Lorraine-Dietrich was aFrenchautomobile andaircraft engine manufacturer from 1896 until 1935, created when railway locomotive manufacturerSociété Lorraine des Anciens Etablissements de Dietrich et Cie de Lunéville (known asDe Dietrich et Cie, founded in 1884 by Jean de Dietrich) branched into the manufacture of automobiles. TheFranco-Prussian War divided the company's manufacturing capacity, one plant inNiederbronn-les-Bains,Alsace, and the other inLunéville,Lorraine.[1]
In 1896, the managing director of the Lunéville plant, Baron Adrien de Turckheim, bought the rights to a design byAmédée Bollée.[1] This used a front-mounted[2] horizontal twin engine with sliding clutches and belt drive.[1] It had a folding top, threeacetylene headlights,[2] and, very unusual for the period, a plate glass windshield.[2] While the company started out using engines from Bollée, De Dietrich eventually produced the entire vehicle themselves.[3]
In 1898, De Dietrich debuted theTorpilleur (Torpedo) racer, which featured a four-cylinder engine andindependent suspension in front,[3] for theParis-Amsterdam Trial; the driver, Etienne "Gaudry" Giraud, wreckeden route, but still placed third.[3] The response was substantial, exceeding one million goldfrancs.[3] The 1899torpilleur was less successful, despite underslung chassis, a rear-mountedmonobloc four, and twincarburettors; poor preparation left none of the works teams able to complete theTour de France.[3]
The Bollée-inspired design was supplanted by alicence-builtBelgianVivinusvoiturette at Niederbronn and aMarseille-designedTurcat-Méry at Lunéville,[3] following a 1901 deal with that cash-strapped company.[4]
In 1902, De Dietrich & Cie hired 21-year-oldEttore Bugatti, who produced prize-winning cars in 1899 and 1901, designing anoverhead valve 24 hp (18 kW) four-cylinder with four-speedtransmission[3] to replace the Vivinus,[3] colloquially (and retroactively) referred to as theType 2. There he partnered with Bollée, and became acquainted with Émile Mathis, marketing director.[5] He also created their 30/35 of 1903, with the models today referred to as theTypes 3-7 attributed to him before quitting to joinStrasbourg-basedMathis in the German Alsace in 1904.[3]
The same year, management at Niederbronn quit car production, leaving it entirely to Lunéville,[3] with the Alsace market being sold a Turcat-Mérybadge-engineered as a De Dietrich.[3] Even at the time, this was seen with some disdain, and Lunéville put thecross of Lorraine on the grille to distinguish them. Nevertheless, under the skin, they were little different, nor would they be until 1911.[3] For all that, the Lorraine-Dietrich was a prestigemarque, ranking withCrossley andItala,[3] while attempting to break into the "super-luxury" market between 1905 and 1908 with a handful of £4,000 (US$20,000) six-wheelerlimousines de voyage.[3]
LikeNapiers andMercedes, Lorraine-Dietrich's reputation was built in part on racing, which was "consistent if not distinguished",[3] includingCharles Jarrott's third in the 1903Paris–Madrid race and a 1-2-3 in the 1906Circuit des Ardennes, led by ace works driverArthur Duray.[3]
De Dietrich bought outIsotta Fraschini in 1907,[3] producing two OHC cars to Isotta Fraschini designs, including a 10 hp (7.5 kW) allegedly created by Bugatti.[3] Also that year, Lorraine-Dietrich took over Ariel Mors Limited ofBirmingham, for the sole British model, a 20 hp (15 kW) four, shown at theOlympia Motor Show in 1908, offered as bare chassis,Salmons & Sonsconvertible, andMullinercabriolet.[3] (The British branch was not a success, lasting only about a year.)[3]
For 1908, De Dietrich offered a line of chain-driventouring fours, the 18/28 hp, 28/38 hp, 40/45 hp, and 60/80 hp, priced between £550 and £960, and a 70/80 hp six at £1,040.[3] The British version differed, having shaft drive.[3] That year, the names of the automotive and aero-engine divisions were changed to Lorraine-Dietrich.[citation needed]
By 1914, all De Dietrichs were shaft-driven, and numbered a 12/16, an 18/20, a new 20/30 tourers, and a sporting four-cylinder 40/75[3] (in the mold ofMercer orStutz), all built atArgenteuil,Seine-et-Oise (which became company headquarters postwar).[3]
AfterWorld War I, with Lorraine restored to France, the company restarted manufacture of automobiles and aero-engines. Their 12-cylinder aero-engines were used byBreguet,IAR, andAero, among others.
In 1919, new technical directorMarius Barbarou (late ofDelaunay-Belleville)[3] introduced a new model in twowheelbases, the A1-6 and B2-6,[3] joined three years later by the B3-6, with either short or long wheelbase.[3] All fell in the 15 CVfiscal horsepower category, sharing the 3,445 cc (210.2 cu in) six cylinder engine, which had overhead valves,hemisphericalhead, aluminiumpistons, and four-bearingcrankshaft.[3]
The performance was such in 1923, three tourers "put up a passable showing"[6] at the first24 Hours of Le Mans, leading to the creation for 1924 of the 15 Sport, with twin carburetion, larger valves, andDewandre-Reprusseauservo-assisted four-wheel brakes[6] (at a time when four-wheel brakes of any kind were a rarity); they ran second and third, and were comparable to the 3 litre Bentleys.[6] The 15 CV Sport did better in 1925, winning Le Mans, followed home by a sister in third, while in 1926,Bloch andRossignol won at an average 106 km/h (66 mph), leading a 1-2-3 sweep by Lorraines.[6] Lorraine-Dietrich thus became the first marque to win Le Mans twice and the first to win in two consecutive years.
This publicity contributed to touring 15s being bodied byGaston Grümmer, also Argenteuil's director, who producedcoachwork for the likes of Aurora,Olympia,Gloriosa, andChiquita.[7] The 15 CV was joined by the 12 CV, a 2,297 cc (140.2 cu in) four-cylinder car (until 1929), and the 30 CV, with a 6,107 cc (372.7 cu in) six cylinder engine (until 1927), while the 15 CV survived until 1932; the 15 CV Sport fell in 1930, losing its last race, the 1931Monte Carlo Rally, whenDonald Healey'sInvicta edgedJean-Pierre Wimille by a tenth of a point.[6]
The De Dietrich family sold its share in the company, which became simply known as Lorraine from 1928 on.
The 15 CV was supplanted by the 20 CV, which had a 4,086 cc (249.3 cu in) engine, of which just a few hundred were made.[6] Automobile production eventually became unprofitable and, after the failure of their 20 CV model, the concern ceased production of automobiles in 1935.
In 1930, De Dietrich Argenteuil plant was absorbed bySociété Générale Aéronautique, and was converted to makingaircraft engines and six-wheeltrucks licensed fromTatra.[6] By 1935, Lorraine-Dietrich had disappeared from the automobile industry.[6] UntilWorld War II, Lorraine concentrated on the military market, manufacturing vehicles such as theLorraine 37L armoured carrier.
The Lunéville plant returned to raillocomotives.[6] In 1950s it was acquired by the US company General Trailers and as Trailor (Trailmobile Lorraine) manufactured trucks.[8]
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