De Dion Bouton – The Veteran Years, 1899-1904

This study aims to present a comprehensive review of those De Dion Bouton vehicles that entered production between 1899 and the end of 1904. The first volume from the Surrenden Press, De Dion Bouton, An Illustrated Guide to Type & Specification, 1899–1904, was published eight years ago, but space and time constraints prevented the comprehensive coverage that is now possible.

Part One (304 pages): Company History including details of the individuals who provided the impetus for the early development of the De Dion Bouton company and its subsequent success; Tours, Trials and Racing in France and Great Britain including the Paris-Madrid race and 1904 Tour of Southern Britain; Voiturette Technical Specification, Voiturette Development, Forward Control Vehicles, Licensing & Distribution, and Usage of De Dion Bouton Engines by other manufacturers.

Part Two (264 pages): Type Identification of the various front-engined single cylinder models; Technical Specifications with detailed chassis drawings and diagrams of engines and gearboxes, steering, cooling and brakes; Type Summaries of each model with contemporary and historic images; Usage of De Dion Bouton engines with surveys of Corre, Lacoste & Battmann, Malicet & Blin and Prunel; Electric vehicle designs that never went into production.

Part Three (244 pages) includes comprehensive illustrated coverage of the Twin Cylinder Engine, and Transmission, detailed illustrations of extant examples of The Type S and the Type W and their technical characteristics; original drawings of The Racing Spider used in competition by Charles Jarrott and Jack Stocks; the production of Commercial Vehicles; an essay on Vehicle Production for all vehicle Types in 1899-190, and an Epilogue covering The Later Years of the De Dion Bouton company, through the war years to its eventual cessation of production in the early 1930s.

Within the 800 carefully designed pages there are more than 1,000 photographs and drawings, a comprehensive set of footnotes and a bibliography that together provide a detailed narrative of the De Dion Bouton business at the turn of the last century. An epilogue charts the pathway of the company through the war years to its eventual cessation of production in the early 1930s.