Alexandre Darracq was a French automobile manufacturer.

Born Pierre Alexandre Darracq in Bordeaux

Bordeaux

Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...

, France, of Basque

Basque people

The Basques as an ethnic group, primarily inhabit an area traditionally known as the Basque Country , a region that is located around the western end of the Pyrenees on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and straddles parts of north-central Spain and south-western France.The Basques are known in the...

 parents, he trained as a draftsman at the Arsenal in Tarbes

Tarbes

Tarbes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France.It is part of the historical region of Gascony. It is the second largest metropolitan area of Midi-Pyrénées, with 110,000 inhabitants....

, in the Hautes-Pyrénées

Hautes-Pyrénées

Hautes-Pyrénées is a department in southwestern France. It is part of the Midi-Pyrénées region.-History:...

 département. He later worked at the Hurtu

Hurtu

Hurtu was a pioneering French car made by Diligeon et Cie based in Albert, Somme from 1896 to 1930. As well as cars, the company also made sewing machines and bicycles....

 factory manufacturing sewing machines, and Darracq designed a machine that won a gold medal at the 1889 Paris exhibition. He established the Gladiator Cycle Company

Gladiator Cycle Company

The Gladiator Cycle Company was a French manufacturer of bicycles, motorcycles and cars based in Le Pré-Saint-Gervais, Seine.Throughout its productive life from 1891 until its demise in 1920 the company was variously owned by the founders Alexandre Darracq and Paul Aucoq; from 1896 by Adolphe...

 in 1891. He sold his very successful company in 1896 for a substantial amount and for a short time went into the business of manufacturing electric cars as well as acquiring an interest in Millet motor bicycles. He established Automobiles Darracq S.A. in Suresnes

Suresnes

Suresnes is a commune in the western suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The nearest communes are Neuilly-sur-Seine, Puteaux, Rueil-Malmaison, Saint-Cloud and Boulogne-Billancourt...

, near Paris where he pioneered the making of the chassis from pressed steel and the use of production machinery in place of hand labor. Despite his establishing an automobile business, Alexandre Darracq was a man who did not like driving cars or even being driven in them. For him, it was just pursuing his interest in manufacturing and making money.

By 1904, Darracq was producing more than ten percent of all automobiles in France. His company became involved with Grand Prix motor racing

Grand Prix motor racing

Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...

, winning a number of major races, including the Vanderbilt Cup

Vanderbilt Cup

The Vanderbilt Cup was the first major trophy in American auto racing.-History:An international event, it was founded by William Kissam Vanderbilt II in 1904 and first held at a course set out in Nassau County on Long Island, New York. The announcement that the race was to be held caused...

 in the United States and twice setting a new land speed record

Land speed record

The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...

 in 1904 and 1905. Racing success raised the image of the Darracq marque so that he was able to expand to England and form licensing partnerships and raising substantial capital through share issues in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 with Cavaliere Ugo Stella, in Germany with Adam Opel

Opel

Adam Opel AG, generally shortened to Opel, is a German automobile company founded by Adam Opel in 1862. Opel has been building automobiles since 1899, and became an Aktiengesellschaft in 1929...

 as well as in Vitoria, in the Basque region of Spain.

The company that became Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo

Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...

 was founded as Società Anonima Italiana Darracq (SAID) in 1906 by the French automobile firm of Alexandre Darracq, with some Italian investors.

In 1912, Alexandre Darracq sold out to a British concern and pursued other interests including running the Casino at Deauville

Deauville

Deauville is a commune in the Calvados département in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.With its racecourse, harbour, international film festival, marinas, conference centre, villas, Grand Casino and sumptuous hotels, Deauville is regarded as the "queen of the Norman beaches" and...

. After World War I, he chose to retire to the French Riviera

French Riviera

The Côte d'Azur, pronounced , often known in English as the French Riviera , is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France, also including the sovereign state of Monaco...

 where he invested with the Belgian

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

 interests that took over the troubled luxury Hotel Negresco

Hotel Negresco

The Hotel Negresco on the Promenade des Anglais on the Baie des Anges in Nice, France was named for Henri Negresco who had the palatial hotel constructed in 1912...

 in Nice

Nice

Nice is the fifth most populous city in France, after Paris, Marseille, Lyon and Toulouse, with a population of 348,721 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Nice extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of more than 955,000 on an area of...

. He died in 1931 at his home in Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo

Monte Carlo is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco....

 and was interred next to his wife Louise (1850–1920) in the family mausoleum in the Père Lachaise Cemetery

Père Lachaise Cemetery

Père Lachaise Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris, France , though there are larger cemeteries in the city's suburbs.Père Lachaise is in the 20th arrondissement, and is reputed to be the world's most-visited cemetery, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors annually to the...

in Paris.