Decauville was a French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 automobile

Automobile

An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...

 maker, a subsidiary of a company already famous for producing locomotives.

The company was registered as Société des Voitures Automobiles Decauville in 1897 and the factory started producing automobiles in 1898. The first car was designed by Messrs Joseph Guédon and Gustave Cornilleau and the design was purchased for 250,000 French francs. Cornilleau was also taken on as chief engineer.

The car, a three-seater in the Voiturette

Voiturette

Voiturette is a word mostly used to describe a miniature automobile; however, it has several nuanced meanings, depending largely on the usage date.-History:...

 (Cyclecar) class, was called the Voiturelle. It had a peculiar designed structure, it featured independent suspension by transverse spring and two single-cylinder engines produced by De Dion-Bouton

De Dion-Bouton

De Dion-Bouton was a French automobile manufacturer and railcar manufacturer operating from 1883 to 1932. The company was founded by the Marquis Jules-Albert de Dion, Georges Bouton and his brother-in-law Charles Trépardoux....

 sharing a common crankcase. The engine was mounted under the seat and drove the back axle through a two-speed transmission. This car sold well, supplying 107 cars by 1898 and 350 by 1904. It was built also under licence by Wartburg

Automobilwerk Eisenach

The Automobilwerk Eisenach was an automobile manufacturer in Eisenach, Germany.-Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach:Heinrich Ehrhardt founded the Fahrzeugfabrik Eisenach in Eisenach on 3 December 1896 as a stock company...

 in Germany and Marchand

Marchand

Marchand is a frequent surname in France and in Quebec .The surname may refer to:* Albert Gallatin Marchand , Democratic member of the U.S...

 in Italy. In 1905 the car became much more conventional, the engine had become an 1416 cc water-cooled in-line twin and was moved to the front under the bonnet with the radiator on the scuttle behind the engine, a four-speed gearbox and shaft drive. A larger 2090 cc model followed and it was one of these that was purchased by Henry Royce

Henry Royce

Sir Frederick Henry Royce, 1st Baronet, OBE was a pioneering car manufacturer, who with Charles Stewart Rolls founded the Rolls-Royce company.-Early life:...

. The last of the voiturelles was made in 1902.

From 1905, the company produced larger models with four-cylinder engines. The customer could choose the engine type from 2.7 to 9.2 litres. A range of trucks and buses was also made.

Unfortunately, the demand for cars fell, and Decauville was forced to close its automobile factory in 1910. The parent company, Société Decauville continued to produce locomotives.

Surviving cars

• A Decauville Voiturelle from 1898 is featured in the Musée Automobile de Vendée in [Talmont-Saint-Hilaire]]
• A Decauville Voiturelle Vis-à-Vis from 1899 is featured in the Musée Henri Malartre in Rochetaillée-sur-Saône
  Rochetaillée-sur-Saône
  Rochetaillée-sur-Saône is a commune in the Rhône department in eastern France.-References:*...
  
  
• A Decauville from 1900 is featured in a museum in the Aalholm Automobile Museum, in Nysted
  Nysted
  Nysted is a town in Guldborgsund municipality in Region Sjælland on the southeastern coast of the island of Lolland in south Denmark.-The town of Nysted:...
  
  , Denmark
  Denmark
  Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
  
  
• A Decauville 10 HP Tonneau belonging to the National Motor Museum in Beaulieu, Hampshire
  Beaulieu, Hampshire
  Beaulieu is a small village located on the south eastern edge of the New Forest national park in Hampshire, England and home to both Palace House and the British National Motor Museum.- History :...
  
   is a regular participant at the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
  London to Brighton Veteran Car Run
  The London to Brighton Veteran Car Run is the longest-running motoring event in the world. The first run was in 1896, and has taken place most years since then. To qualify, the cars must have been built before 1905...
  
  , last time attending in 2010 (No. 143)
• Another Decauville Voiturelle, ca. 1899, from Belgium, participated at the 2010 London Brighton Run (No. 35)

External links

• 1901 Decauville (box six)-http://www.lbvcr.com/cars.cfm/CurrentPage/9/sort_type/car_entry_no
• Decauville mentioned in world history?-http://books.google.com/books?id=yLZeQwqNmdgC&pg=PA39&lpg=PA39&dq=decauville+automobile&source=web&ots=S2nvtwAVNB&sig=XKlpd8TzeXaBjzkVZWTcO8GeHw0#PPA39,M1