Author Topic: 1904 auto ID and info from photo  (Read 4309 times)

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Offline donfarr

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1904 auto ID and info from photo
« on: April 30, 2019, 11:30:38 AM »
See attached photo.

My grandmother told me this is she and my grandfather leaving Croydon, England in 1904 for their honeymoon by car throughout the English countryside.

Any info about the car will be greatly appreciated.

Offline Allan L

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Re: 1904 auto ID and info from photo
« Reply #1 on: April 30, 2019, 12:12:02 PM »
I'd say it is a de Dion Bouton, probably 6 h.p. single cylinder and brand new! BY is a Croydon registration code and this one is no longer in use but the Veteran Car Club Dated the car registered BY 509 as a 1904 6 h.p. de Dion Bouton.

The car has what we call a tonneau body with seats behind the driver and front passenger. There were two types of tonneau, depending on the access to those seats. The "rear entrance tonneau" had a door between the back seats and the "swing seat tonneau" had a front passenger seat that could be swung aside to leave a passage to the rear. I can't see which this is.

Interestingly the owner has spent a lot of money on lamps, which were accessories in those days, but has not added a windscreen - the absence of which makes motoring beastly even in good weather.
Opinionated but sometimes wrong