Automobiles Darracq France

He had introduced an unproven unorthodox engine in 1911 which proved a complete failure yet he neglected Suresnes' popular conventional products.

The London parent company suffered a financial collapse during the great depression and in 1935 Talbot S.A. was acquired by investors led by managing director, Antonio Lago.

[1] Production began in January 1898 with bicycle parts, tricycles and quadricycles and a Millet motorcycle powered by a five-cylinder rotary engine and shortly after an electric brougham.

Further capital was raised and large sums were spent on factory expansion, the Suresnes site was expanded to some four acres in extent, and in England extensive premises were bought.

[citation needed] In late 1904 the chairman reported sales were up by 20 per cent though increased costs meant the profit had risen more slowly.

An order was accepted from a M. Charley for several thousand cabs to sell to franchised operators in major European and American cities.

Darracq ordered 4,000 chassis frames and built a new factory beside the existing one but except in New York the cabs were not as popular as the Renault and Unic competition.

[10] London's Darracq-Serpollet Omnibus Company incorporated in May 1906 was hampered by delays in building a new factory then by the death by cancer of 48-year old Serpollet in early 1907.

[10] The new engine's failure was reported by Darracq & Company London to its shareholders to be no more than the difficulty of achieving quantity production.

[10] In late 1911 Alexandre Darracq was replaced by new manager, his former chief engineer, Paul Ribeyrolles[12] former head of Gladiator inventor and motor racing enthusiast.

[7] A main board director, Hopkins, was sent to Paris to take charge of general administration and former Rover Company chief engineer, Owen Clegg, was retrieved from USA where he was studying production methods at Darracq's expense and appointed works manager.

[14] By February 1913 shareholders had set up their own inquiry into the unsatisfactory position of their business and it reported poor co-operation between London and Suresnes, they had been pulling against each other, furthermore there had been considerable loss through "recent changes in personnel".

[10] Before his appointment as works manager Clegg had spent 12 months in USA at Darracq's expense studying automobile production.

[18] This model had also been initiated by Managing Director Owen Clegg back in 1913, but production had been delayed by intervening events until 1919.

[10] Following the inclusion of Clément-Talbot in the S T D Motors group Suresnes products were branded Talbot-Darracq though the word Darracq was dropped in 1922 and this company was renamed Automobiles Talbot S.A. Cars made by Automobiles Talbot imported from France to England were renamed Darracq to avoid confusion with the English Clément-Talbot products.

[19] Like other automobile makers in this era, such as Napier, Bentley, and Daimler, Darracq & Co participated in motor racing, and their drastically stripped-down voitures legére garnered publicity.

Fitted with a 22.5 L[20] overhead valve V8 made from two Bennett Trophy engines mated to a single crankcase, producing 200 hp (150 kW; 200 PS),[3] making it one of the first specialized land speed racers,[21] and on December 30, 1905, Victor Hémery drove this car to a speed of 109.65 mph (176.46 km/h) in the flying kilometer at Arles, France.

[22] Darracqs won the 1905 and 1906 Vanderbilt Cup at Long Island, New York, both credited to Louis Wagner in a 100 hp (75 kW; 100 PS) 12.7 L racer.

In the 100th episode of Wheeler Dealers, Mike Brewer and Edd China restore a 1903 Darracq, borrowed from the Haynes International Motor Museum, to working order and drove it in the veteran car run from London to Brighton.