Blast from the Past – De Dion Bouton Model G

This De Dion Bouton Model G may be French but it does have a rather interesting Italian connection and on the 125th anniversary of Fiat we want to celebrate the marque by remembering the man “behind the scenes”. A man that has been sadly forgotten by history due to his early death in 1904, but whose willing was decisive for the creation of the marque. He was earl Emanuele Cacherano di Bricherasio – a rich, benevolent Torinese nobleman with a strong passion for motoring. It’s no accident that on July 1st 1899, the agreement for the constitution of “Società anonima Fabbrica italiana automobili Torino”, which later became “Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino” (Fiat), was signed in the centre of Turin, in the Bricherasio palace in via Lagrange 20. It was a moment captured by Lorenzo Delleani in a famous painting that hangs proudly in the Fiat Centro Storico museum.

It all started one year previously when he founded a partnership to build a 3 HP Voiturette with a water-cooled engine, called Welleyes and since it was quite successful, more financial resources were required to start serious production. Therefore earl Emanuele proposed the business to a few important names in local high-society and eight of them accepted, starting a story lasting more than a century.

Hidden as well, like the figure of Emanuele, and strongly believed to be owned by him, the car has been abandoned for over 57 years in the palace where the earl was laid to rest and remains completely original since 1901. The incredible De Dion Bouton Model G, with chassis number 395, is a truly outstanding piece of automotive history and an extremely rare witness to the technology of the time.

If you would be curious to hear this over a century old moving monument, we showcased it in a reel on Instagram together with Guido Saracco, engineering professor and former rector of Politecnico University in Turin.

Sadly, the visionary earl died only 5 years after the foundation of Fiat, letting other entrepreneurs lead the project, which in 1903 was already quoted in the stock exchange. All the personal properties of the man, including the Fubine Castle where the car had been forgotten, were inherited by his sister Sofia and before passing away, in 1950, she donated all to the don Orione nuns. The nuns were clearly not car fans as they evidently did nothing with the De Dion Bouton and eleven years after the donation, the rear-engined Voiturette was sold to an historic vehicle lover and writer based in Turin.

Fortunately, he made no significant changes to it as well: he performed a mechanical overhaul, replaced the two lateral pieces of the leather canopy and probably repainted the marque’s emblem on the sides of the carriage but that was all. He recognised the importance of preserving the car’s originality and although he didn’t use the car that much he did take part in several significant events.

It wasn’t until 2013 that the Type G started to really stretch its legs thanks to the current owner, who bought it that year after it spent some more time slumbering in the garage of its saviour’s son. It completed the 2015 London to Brighton Veteran Car Run and won the Wellingham Cup, which is the Best in Show prize at the concours d’elegance of the veteran car event.

Later on, it completed the Run again in 2017, with the first Italian team of seven arriving at 14.00. The car had a tendency to over-fuel, so the driver had to accelerate carefully along the way, but once again the reliability that bolstered De Dion Bouton’s reputation at the beginning of the last century was fully confirmed in the present day. When the 4.5 HP, single-cylinder Model G came out in the autumn of 1900, the area of the De Dion Bouton factory in Puteaux had to expand to 38,000 square meters to accommodate greater production. A consequence of the great success of their business with a good deal of its production centred upon tricycles, quads, steam buses, engines and voiturettes as well.

Preceded onto the market by the Type D, which was the first type to be sold, the Type G is a four seater with the front seat containing the water tank for the radiator, which is positioned below it. This example was first purchased at the Salamo concessionaire of the marque in Chambery, just beyond the Italian borders at the end of the Moncenisio road – which was later employed by Fiat for its test-drives. The number plate, manufactured by Touring Club Italiano, was substituted between 1905 and 1927, when the provinces of Italy were indicated in red numbers (according to the alphabetic order of their names), followed by sequential black digits: so we can deduce, this was the 72nd vehicle registered in the Turin area, with the town corresponding to 63.

The only component that the current custodian changed in the car was the ignition coil, a necessary replacement as the original barely worked any more. The single vertical cylinder engine with two gears is water-cooled utilising a pump system. The small handle under the driver’s seat is to reverse the direction of travel, while at the centre of the footwell there’s a knob to set the mode (with “M” meaning “Marcher”, “Go”, and “A” for “Arret”, “Stop”). The leather rope to the right of the driver activates the parking brake for when the car is on a slope, while the other brake acts directly in the transmission with a jaw, and is activated by the pedal near the handlebars.

You may also wonder about the “1112” which appears on many parts of the De Dion Bouton, which is fitted with the firm’s own coachwork. Today we’d call that the manufacturing number, marking all the pieces that had to be assembled with the chassis.

There is so much to explore in such an old, totally preserved vehicle. Every time the owner brings the car out there are enthusiasts of the marque examining it from top to bottom to discover all of the original mechanical details. Even the upholstery is fully original! Among the secrets of this old lady is even a sheet to shelter the driver and a passenger. And how could we not mention the ingenious devices mounted beneath each of the mudguards, automatically ejecting a nail or other sharp object that might puncture the tyres? A brilliant and sophisticated feature that we definitely wish modern cars had!