4 replies to this topic

[Boniver]

I font ............

1. In 1905 the French car magazine L'Auto offered a prize for a competition for small capacity cars - known as voiturettes - and Robert Peugeot decided that he would build some of the lightweight machines in the motorcycle factory at Valentigney, just down the road from the main Peugeot car factory at Audincourt. He called these cars Lion-Peugeots and took on three drivers for the Coupe de l'Auto at Rambouillet in November 1906
(HISTORICAL Robert Peugeot)


2. L'année 1906 voit les premières participations et les premiers succès de la marque en compétition avec, pour couronnement, une éclatante victoire à la première édition de la "Coupe des voiturettes", disputée du 5 au 12 novembre 1906. La société Sizaire et Naudin sort de l'ombre et la production atteint 30 voiturettes par mois, puis double l'année suivante après une seconde victoire, et un doublé, à la 2e "Coupe des voiturettes ".
(Sizaire et Naudin, silence on coule)

3. In november 1905 was the first Coupe des Voiturettes (France), the race was also known as the Coupe de L'Auto
(Voiturette racing)


But was there in 1905 a race ................

[Boniver]

Deux voiturettes quatre cylindres de 26 HP, spécialement développées pour la course, s'alignent donc en 1905 sur le Circuit des Ardennes, à Bastogne. Si le pilote Renancy abandonne au premier tour sur problème mécanique, Philippe Taveneaux termine à la seconde place. Un préambule encourageant mais qui ne se concrétise pas lors de la première Coupe des Voiturettes, organisée par le journal l'Auto au mois de novembre de cette même année, puisque les trois voitures Grégoire connaissent d'innombrables soucis imputables à la fois aux conditions climatiques et à leur mécanique.
(Grégoire, à la recherche de l'aérodynamisme)

"in 1905" "the first Coupe des Voiturettes, organisation by l4Auto in novembre"

[Doug Nye]

Yes - if not so much a RACE as a complex motoring competition - 'La France Automobile' reported the results of 'La Coupe des Voiturettes' like this:

1 - Vulpes (Barriaux) 241 penalty points
2 - De Dion-Bouton (Lionel de Dion), 327
3 - De Dion-Bouton (Cormier), 439
4 - Lacoste et Battmann (Gachet), 502
5 - De Dion-Bouton (Bardin), 561
6 - Gregoire (Tavenaux), 1,334
7 - Lacoste et Battmann (Rochay), 1,726
8 - Gregoire (Renonce), 3,437

De Dion-Bouton et Cie won the Coupe de Regularite

There were 13 starters, from De Dion-Bouton, Gregoire, Gladiator, Demeester et Lamberjack, Hugot, Lacoste et Battmann and Vulpes. Between November 21 and 27 the cars had to run from Suresnes to Vaudreuil and back - some 200kms - at an average 25km/ with many penalties applied for variation, followed by three speed tests, but the event became marred by appeals and counter-appeals against the perceived results before the final ACF adjudication as above.

DCN

[Marcor]

Entry list, starting order for the first day + # (if given in my sources)
1- Grégoire I, Civelli
2 (2)- Grégoire II, Renoncé
3- Grégoire III, Taveneaux
4-Gladiator, Reimers
5- Demeester & Lamberjack, Demeester
6- Hugot & Pecto, Hugot
7 (16)- Lacoste & Battmann, Gachet
8 (17)- Lacoste & Battmann, Thomas
9 (18)- de Dion-Bouton I, Cormier
10 (19)- de Dion-Bouton II, Bardin
11 (20)- de Dion-Bouton III, Lionel de Dion
12 (21)- Vulpès, Barriaux
13 (22)- Lacoste & Battmann, Rochay

The 1905 Coupe des Voiturettes was above all marred by a sower of clouds during the last day of the event. Cars #18 and car #16 were heavily penalised and had to let the victory to the Vulpès #21.

Appeals and counter-appeals were about to cancelled or not cancelled the results of day 6...

The results without last day
1- Gachet
2- Cormier
3- Barriaux
4- de Dion
5- Bardin
6- Thomas
7- Taveneaux
8- Rochay
9- Renoncé

[robert dick]

Originally the 1905 Coupe de l'Auto was intended to be a pure race for touring cars up to a displacement of 5 litres, not only for voiturettes. L'Auto published the regulation on 18 March 1905. But as a consequense of the 1903 Paris-Madrid accidents, the Commission Sportive of the ACF continued to refuse permission to all pure speed events having a distance of more than four kilometres, except the Bennett Cup of course.
In April 1905 l'Auto published a new regulation for its Coupe de l'Auto, having transformed the event into a "concours de tourisme" :
- cars with a displacement up to 1 litre had to achieve, on five consecutive days, four laps of a 50-km circuit (= 200 km) within a minimum average of 30 km/h and a maximum time of 12 hours;
- cars up to 2.5 litres had to achieve five laps;
- cars up to 5 litres six laps.
The sixth day was to include a flying kilometre uphill, a flying mile on the level, 500 metres with standing start and a brake test.

But there were not enough entries in the larger classes. These were cancelled and the event took place as Coupe de l'Auto pour Voiturettes (maximum displacement one litre). On each day between Tuesday 21 November and Sunday 26 November 1905 the voiturettes started in a reliability run
in front of the Darracq factory at Suresnes, took the Pont de Puteaux and then the road to Houilles, Sartrouville, Poissy, Triel, Vaux, Meulan, Juziers, Isson, Limay, Mantes, Rosny, Bonnières, Port-Villez, Vernon, Gaillon, Heudebouville and Vaudreuil (distance = 103 km) - and back to Suresnes.
On Monday 27 November the voiturettes had to get through three tests at Chanteloup :
- a flying kilometre on the level,
- a kilometre uphill with a rolling start of 10 metres,
- 500 metres with standing start and standing finish.
On the last day of the reliability run, the road between Paris and Poissy was covered with nails so that the ACF did not recognise the results.

13 starters :
# 1 Grégoire (Civelli de Bosch, mechanic = Tauzin)
# 2 Grégoire (Renoncé, Mérit) - sometimes Renoncé is spelled Renoncey
# 3 Grégoire (Tavenaux, Garnier)
# 11 Gladiator (Reimers, Lanier)
# 12 Demeester & Lamberjack (Léon Demeester, Henri Demeester)
# 14 Hugot (Hugot, Rouet)
# 16 Lacoste & Battman (Gachet, Duclos)
# 17 Lacoste & Battman (Thomas, Roumagère) - René Thomas, the 1914 Indianapolis 500 winner
# 18 De Dion-Bouton (Cormier, Collignon)
# 19 De Dion-Bouton (Bardin, Laurent)
# 20 De Dion-Bouton (Lionel de Dion, Danglard)
# 21 Vulpès (Barriaux, Collomb)
# 22 Lacoste & Battman (Gallet, Rochet)

= = = = = = =

Circuit des Ardennes Voiturette race - Saturday 5 August 1905 - five laps of a 40.24 km circuit, start at Arlon, via Attert, Corne-du-Bois-des-Pendus, Habay-la-Neuve, Arlon - the race was run concurrently with the motorcycles (16 motorcycles up to 50 kg + 4 motorcycles over 50 kg).
The race for 650 and 1000 kg cars took place on another, longer circuit.

3 starters in the voiturette class :
Grégoire (Tavenaux - sometimes spelled Taveneaux) - start at 7 h 39'
Grégoire (Renoncé) - 7 h 40'
Darracq (Wagner) - 7 h 41'

Wagner won in 2 h 46' 32" 4.
Tavenaux second in 2 h 51' 51" 1.
Renoncé retired.

= = = = = = =

Peugeot and Lion-Peugeot :
The Peugeot company was split since 1896 when Armand Peugeot decided to replace the Daimler Vee-two by an own engine. His cousin Eugène did not agree. Armand founded his autonomous Société Anonyme des Automobiles Peugeot which produced motorcars sold under the name "Peugeot".
In 1899 the parent company, directed by Armand's cousin Eugène and Eugène's three sons Pierre, Robert and Jules, began to build motorcycles. As a consequence of the exploding market for voiturettes, in 1906 Eugène's parent company signed a contract with Armand's société anonyme which admitted the production of four-wheeled vehicles not exceeding 345 kg without body under the name "Lion-Peugeot".
Between 1906 and 1909 the voiturettes were sold and raced under the name Lion-Peugeot. The companies merged in 1910. Aftereffect : In the 1910 Coupe des Voiturettes the Vee-two was entered as Lion-Peugeot, the Vee-four as Peugeot. In the 1912 GP the 7.6-litre GP car was entered as Peugeot, the 3-litre voiture légère as Lion-Peugeot.