Lorraine-Dietrich

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Share of the Société Lorraine des Anciens Établissements De Dietrich et Cie, issued January 1928
Lorraine-Dietrich 12 HP Torpedo 1912
Lorraine-Dietrich 130hp 1909

Lorraine-Dietrich was a

Lorraine.[1]

Beginnings

In 1896, the managing director of the Lunéville plant, Baron Adrien de Turckheim, bought the rights to a design by Amédée Bollée.[1] This used a front-mounted[2] horizontal twin engine with sliding clutches and belt drive.[1] It had a folding top, three acetylene headlights,[2] and, very unusual for the period, a plate glass windshield.[2] While the company started out using engines from Bollée, De Dietrich eventually produced the entire vehicle themselves.[3]

corsetry
that the fashion of the time demanded.
1903, 16 h.p. De Dietrich motor car

In 1898, De Dietrich debuted the Torpilleur (Torpedo) racer, which featured a four-cylinder engine and

Tour de France.[3]

The Bollée-inspired design was supplanted by a

Marseilles-designed Turcat-Méry at Lunéville,[3] following a 1901 deal with that cash-strapped company.[4]

In 1902, De Dietrich & Cie hired 21-year-old

Mathis in the German Alsace in 1904.[3]

The same year, management at Niederbronn quit car production, leaving it entirely to Lunéville,

marque, ranking with Crossley and Itala,[3] while attempting to break into the "super-luxury" market between 1905 and 1908 with a handful of £4,000 (US$20,000) six-wheeler limousines de voyage.[3]

1905 Lorraine-Dietrich CR2 racing car

Like

Mercedes, Lorraine-Dietrich's reputation was built in part on racing, which was "consistent if not distinguished",[3] including Charles Jarrott's third in the 1903 Paris–Madrid race and a 1-2-3 in the 1906 Circuit des Ardennes, led by ace works driver Arthur Duray.[3]

De Dietrich bought out

cabriolet.[3] (The British branch was not a success, lasting only about a year.)[3]

For 1908, De Dietrich offered a line of chain-driven touring fours, the 18/28 hp, 28/38 hp, 40/45 hp, and 60/80 hp, priced between £550 and £960, and a 70/80 hp six at £1,040.[3] The British version differed, having shaft drive.[3] That year, the names of the automotive and aero-engine divisions were changed to Lorraine-Dietrich.[citation needed]

By 1914, all De Dietrichs were shaft-driven, and numbered a 12/16, an 18/20, a new 20/30 tourers, and a sporting four-cylinder 40/75

Stutz), all built at Argenteuil, Seine-et-Oise (which became company headquarters postwar).[3]

Post-World War I

After

Breguet, IAR, and Aero
, among others.

In 1919, new technical director

hemispherical head, aluminium pistons, and four-bearing crankshaft.[3]

The performance was such in 1923, three tourers "put up a passable showing"[6] at the first 24 Hours of Le Mans, leading to the creation for 1924 of the 15 Sport, with twin carburetion, larger valves, and Dewandre-Reprusseau servo-assisted four-wheel brakes[6] (at a time when four-wheel brakes of any kind were a rarity); they ran second and third, and were comparable to the 3 litre Bentleys.[6] The 15 CV Sport did better in 1925, winning Le Mans, followed home by a sister in third, while in 1926, Bloch and Rossignol won at an average 106 km/h (66 mph), leading a 1-2-3 sweep by Lorraines.[6] Lorraine-Dietrich thus became the first marque to win Le Mans twice and the first to win in two consecutive years.

This publicity contributed to touring 15s being bodied by

coachwork for the likes of Aurora, Olympia, Gloriosa, and Chiquita.[7] The 15 CV was joined by the 12 CV, a 2,297 cc (140.2 cu in) four-cylinder car (until 1929), and the 30 CV, with a 6,107 cc (372.7 cu in) six cylinder engine (until 1927), while the 15 CV survived until 1932; the 15 CV Sport fell in 1930, losing its last race, the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally, when Donald Healey's Invicta edged Jean-Pierre Wimille by a tenth of a point.[6]

Name change

The De Dietrich family sold its share in the company, which became simply known as Lorraine from 1928 on.

End of automobile production

The 15 CV was supplanted by the 20 CV, which had a 4,086 cc (249.3 cu in) engine, of which just a few hundred were made.[6] Automobile production eventually became unprofitable and, after the failure of their 20 CV model, the concern ceased production of automobiles in 1935.

In 1930, De Dietrich Argenteuil plant was absorbed by Société Générale Aéronautique, and was converted to making aircraft engines and six-wheel trucks licensed from Tatra.[6] By 1935, Lorraine-Dietrich had disappeared from the automobile industry.[6] Until World War II, Lorraine concentrated on the military market, manufacturing vehicles such as the Lorraine 37L armoured carrier.

The Lunéville plant returned to rail

locomotives.[6] In 1950s it was acquired by the US company General Trailers and as Trailor (Trailmobile Lorraine) manufactured trucks.[8]

Aircraft engines

Lorraine-Dietrich 8Be aircraft engine.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Burgess-Wise 1974, p. 507.
  2. ^ a b c Georgano 1990, p. 15.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab Burgess-Wise 1974, p. 508.
  4. ^ Burgess-Wise 1974, p. 509, in caption
  5. ^ BUGATTI, THE PRESTIGIOUS FRENCH BRAND, September 19, 2019
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Burgess-Wise 1974, p. 509.
  7. ^ Burgess-Wise 1974, p. 509, under "Believe it, or not."
  8. ^ Nouvelle, L'Usine (26 June 2013). "Après 133 ans, Trailor s'efface à Lunéville".
  9. ^ Hartmann 2002, p. 46.

References

  • Burgess-Wise, David (1974). "De Dietrich: France's Veteran Car Manufacturer". In Ward, Ian (ed.). The World of Automobiles. Vol. 5. London: Orbis Publishing. pp. 507–9.
  • Georgano, G. N.
    (1990). Cars: Early and Vintage 1886-1930. London: Grange-Universal.
  • Hartmann, Gérard (2002). Liore et Olivier. Boulogne-Billancourt: E-T-A-I. p. 46.
    ISBN 2-7268-8607-8
    .

External links

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