Derby ( ) is a former vintage era automobile maker based in

Courbevoie Courbevoie () is a Communes of France, commune located in the Hauts-de-Seine department of the Île-de-France region of France. It is a suburb of Paris, from the Kilometre zero, center of Paris. The centre of Courbevoie is situated from the ci ...

Seine The Seine ( , ) is a river in northern France. Its drainage basin is in the Paris Basin (a geological relative lowland) covering most of northern France. It rises at Source-Seine, northwest of Dijon in northeastern France in the Langres plat ...

, France. Wise, David Burgess. "Derby: Financed in Britain, Built in France", in Ward, Ian, executive editor. ''World of Automobiles'' (London: Orbis, 1974), Volume 5, p.529.

History

Derby was founded in Courbevoie by Bertrand Montet in 1921 to build ''

voiturette A voiturette is a miniature automobile. History ''Voiturette'' was first registered by Léon Bollée in 1895 to name his new motor tricycle. The term became so popular in the early years of the motor industry that it was used by many makers ...

''s (

cyclecar A cyclecar was a type of small, lightweight and inexpensive motorized car manufactured in Europe and the United States between 1910 and the early 1920s. The purpose of cyclecars was to fill a gap in the market between the motorcycle and the c ...

s). These were powered by American vee-twin

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike; uni (if one-wheeled); trike (if three-wheeled); quad (if four-wheeled)) is a lightweight private 1-to-2 passenger personal motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar from a saddle-style ...

engines, which were shortly replaced with

Chapuis-Dornier Chapuis-Dornier was a French manufacturer of proprietary engines for automobiles from 1904 to 1928 in Puteaux near Paris. Between 1919 and 1921 it displayed a prototype automobile, but it was never volume produced.Linz, Schrader: ''Die große Autom ...

s. In this form, it became a close copy of

Citroën Citroën ()The double-dot diacritic over the 'e' is a diaeresis () indicating the two vowels are sounded separately, and not as a diphthong. is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded on 4 June 19 ...

's 5CV ("five horsepower"); at £195 for the two-seat roadster, it was competitive with the contemporary Austin Seven (£225). Shown at the 1923 Olympia Motor Show, Derby failed to gain many sales in Britain. It was there, however, the company displayed the 9 HP, a British-bodied Sports model with wire wheels, priced at £275. This followed the 1923 racer, which had competed at the Brooklands event. Production peaked at approximately 200 cars a year in 1925, falling to approximately 100 a year between 1928 and 1931. By 1927, the car was being sold as a Vernon-Derby, taking the name of the marque's sales agent, Vernon Balls. The company offered the 8 HP with four-speed

manual transmission A manual transmission (MT), also known as manual gearbox, standard transmission (in Canadian English, Canada, British English, the United Kingdom and American English, the United States), or stick shift (in the United States), is a multi-speed ...

in place of the previous three-speed. The next year, the lineup had expanded to three models: the 8 HP sports car (typically with a 1.1 L Chapuis-Dornier four) and two new sporty two-seater sixes, a 1.5 L

sidevalve A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine, is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

and the 14 HP. The 1.5-litre was replaced the next year by a smaller-displacement 12 HP sidevalve six. Derby showed a two-seater sportsman coupé at the 1930

London Motor Show London is the capital and largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Western Europe, with a population of 14.9 million. London stands on the River Thame ...

, the 16 HP, with a six, which resembled the

Bugatti Automobiles Ettore Bugatti was a German then French automotive industry, manufacturer of high performance vehicle, high-performance automobiles. The company was founded in 1909 in the then-German Empire, German city of Molsheim, Alsace, by the ...

s of the era. Like other marques of the period, Derby involved themselves in

motor sport Motorsport or motor sport are sporting events, competitions and related activities that primarily involve the use of automobiles, motorcycles, motorboats and powered aircraft. For each of these vehicle types, the more specific terms ''automobile ...

, with driver Douglas Hawkes's

front wheel drive Front-wheel drive (FWD) is a form of internal combustion engine, engine and transmission (mechanics), transmission layout used in motor vehicles, in which the engine drives the front wheels only. Most modern front-wheel-drive vehicles feature ...

Miller A miller is a person who operates a mill, a machine to grind a grain (for example corn or wheat) to make flour. Milling is among the oldest of human occupations. "Miller", "Milne" and other variants are common surnames, as are their equivalents ...

with Derby parts (dubbed a Derby-Miller) acting as a testbed and promotional tool; that it was driven by Gwenda Stewart did not hurt publicity, either. Nor did Stewart's results: she took a Land Speed Racing 1.5-litre class record at

Montlhéry Montlhéry () is a Communes of France, commune in the Essonne Departments of France, department in Île-de-France in northern France. It is located from Paris. History Montlhéry lay on the strategically important road from Paris to Orléans. U ...

in 1930, with a mile (1.6 km) at . In 1934, she took another class record in a 1.7-litre Derby, at t , which stood five years. Stewart would also enter the

1934 Events January–February * January 1 – The International Telecommunication Union, a specialist agency of the League of Nations, is established. * January 15 – The 8.0 1934 Nepal–Bihar earthquake, Nepal–Bihar earthquake strik ...

and 1935 Le Mans, with the recently introduced V8, falling out both times. Derby ended production with unusual and sophisticated models: 12/50, introduced in 1931, with front wheel drive and fully independent suspension, and a 2-liter V8-powered front wheel drive model, which debuted 1933 (with a chassis price of £525). The company introduced a final rear drive Meadows-engined car before closing its doors in 1936.

References

External links

1928 1100cc Derby Four
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120717154554/http://ucapusa.com/images/lost_marques/Derby/Derby_Large.jpg , date=2012-07-17

Cyclecars 1920s cars 1930s cars Defunct motor vehicle manufacturers of France Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1921 Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1936 French companies established in 1921 French brands 1936 disestablishments in France

History

See also

References

External links