Delaunay Belleville Automobiles
S.A. des Automobiles Delaunay-Belleville (part of Societe Anonyme des Etablissements Delaunay Belleville) was a French luxury automobile manufacturer from St. Denis sur Seine, France. At the beginning of the 20th century these cars were among the most prestigious cars produced in the world, and perhaps the most desirable French marque.
1849 Julien Belleville began making marine boilers.
1867 Louis Delaunay (1843-1912) joined the firm; he married Belleville's daughter, changing his name to Delaunay-Belleville, and succeeded Julien in charge of the company.
1904 Delaunay-Belville established a special department for the construction of automobiles.
1904 Marius Barbarou started work for the brothers Pierre and Robert Delaunay-Belleville.[1]. Marius had experience working for Clement and Benz and was responsible for design and styling.
The first car was exhibited at the 1904 Paris Salon
1905 Produced 16, 20, 28 and 40 h.p. models and are chain-driven. UK agents are the Burlington Carriage Co. [2]
1906 S.A. des Automobiles Delaunay Belleville was formed to look after car manufacture.
Most of the models were powered by inline-six engines, with a few four cylinder engines. A pressurized system of pumps and oil ways for lubrication was one of the first of its kind, most cars of the day having a drip system.
Represented in Britain by Burlington Carriage Co until about 1909
c.1910 British representatives changed to Delaunay-Belleville Automobiles (England)
1914 Barbarou, technical director, having developed a range of luxury models with engines known for their absence of vibrations, moved onto a new manufacturer, Lorraine-Dietrich.
1913-1917 For a list of the models and prices see the 1917 Red Book
By the late 1920s the Delaunay-Belleville had lost its prestige; the firm converted to truck and military vehicles production.
In 1936 the previously separate car company was merged with the Delaunay Belleville parent.
1946 The factory was sold to Robert de Rovin and used to make minicars.
See Also
- 1905 Motor Show (SMMT November)
- 1908 Motor Show
- 1908 Motor Show: A Review
- 1908 Motor Show: A Review (3)
- 1909 Motor Show
- 1912 Scottish Motor Show
- 1914 Motor Car Red Book: Cars
- 1917 Motor, Marine and Aircraft Red Book: Cars
- 1922 Automotor: Index
- Automobile Engineer: 1938/11
- Burlington Carriage Co
- Delaunay-Belleville Automobiles (England)
- Delaunay Belleville Motors
- John James Mann
- Luke Terence Delaney
- Rovin
- Societe Anonyme des Etablissements Delaunay Belleville
- The Engineer 1904/12/16
- The Engineer 1904/12/30
- The Engineer 1905/01/20
- The Engineer 1912/11/22
Sources of Information
- [2] Wikipedia