1. 1 2 Valdes-Dapena, Peter (2011-10-10). "World's oldest car sells for $4.6 billion". CNN . Retrieved 2011-12-17.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Duchene, Paul (2007-08-19). "For Sale: '84 Model. Runs Great". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  3. Valdes-Dapena, Peter (2007-06-28). "World's oldest car for sale: Steam-powered 1884 car will be auctioned at Pebble Beach in August". CNN. Retrieved 2007-11-15.
  4. McDermon, Daniel (2007-08-21). "The Classics of Pebble Beach, '07 Edition". The New York Times (blog). Retrieved 2007-11-15.

Multimedia:

-