Émile Delahaye
Émile Delahaye (October 16, 1843 – June 1, 1905)[1] was a French engineer and automobile pioneer who founded the Delahaye car marque in 1895.
Early life and career
Émile Delahaye was born in Tours in 1843, the son of upholsterer Pierre-Auguste Delahaye and Euphrasie Clément. In 1859 he entered the Imperial School of Arts and Crafts in Angers, graduating with honors in 1863.
He began his career as a draftsman, later becoming engineer and then chief engineer at the Belgian railway equipment firm Cail & Cie.[2]
During the Franco-Prussian War he served as engineer-delegate to the Northwestern Artillery Commission.
In 1878 he took over management of an agricultural tools and tile-and-brick machinery factory owned by Louis-Julien Brethon, succeeding him in 1879. He expanded the business by adding steam engines, gas engines, and later oil-fired engines. In 1888 he developed an internal combustion engine for marine use, winning gold and silver medals at the 1889 Paris Exposition.[3]
From 1894, Delahaye began building automobiles at 34 Rue du Gazomètre in Tours, producing the Delahaye Type 1—the first car with entirely French chassis, body, and engine—while contemporaries Panhard and Peugeot used Benz or Daimler powerplants.
Delahaye personally promoted his cars by racing his 2-cylinder, 6-horsepower Type 1 at average speeds near 25 km/h; in 1896 he finished tenth in the Paris–Marseille–Paris race.[4]
In 1898, building on early success, he founded a new factory at 10 Rue du Banquier in Paris with partners Léon Desmarais and Georges Morane.
In 1900 he joined the organizing committee for the automotive events at the Paris Exposition of 1900, which were not officially part of that year’s Olympic program.
On January 31, 1901, due to health issues, his partners Desmarais and Morane assumed leadership of the company. Delahaye retired to his estate “La Roche fleurie” in Vouvray, near Tours. He died in 1905 in Saint-Raphaël (Var) and is buried in Vouvray.
See also
- Delahaye
References
External links
- Wikimedia Commons has media related to Émile Delahaye.
- Historic Racing Archived November 20, 2018, at the Wayback Machine .