Lorraine-Dietrich
Encyclopedia
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...
and aircraft engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturer Société Lorraine des Anciens Etablissments de Dietrich and Cie (known as De Dietrich et Cie, founded in 1684 by Jean de Dietrich) branched into the manufacture of automobiles. The Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
divided the company's manufacturing capacity, one plant in Niederbronn-les-Bains
Niederbronn-les-Bains
Niederbronn-les-Bains is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
, Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, the other in Lunéville
Lunéville
Lunéville is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in France.It is a sub-prefecture of the department and lies on the Meurthe River.-History:...
, Lorraine
Lorraine (région)
Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...
.
Beginnings
In 1896, managing director of the Lunéville plant, Adrien, Baron de Turckheim, bought the rights to a design by Amédée BolléeAmédée Bollée
Amédée-Ernest Bollée was a French bellfounder and inventor who specialized in steam cars. After 1867 he was known as "Amédée père" to distinguish him from his similarly named son, Amédée-Ernest-Marie Bollée .-Biography:...
. This used a front-mountedGeorgano, G.N. Cars: Early and Vintage 1886-1930 (London: Grange-Universal, 1990), p.15. horizontal twin engine with sliding clutches and belt drive. It had a folding top, three acetylene
Acetylene
Acetylene is the chemical compound with the formula C2H2. It is a hydrocarbon and the simplest alkyne. This colorless gas is widely used as a fuel and a chemical building block. It is unstable in pure form and thus is usually handled as a solution.As an alkyne, acetylene is unsaturated because...
headlights, and, very unusual for the period, plate glass windshield. While the company started out using engines from Bolée, de Dietrich eventually produced the entire vehicle themselves.
In 1898, de Dietrich debuted the Torpilleur (Torpedo) racer, which featured a four-cylinder engine and independent suspension
Independent suspension
Independent suspension is a broad term for any automobile suspension system that allows each wheel on the same axle to move vertically independently of each other. This is contrasted with a beam axle, live axle or deDion axle system in which the wheels are linked – movement on one side affects...
in front, for the Paris-Amsterdam Trial; Gaudry wrecked en route, but still placed third. The response was substantial, exceeding one million gold franc
Franc
The franc is the name of several currency units, most notably the Swiss franc, still a major world currency today due to the prominence of Swiss financial institutions and the former currency of France, the French franc until the Euro was adopted in 1999...
s. The 1899 torpilleur was less successful, despite underslung chassis, a rear-mounted monobloc four, and twin carburettors; poor preparation left none of the works teams able to complete the Tour de France.
The Bolée-inspired design was supplanted by a licence-built 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...
Vivinus
Vivinus
Vivinus cars were made by Ateliers Vivinus S.A. of Schaerbeek, Brussels .The owner, Alexis Vivinus , had made bicycles in the 1890s and become an importer of Benz. From 1895 he started to make his own range of cars. These were belt-driven voiturette models with a 785 cc single-cylinder engine and...
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:...
at Niederbronn and a Marseilles-designed Turcat-Méry
Turcat-Méry
-External links:*...
at Lunéville, following a 1901 deal with that cash-strapped company.Wise, p.509 caption.
In 1902, de Dietrich hired 21 year old Ettore Bugatti
Ettore Bugatti
right|thumb|Ettore Bugatti in 1932Ettore Arco Isidoro Bugatti was an Italian-born and French naturalized citizen automobile designer and manufacturer....
, who produced prize-winning cars in 1899 and 1901, and he designed a overhead valve
Overhead valve
An overhead valve engine, also informally called pushrod engine or I-head engine, is a type of piston engine that places the camshaft within the cylinder block , and uses pushrods or rods to actuate rocker arms above the cylinder...
24 hp (18 kW) four-cylinder with four-speed transmission
Transmission (mechanics)
A machine consists of a power source and a power transmission system, which provides controlled application of the power. Merriam-Webster defines transmission as: an assembly of parts including the speed-changing gears and the propeller shaft by which the power is transmitted from an engine to a...
to replace the Vivinus. He also created their 30/35 of 1903, before quitting to join Mathis
Mathis
Mathis was a firm in Alsace that produced cars between 1910 and 1950, founded by Émile Mathis born Strasbourg , died Geneva.-Hermès-Simplex:...
in 1904.
The same year, management at Niederbronn quit car production, leaving it entirely to Lunéville, with the Alsace market being sold a Turcat-Méry badge-engineered
Badge engineering
Badge engineering is an ironic term that describes the rebadging of one product as another...
as a de Dietrich. Even at the time, this was seen with some disdain, and Lunéville put the cross of Lorraine
Cross of Lorraine
The Cross of Lorraine is originally a heraldic cross. The two-barred cross consists of a vertical line crossed by two smaller horizontal bars. In the ancient version, both bars were of the same length. In 20th century use it is "graded" with the upper bar being the shortest...
on the grille to distinguish them. Nevertheless, under the skin they were little different, nor would they be until 1911. For all that, the Lorraine-Dietrich was a prestige marque, ranking with Crossley
Crossley
Crossley, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, was a pioneering company in the production of internal combustion engines. Since 1988 it has been part of the Rolls-Royce Power Engineering group.More than 100,000 Crossley oil and gas engines have been built....
and Itala, while attempting to break into the "super-luxury" market between 1905 and 1908 with a handful of ₤4,000 (US$20,000) six-wheeler limousines de voyage.
Napier & Son
D. Napier & Son Limited was a British engine and pre-Great War automobile manufacturer and one of the most important aircraft engine manufacturers in the early to mid-20th century...
and Mercedes
Mercedes (car)
Mercedes was a brand of the Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft . DMG which began to develop in 1900, after the death of its co-founder, Gottlieb Daimler...
, Lorraine-Dietrich's reputation was built in part on racing, which was "consistent if not distinguished", including Charles Jarrott
Charles Jarrott
Charles Jarrott was a British film and television director. He was best known for costume dramas he directed for producer Hal B...
's third in the 1903 Paris-Madrid Rally and a 1-2-3 in the 1906 Circuit des Ardennes
Circuit des Ardennes
The Circuit des Ardennes was an auto race held annually at the Circuit de Bastogne, Bastogne, from 1902 to 1907. It was the first major race to run on a closed course instead of from one city to another.- Winners of the Circuit des Ardennes :...
, led by ace works driver Arthur Duray
Arthur Duray
Arthur Duray was born in New York City of Belgian parents and later became a French citizen. An early aviator, he held Belgian license #3. He is probably best known today for breaking the land speed record on three separate occasions between July, 1903 and March, 1904...
.
De Dietrich bought out Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta-Fraschini
Isotta Fraschini represents two Italian manufacturing companies which produce, respectively, marine engines and luxury goods. In the early 20th century it was famous worldwide as a luxury car manufacturer.-History:...
in 1907, producing two OHC cars to Isotta-Fraschini designs, including a 10 hp (7.5 kW) allegedly created by Bugatti. Also that year, Lorraine-Dietrich took over Ariel Mors Limited of Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, for the sole British model, a 20 hp (15 kW) four, shown at the Olympia Motor Show
Olympia, London
Olympia is an exhibition centre and conference centre in West Kensington, on the boundary between The Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea and Hammersmith & Fulham, London, W14 8UX, England. It opened in the 19th century and was originally known as the National Agricultural Hall.Opened in 1886,...
in 1908, offered as bare chassis, Salmson
British Salmson
British Salmson was a British based manufacturer of cars, from 1934 to 1939. An offshoot of the French Salmson company, it was taken over by local management...
convertible
Convertible
A convertible is a type of automobile in which the roof can retract and fold away having windows which wind-down inside the doors, converting it from an enclosed to an open-air vehicle...
, and Mulliner
H. J. Mulliner & Co.
H. J. Mulliner & Co. was a well-known British coachbuilder operating at Chiswick in West London.The Mulliner family can trace their coachbuilding history back to 1760, building coaches for the Royal Mail in Northampton....
cabriolet. (The British branch was not a success, lasting only about a year.)
For 1908, de Dietrich offered a line of chain-driven touring
Touring car
A touring car, or tourer, is an open car seating five or more. Touring cars may have two or four doors. Often, the belt line is lowered in the front doors to give the car a more sportive character. They were often fitted with a folding roof and side curtains. Engines on early models were either in...
fours, the 18/28 hp, 28/38 hp, 40/45 hp, and 60/80 hp, priced between ₤550 and ₤960, and a 70/80 hp six at ₤1,040. The British version differed, having shaft drive. That year, the names of the automotive and aero-engine divisions were changed to Lorraine-Dietrich.
By 1914, all de Dietrichs were shaft-driven, and numbered a 12/16 , an 18/20, a new 20/30 tourers, and a sporting four-cylinder 40/75 (in the mold of Mercer
Mercer (car)
Mercer was an American automobile manufacturer from 1909 until 1925. It was notable for its high-performance cars, especially the Type 35 Raceabout.-Early history:...
or Stutz
Stutz
Stutz may refer to:*Harry C. Stutz , American automobile pioneer and manufacturer of luxury cars and fire engines*Josef Stutz , Swiss Conservative politician*Stutz Motor Company, American luxury cars producer...
), all built at Argenteuil
Argenteuil
Argenteuil is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Argenteuil is a sub-prefecture of the Val-d'Oise department, the seat of the arrondissement of Argenteuil....
, Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise
Seine-et-Oise was a département of France encompassing the western, northern, and southern parts of the metropolitan area of Paris. Its préfecture was Versailles and its official number was 78. Seine-et-Oise was abolished in 1968....
(which became company headquarters postwar).
Post-World War I
After World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, with Lorraine restored to France, the company restarted manufacture of automobiles and aero-engines. Their 12-cylinder aero-engines were used by Breguet
Société Anonyme des Ateliers d'Aviation Louis Breguet
The Société des Ateliers d'Aviation Louis Bréguet also known as Breguet Aviation was a former French aircraft manufacturer. The company was set up in 1911 by aviation pioneer Louis Charles Breguet....
, IAR
Industria Aeronautica Româna
Industria Aeronautică Română or Romanian Aeronautic Industry in English, is a Romanian aerospace manufacturer founded in 1925. Based in Ghimbav, near Braşov, Romania, the company employs around 1200 specialists including more than 170 engineers...
, and Aero
Aero Vodochody
Aero Vodochody is a Czech aircraft company, active from 1919, notable for producing the L-29 Delfin, L-39 Albatros, L-59 Super Albatros and the L-159 Alca....
, among others.
In 1919, new technical director Marius Barbarou (late of Delaunay-Belleville
Delaunay-Belleville
Automobiles Delaunay-Belleville was a French luxury automobile manufacturer from Saint-Denis, France, north of Paris. At the beginning of the 20th century they were among the most prestigious cars produced in the world, and perhaps the most desirable French marque.Julien Belleville had been a maker...
) introduced a new model in two wheelbase
Wheelbase
In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels.- Road :In automobiles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the center of the front wheel and the center of the rear wheel...
s, the A1-6 and B2-6, joined three years later by the B3-6, with either short or long wheelbase. All used the same 15 CV (11 kW) 3,445 cc (210 in3) six-cylinder, which had overhead valves, hemispherical
Hemi engine
A Hemi engine is an internal combustion engine in which the roof of each cylinder's combustion chambers is of hemispherical form.- History :...
head
Cylinder head
In an internal combustion engine, the cylinder head sits above the cylinders on top of the cylinder block. It closes in the top of the cylinder, forming the combustion chamber. This joint is sealed by a head gasket...
, aluminim piston
Piston
A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tight by piston rings. In an engine, its purpose is to transfer force from...
s, and four-bearing crankshaft
Crankshaft
The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation...
.
The performance was such in 1923, three tourers "put up a passable showing" at the first 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
, leading to the creation for 1924 of the 15 Sport, with twin carburetion, larger valves, and Dewandre-Reprusseau servo
Servomechanism
thumb|right|200px|Industrial servomotorThe grey/green cylinder is the [[Brush |brush-type]] [[DC motor]]. The black section at the bottom contains the [[Epicyclic gearing|planetary]] [[Reduction drive|reduction gear]], and the black object on top of the motor is the optical [[rotary encoder]] for...
-assisted four-wheel brakes (at a time when four-wheel brakes of any kind were a rarity); they ran second and third, and were comparable to the 3 liter Bentleys. A 15 Sport did better in 1925, winning Le Mans, followed home by a sister in third, while in 1926, Bloch
Robert Bloch (racing driver)
Robert Bloch is a French racing driver who, along with André Rossignol, won the 1926 24 Hours of Le Mans for French manufacturer Lorraine-Dietrich. Robert Bloch had been part of Lorraine-Dietrich's racing team since the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans in , finishing the event, but struggled to...
and Rossignol
André Rossignol
André Rossignol was a French racing driver who became the first driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, winning in consecutive years. Rossignol was a driver for the French Lorraine-Dietrich automobile company, and had been on their driving team since the inaugural Le Mans in...
won at an average 106 km/h (66 mph), leading a 1-2-3 sweep by Lorraines. Lorraine-Dietrich thus became the first marque to win Le Mans twice and the first to win in two consecutive years.
This publicity contributed to touring 15s being bodied by Gaston Grummer, also Argenteuil's director, who produced coachwork
Coachwork
Coachwork is the body of a horse-drawn coach or carriage, a motor vehicle , a railroad car or railway carriage. Usually reserved for bodies built on a separate chassis, rather than being of unitary or monocoque construction...
for the likes of Aurora, Olympia, Gloriosa, and Chiquita.Believe it, or not. Wise, p.509. The 15 CV was joined by a 2,297 cc (140 in3) 12 CV (10 kW) four (until 1929) and a 6,107 cc (373 in3) 30 CV (20 kW) six (until 1927), while the 15 CV survived until 1932; the 15 CV Sport fell in 1930, losing its last race, the 1931 Monte Carlo Rally
Monte Carlo Rally
The Monte Carlo Rally or Rally Monte Carlo is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco which also organises the Formula One Monaco Grand Prix and the Rallye Monte-Carlo Historique. The rally takes place along the French Riviera in the Principality of Monaco and...
, when Donald Healey
Donald Healey
Donald Mitchell Healey CBE was a noted English rally driver, automobile engineer, and speed record holder.- Early life :...
's Invicta
Invicta (car)
Invicta is a British automobile manufacturer. The brand has been available intermittently through successive decades. Initially, the manufacturer was based in Cobham, Surrey, England from 1925 to 1933, then in Chelsea, London, England from 1933 to 1938 and finally in Virginia Water, Surrey, England...
edged Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille
Jean-Pierre Wimille was a Grand Prix motor racing driver and a member of the French Resistance during World War II.-Biography:...
by a tenth of a point.
Name change
The de Dietrich family sold its share in the company, which became simply known as Lorraine from 1928 on.End of automobile production
The 15 CV was supplanted by a 4,086 cc 20 CV (15 kW), of which just a few hundred were made. Automobile production eventually became unprofitable and, after the failure of their 4,086 cc 20 CV model, the concern ceased production of automobiles in 1935.In 1930, de Dietrich was absorbed by Société Générale Aéronautique, and the Argenteuil plant was converted to making aircraft engine
Aircraft engine
An aircraft engine is the component of the propulsion system for an aircraft that generates mechanical power. Aircraft engines are almost always either lightweight piston engines or gas turbines...
s and six-wheel truck
Truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, with the smallest being mechanically similar to an automobile...
s licenced from Tatra. By 1935, Lorraine-Dietrich had disappeared from the automobile industry. Until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Lorraine concentrated on the military market, manufacturing vehicles such as the Lorraine 37L
Lorraine 37L
The Lorraine 37L or Tracteur de ravitaillement pour chars 1937 L, was a light tracked armoured vehicle developed during the Interbellum by the Lorraine company to a French Army requirement for a munition and fuel supply carrier to be used by tank units. A prototype was built in 1937 and production...
armoured carrier.
The Lunéville plant returned to rail locomotives. In 2007, it still operated as De Dietrich Ferroviaire
De Dietrich Ferroviaire
De Dietrich Ferroviaire is a French manufacturer of railway rolling stock based in Reichshoffen, France. It was formed as a division of the De Dietrich group, which has a ....
.
Aircraft engines
- Lorraine 8B
- Lorraine 9N Algol
- Lorraine 12D
- Lorraine 12E Courlis
- Lorraine 12H Pétrel
- Lorraine 14A
- Lorraine Eider
- Lorraine Sterna
- Lorraine P5
- Lorraine AM-6
- Lorraine Mizar
- Lorraine-Latécoère 8B