Darracq Automobile Pictures Gallery

Darracq Genevieve 1904 12hp
London to Brighton 2014
Mark J. Willison Photo

Darracq Rear-entrance tonneau 1901 6 1/2 HP Two-seater
London to Brighton 2014
Mark J. Willison Photo

Darracq Swing-seat tonneau 1902 Registration no. BEC 79 Engine no. 3159
London to Brighton 2014
Mark J. Willison Photo

French engineer Alexandre Darracq established the Gladiator Cycle Co. in 1891, developed it over a five year period and sold out in 1896. He retained his interests in the bicycle industry, shrewdly moving to components manufacture, but was intrigued by the new-fangled horseless carriages. The first successful car built by Soci&ecute;t&ecute; A Darracq at Suresnes was a horizontal-engined car to the design of Leon Boll&ecute;e which appeared in 1898. Darracq found this machine to be inefficient and built a car to his own design which appeared in 1900. This was a vertical-engined, single-cylinder voiturette of 6 1/2hp with a tubular steel chassis and shaft drive, a very advanced feature in its day.