DEDION-BOUTON

DEDION-BOUTON 

Top speed c30 mp,  Origin- France

 

4 and a half  HP TYPE G Year of manufacture 1901 

This delight full vis-à-vis completed every Bright on Run from 2001 to ’11 and it’s on the crank. De-Dion's are known by its engine, in this case 6060, but this one also has a modern chassis number imposed on it by the DVLA.

 It was rebuilt by its gifted engineer owner in the ’70s, after which it was blessed in Holt Parish Church (there’s a photo). It’s in spleen did order, with good paint, nicely paginated hide, unworn tires and plenty of meat on the externally contracting brakes–two work from the floor pedal, the third from the drive control/ratio selector.

 The rear suspension and drive train have recently been rebuilt with refurbished drive shafts, now carrying modern rubber boots concealing ‘pot’ –type CVJs. The motor is smart, with polished brass and a lovely timber case to the coil, but the Zenith car burette may be a later device than in 1901.

There’s water visible under the tiny radiator cap and the total-loss oil set-up is replenished every 15miles from a delightful original can on the offside running board.  The 498cc (84 mm bore, 90mm stroke: do the sums; we had to) single starts easily via the side hand crank (its drive chain is in good shape) and runs well, but it’s a bit throttle sensitive may be due to the later Zenith carb. Once you’ve told your brain to forget everything you know, it’s simple to operate with nearly all the controls on the column–two ratios, fairly direct steering via tiller and you don’t often need to tinker with the advance retard. It gets down the road well, with a delightful chuffing that please everyone in earshot. Stopping with all three brakes deployed won’t challenge your G tolerance.