1908 De Dion Bouton 18HP Model BI 18HP
Registration No. CD7542
2800cc Double Phaeton body
18HP 4 Cylinder
Veteran Car Club Dated
£35,000 GBP
De Dion-Bouton company dates back to the early 1880s, when Jules-Albert de Dion entered into partnership with the engineer M. Bouton to develop and market a steam tricycle. A factory was set up on the Seine at Puteaux and it was here, in 1899, that they built their first small motor car. An instant success, it was followed by numerous different models over the ensuing years. De Dion engines were also supplied in vast numbers to other car manufacturers. There was a time, around 1900, when the De Dion factory was the largest car manufacturer in the world.
Summarised in 1987, “This particular car is the 18 H.P. Model BI, of 2800 cc. capacity, fitted with the standard Double-Phaeton coachwork and built early in 1908. No other example is known to have survived.
Unfortunately, the early history of the car remains largely a mystery. The exceptional originality suggests very little use before being laid up for a length of time.
The dashboard, carries the original import licence (the triangular plate), in addition to the manufacturer’s and agent’s plates. Some coachwork restoration is known to have been undertaken shortly after World War II, including the replacement of the wings and bonnet, before the car relapsed, once more, into hibernation.”
After WWII CD 7542 was stored until 1975 when the car met better fortunes. Unfortunately, by this time it had been partially stripped with many parts left to rust. Thankfully almost all the original parts were still present with the car, and in no less than three years CD 7542 was subject to a sympathetic engine restoration to original specification. Since 1978 the then owner covered well over 13,000 miles on the road, logging every single excursion in a journal up until 2006 when the car was sold to the next owner.
CD 7542 participated in 13 major veteran car rallies, attended numerous events, and even made a pilgrimage to France, entirely under its own steam.
There are few 100-year-old cars that still carry their original coachwork whilst also having many original mechanical parts and beautiful Bleriot headlamps. With handwritten notes on how to drive the 18 H.P. and technical notes dating from the restoration, this De Dion Bouton has a special and unique history.
