1904 De Dion Bouton Henri Binder Tonneau

De Dion, Bouton et Trepardoux was among the first practitioners to take part in the motor industry. Bouton and Trepardoux were brothers-in-law and both were engineers. Comte Jules Felix Philip Albert de Dion de Malfiance was of noble birth, enjoyed steam engines, and was of substantial means.

The Count and M. Trepardoux formed a partnership to build small, self-propelled vehicles. In 1883, a four-wheel carriage with rear-wheel steering was built. Automobile production continued to evolve in various configurations. In 1893, a series of steam tractors were built. By the early 1980s, de Dion had built two advanced petrol engines.

Trepardoux remained loyal to steam while de Dion was able to convince George Bouton of the advantages of the internal combustion. In 1894 he resigned from the partnership. De Dion and Bouton then began work on a single-cylinder petrol engine with air-cooling and electric ignition. The new design was applied to a tub-frame tricycle and was made in several sizes and quantities until 1902.

The first petrol-engine four-wheeler was completed in 1898. In 1903, the first twin-cylinder car was produced, the Type S. All the vehicles since the 1893 steam tractors were given the de Dion rear suspension which used a dead axle to carry the weight, while drive was taken to the wheels by floating half-shafts with universal joints. The dead axle became known as the 'De Dion tube.' It maintained the alignment of the wheels while reducing un-sprung weight.

In 1904, a four-cylinder car appeared named the Model AD. It had a chassis comprised of pressed steel, platform rear suspension, automatic inlet valves, side-lever gear-change, and a single-plate clutch.

This example is a 1904 DeDion-Bouton Model ADL and rides on the longer wheelbase version of the two available for the Model AD. It was part of the Cameron Peck Collection in the 1940s. In 1952, it was sold to Atwater Kent Jr., who subsequently donated the car to the William Penn Memorial Museum in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Prior to 1955, the car was fitted with a wicker touring body. In 1996, on the sale of some of the Penn Museum cars, it went to England, where it was sympathetically mechanically restored for the second time in its life.

The current owner treated the car to an authentic restoration where it was given a (re-created) four-passenger rear-entrance tonneau body, in the style of Henri Binder.

In 2008, the freshly restored car was shown at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegnace where it received First in Class honors. In 2010, the car was sold at the Automobiles of London presented by RM Auctions where it was sold for £280,000.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2014

In 1904, DeDion was the largest automobile company in the world. Compte Albett de Dion was among the founding fathers of the automobile along with Emile Levassor, Armand Peugeot and Adolphe Clement. This car benefits from the famous De Dion rear suspension that was developed in 1899 and is still used in automobiles today. The 4-cylinder De Dion cars of 1904 were used for factory racing as well and to promote the company. Although they were shown in their catalogue and at several public venues, they were not sold to the public until 1905. De Dion 4-cylinder cars participated in the grueling 1904 Paris to Madrid race that became known as the 'Race of Death' and in the famous 1905 Gordon Bennett Trophy race.