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Monday 8 August 2016

The construction of little motors

De Dion Bouton c1900
source

He was ever on the watch; and even now was thinking of reverting to the construction of little motors, for he thought he could divine in the near future the triumph of the motor-car.
Emile Zola – Paris (1898)

Zola’s character here was a successful bicycle manufacturer feeling the heat of competition. Even by 1898 it must have been obvious how significant the development of the car could be, but perhaps only to some and only in the big cities.

4 comments:

Scrobs. said...

*Nerd alert*

Autotrader say that while this is indeed a De Dion, it was made in 1936, and should be green!

End of nerd episode...

Demetrius said...

Not a chance, old son, all them vehicles will need oils and there is not that much of it around and coal firing is impractical. Then all the roads will need relaying, who will pay for that? Never mind the maintenance costs. Take my advice and buy shares in the London, Chatham and Dover Railway, they will be the future.

James Higham said...

Wish we could have some of those elaborate carriage designs today.

A K Haart said...

Scrobs - not sure what you mean. It is probably as green as can be, sitting in a classic car collection.

Demetrius - and the man with the red flag is bound to sue if you bump into him.

James - so do I. Less speed and more style.