Delaunay Belleville the History
Delaunay-Belleville was a French luxury automobile manufacturer at Saint-Denis, France, north of Paris.
At the time the Delaunay Belleville was the most expensive motorcar produced.
At the beginning of the 20th century they were among the most prestigious cars produced in the world, and perhaps the most desirable French marque.
Julien Belleville had been a maker of marine boilers from around 1850. Louis Delaunay joined the firm in 1867 and married Delaunay’s daughter, changing his name to Delaunay-Belleville and succeeded Belleville in charge of the company.
S.A. des Automobiles Delaunay-Belleville was formed in 1903 by Louis Delaunay and Marius Barbarou.
Barbarou’s family owned the boiler making company St. Denis in Belleville, with boiler design influences inspired by the company. Barbarou, then 28, had experience working for Clément, Lorraine-Dietrich and Benz and was responsible for design and styling, including the trademark round grille shell.
The first car was exhibited at the 1904 Paris Salon, and it received enormous acclaim.
The company started with three models, all fours cylinder models with a live axle 16 hp and a 24 hp version and a 40 hp model, both chain-driven.
These were likely the first automobiles to have pressure-lubricated camshafts.
The bodies were attached with just four bolts, and the brakes were water-cooled, from a 2 imp gal reservoir.
Delaunay-Belleville was a prestige follower of Alphonso XIII of Spain.
The first French car maker to offer a six-cylinder engine, Delaunay-Belleville’s 70 hp became available only in 1909, and then only in small numbers, remaining in limited production until 1912.
This model came to be known as the Type SMT, or Sa Majesté le Tsar, because Nicholas purchased one of the last 70s built.
He also ordered another in 1909; the demand for a silent starter, operable from the driving seat, became known as a Barbey starter, and was made standard at the end of 1910.
Like most prestige marques, the cars were sold as bare chassis and bodies were coach built for them.
Between 1906 and 1914, British imports were mainly bodied by Shinnie Brothers, a Burlington subsidiary, in Aberdeen, and then shipped to London for sale.
To read more on this great cars and see some wonderful photographs follow the link: https://www.classicmobilia.com/news/delaunay-belleville-detailed-history/