1906 Darracq GP Car

Here's a little something for those who love historic cars, especially racers.

The video below is of a 1906 Darracq Grand Prix racer at Phillip Island, Melbourne, in 2011. It would have competed at the French GP, which at that time raced on closed public roads outside the city of Le Mans.



Automobiles Darracq SA was founded in 1896 by frenchman Alexandre Darracq, who'se manufacturing plant in Suresnes produced electric motor carriages until 1900. At the turn of the century, which coincidentally brings with it the development of their first internal combustion engine, their business quickly prospers with the introduction of the "Flying Fifteen" model. This new car of exceptional quality quickly propels the car manufacturer to a ten percent share of the french market.

The company quickly expanded overseas with agreements with Opel in Germany, Britain, Italy, and Spain. The partnership in Italy was precursor to Alfa Romeo.

V-8 Special at Ormond Beach, USA

As with most car manufacturers of that period, Darracq began auto racing as a way to gain publicity for its products. GP driver Paul Baras drove a Darracq to a new land speed record of 104.53 mph in 1904. A year later a Darracq V-8 special broke the record with 109.65 mph. That same V-8 special was shipped stateside to Ormond Beach (literally a stone's throw away from Daytona) where it won the title of "1906 Speed of King". Upon its return to Europe, the V-8 special was sold to Sir Algernon Lee Guinness (of the famous brewing family) who continued to set many records with it.

In 1913 Alexandre Darracq sold his car company to Owen Clegg, who led a group of Brittish financiers. After WWI the company Darracq took over British Talbot and Talbot models were sold as Talbot-Darracq, and later after a reorganisation as Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq (STD).

In the near future, I will go into another Darracq: the 200 hp Sprint Special.

Source: Wikipedia
Video courtesy of: Hafuvideo