Darracq 200HP – a “crazy” fire-breathing cart from 1905
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Darracq 200HP – a “crazy” fire-breathing cart from 1905

America is called the "homeland of speed". Its "automotive heartbeat" is considered to be the incomparable knock of large V8 engines. However, let's figure it out: in the clatter of "fingers", if you strain your ear, you can hear a clear French accent. It was the "frogs" who were first on the podium with the Darracq 200HP model.


Connoisseurs of the history of mechanical engineering will remember Howard Marmon from Indianapolis. Fair enough. But in 1904, the engineer equipped his serial car Marmon Model A with a V4 engine with a capacity of 20 hp. He sold only 6 copies, and did not set world speed records. In 1906, he tried to build a V6, but did not solve the problem with balancing. And the honor of the first 8-cylinder gasoline engine with a V configuration still belongs to Alexandre Darracq. More details…

Historical background


The name of the prominent French citizen, industrialist and investor, surfaced in our earlier article about Talbot Lago Grand Sport. The successful businessman A. Darracq produced in Suresnes near Paris until 1896. Bicycles.

Darracq 200HP – a “crazy” fire-breathing cart from 1905 The Darracq 200HP, designed to conquer the world's land speeds. Photo: YouTube.com

At the moment of the birth of mechanical engineering, the automobile reins immediately fell under the tail of the respected man. And then the horse accessory directed the manufacturer to create the best examples of the industry: beautiful, reliable, fast. The latter was more exciting: let's remember the mad race for speeds, which manufacturers on both sides of the Atlantic joined.

Competitions of "self-propelled crews" were held spontaneously and in an organized manner. Rules and regulations for auto racing were formed, looped and straight tracks were built, although highways remained the "battlefield" for speed. Timekeepers were an important figure, who even then recorded the route and time of passing the sports tracks to hundredths.

There was nothing particularly outstanding about Alexandre Darracq's cars before 1905. Except, as the newspapers wrote, "the perfect balance and harmony of every detail." Well, don't say it: the change in engine speed from 100 to 2000 rpm is the merit of the French car manufacturer. The achievement was the result of adjusting the ignition and intake valves.

Darracq 200HP engine. Photo: YouTube.com

The engines were worked on by a natural engineer, Louis Ribeyrolles, who had studied at the College of Arts and Crafts in Chalons-sur-Marne. In a tiny drawing room overlooking the machine shop, the designer came up with the idea of ​​connecting two in-line fours at a 90° angle on a common crankcase. They attached them in the simplest way possible – with bolts. It turned out clever: a pair of opposite cylinders were serviced by a single stroke of the crankshaft using fork-type connecting rods.

The structure of the Darracq 200HP model


It was not by chance that Ribeyrol came up with the brilliant idea of ​​a V-shaped layout. He had to think under the pressure of the requirements for sports cars: it was necessary to keep the weight of the car no higher than 1 ton. With the new design, the curb weight car pulled 990 kg.

Four sets of paired cast cylinders each had a diameter of 160 mm and a piston stroke of 140 mm. The nominal working volume was 22,5 liters. The original engine with part of the chassis has survived to this day. During the restoration of the unit in the 2000s, careful measurements were taken, which showed a volume of 25,422 liters. The dimensions of the cylinders were 170 x 140 mm. And the power of the 16-valve engine?.. It is amazing. It is reflected in the name of the car - 200 hp with a shaft rotation of 1200 rpm.

The famous "two hundredth" squeezes a speed record out of its engine. Photo: YouTube.com

Recently we touched on the topic of vintage ICEs of enormous size. We were talking about FIAT S76 1911, "Turin Monster" with a 28-liter engine. It was mentioned that the path to power, according to the ideas of engineers of those years, lay through increasing the volume of the power plant. The "Italian" generated 290 "horses". But this was 6 years later than our hero.

Returning to the "Frenchman": the car was primitive in its purest form - an engine on wheels. The platform was made of stamped Arbel steel. The engine was located low on the chassis in the front longitudinally.

Darracq 200HP: Collector Gerald Firkins restored the sports car for the model's 100th anniversary. Photo: YouTube.com

The drive was supplied to the rear wheels. A 2-speed axle was installed here. The gear shift lever was located between the pilot's legs. It is clear that there was no reverse gear, no differential, and no brakes on the front wheels.

Other features of the sports car


The designers also did not take care of the body or something similar, so as not to increase the weight of the car. They did not lay the floors: the passenger or navigator rested their feet on the chassis crossbar. Lowering your eyes to the road while the vehicle was moving meant suicide.
There is nothing to call the car a salon. Riders sat on bucket seats. However, the car seats, as an eyewitness wrote, were "more buckets than seats."

Isn't it a pleasure to listen to an old engine?

The developers placed a V-shaped radiator in the front of the car. The engine cooling part was made by Grouvel & Arquembourg. The water tank, shaped like a projectile, was placed above the cylinders. Yes, the styling is so-so. But the model was created with one goal in mind – to cross the face of the planet at the highest speed.

Sports career


At the end of December 1905, the car was prepared for racing. It was delivered to the south of the country. The races took place on the Salon road. The judging team was headed by the president of the local automobile club. The race car was piloted by the titled racing driver Victor Hemery.

Spewing flames from the exhaust pipes, filling the surroundings with an incredible roar, raising clouds of dust, the car drove along the kilometer-long route 4 times. Moreover, it showed surprisingly even results in both directions. The chronometers recorded from 20,6 to 21,8 seconds. This meant that the speed was 175 km/h.

Darracq 200HP at the Goodwood Festival of Speed ​​in the UK in 2005. Photo: YouTube.com

World record! For the first time, the public saw a vehicle that could actually overtake a trainThe newspapers wrote:

… this is the speed of hurricanes that demolish houses and trees, storms that exert a formidable pressure of 300 kg per square meter on the surfaces they encounter...


But the winner was not satisfied. If it had not been for the terrible weather, Viktor Hemery grumbled, the speed could have been higher. The athlete soon had the opportunity to prove it, as well as to show his unbearable character.

In America


The mighty 200HP Darracq was loaded onto a ship and sent to Florida Week 1906. The fourth annual auto race was held here at Ormond-Daytona Beach.

On the eve of the competition, an unpleasant circumstance came to light: the weight of the car exceeded the permissible weight for its class. The temperamental Victor raged, protesting the judges' decision. The case was helped by the distributor of Darracq in the USA: the overloaded car was lightened by removing a certain part.

However, the nervous Frenchman almost ruined the model's participation in the race again: he made three false starts. The guy was removed, having been taught a good lesson in "American discipline".

The "30,6th" was driven to the world record by the great Louis Chevrolet. The athlete covered one mile in 28,2 seconds. But Fred Marriott in a steam-powered Stanley Rocket covered the distance in 205,443 seconds (speed XNUMX km/h). Isn't this a humiliation for progressive internal combustion engines?

It was only on the last day of the competition that the second French pilot V. Demogeot brought the Stanley down to its knees on a 2-mile stretch. The Darracq's speed was 122,5 mph (197 km/h) – the highest result achieved by the first V8. Demogeot received the title of "Speed ​​King of the World".

Keeping the Darracq 200HP on a bend is no easy task. Photo: YouTube.com

The further fate of the sports car was relatively successful. After the triumph, the car went home, where it was bought by the British Elgie Lee Guinness. He raced, set European records. The car was stored in the owner's garage until 1954.
The engine and part of the chassis (the other components were not preserved) were then bought by Gerald Firkins.

A fan of the brand and collector of old-timers restored the car for its 100th anniversary. In 2005, the restored sports car was demonstrated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. A year after the event, the "veteran" of the automotive industry, the "two-hundredth", found a new owner for $250. It's nice that at least this model is not lost to humanity.
Who would you rather be at the Festival of Speed ​​watching the Darracq 200HP?
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