1913 Delaunay Belleville Model 06

Around 1850, Julien Belleville began making boilers for marine steam engines. Louis Delaunay became a partner in the company in 1867 and married Belleville's daughter. He would become the sole owner and changed his and the company's name to Delaunay-Belleville.

Over the years, the company continued to grow, becoming an industrial manufacturer of boilers for locomotives and ships, as well as a supplier for battleships in the French navy. In 1903, Louis Delaunay-Belleville recruited Marius Barbarou from Benz, and S.A. des Automobiles Delaunay-Belleville was registered. Barbarou would become responsible for design and engineering, and one of his first creations was the round hood and radiator, which became a signature styling element of the marque.

At the Paris Saloon in 1904, Delaunay-Belleville presented its first automobile. It was a high-quality vehicle powered by an advanced four-cylinder engine. As time progressed, the company gained a reputation for building silent, fast, and powerful automobiles. The cars they built were expensive, technically advanced, and built of superior quality. Their vehicles used some of the earliest pressure-lubricated camshafts and water-cooled brakes.

Tsar Nicholas II purchased a 40 HP Delaunay-Belleville in 1906. King George I of Greece and King Alphonso XIII of Spain also owned Delaunays.

In 1906, Delaunay-Belleville introduced the first six-cylinder chassis in France. The 70 hp vehicle was known as the Type SMT, or Sa Majesté le Tsar, as Nicholas II bought one of the early cars and a second in 1909.

In 1910, a silent starter that could be operated from the driver's seat was made standard. It was known as the Barbey starter, and was introduced three years before Charles F. Kettering developed the electric self-starter for Cadillac.

Just prior to the start of World War I, Delaunay-Belleville introduced the O6 chassis. It featured a dual-ignition 8-liter engine that had six cylinders cast in two blocks of three. It also featured side-valves, full-pressure lubrication, and an oil pump driven directly from the camshaft. The oil pump was designed like a small steam engine where an oscillating piston pumped and distributed the oil. The 100 horsepower produced by the engine was sent to the rear wheels through a multi-plate dry clutch, another recent Delaunay-Belleville innovation.

It is believed that just 55 examples of the O6 chassis were built. Many were used by senior military personnel during the war. Production was discontinued at the end of 1916, as it was deemed too extravagant and costly.

by Dan Vaughan

Tourer by Rothschild
Chassis number: 6563
Engine number: 6563

It is believed that this particular example is one of the first ten O6 chassis built by Delaunay-Belleville. It was purchased new by Édouard Daubrée, co-founder of Michelin et Cie.

After World War I, the car was presented to Pierre de Brou de Laurière, a nephew of Édouard Daubrée, and registered in his name in the town of Périgueux in the Bordeaux area. In 1920, the car received electric lighting. In 1924 and 1928, the car returned to the factory for major work, including renovation of the engine and transmission.

When the next War threatened, the car was still in the ownership of M. de Brou de Laurière. When German troops were advancing, the car was hidden from the Nazis. The wheels were separated from the car and walled up in another house.

The car would remain in storage for 47 years. It was discovered in 1986 by a member of the Brou de Laurière family. The car was dismantled at that time, overhauled mechanically, given a sympathetic repaint, and a new convertible top was fitted. It remained in the Brou de Laurière family until it was sold at auction in February 2012.

by Dan Vaughan

Tourer by Rothschild
Chassis number: 6563
Engine number: 6563

Delaunay-Belleville started automobile production in 1904, and, like Hotchkiss, a manufacturer of modern armaments that shifted to production cars, Delaunay-Belleville was developing manufacturing technologies at the highest level. This rare Delaunay-Belleville 06 is one of the first ten built - possibly as early as late 1912. The car was bought by Edward Daubree, a member of the family that co-founded a small rubber factory in Clermont-Ferrand by the name of Michelin et Cie. The car remained in the same family until its current owner bought it in 2012, one hundred years after it was built. It has retained its original Tourer body constructed by J. Rothschild & Fils in Paris. The body is made of Partinium, an aluminum alloy with tungsten, a material that goes back to the days of horse carriage construction.