Javi Martin
In the long history of the automobile, there are vehicles that have been unjustly forgotten, crazy machines that resemble a car because of their four wheels, because they are controlled by a steering wheel and some pedals and because their engine, although archaic and "prehistoric", burns fossil fuel through the same operation as a current one. Case, precisely, of Darracq V8 Sprint Special. A car unknown to many, but it holds some records under its belt.
So, from the outset and to warm up, can you imagine touching 200 km / h in a 1905 vehicle? Do not answer yet, because as fans we would go up to anything, but if we think about it coldly, we will see that it is crazy. If we look at the Darracq V8 Sprint Special, we will see that it is a simple frame chassis with two seats, a huge motor and four "bicycle" wheels.. The tank is a cylinder placed behind the seats and the brakes are tiny drums on the rear wheels, while the suspensions are run by very, very thin leaf springs. And now is when you must answer, can you imagine touching 200 km / h in a car like this?
Well, that, among other things, is what was achieved with this device, roll at 197,06 km / hAmong other things, because he has, as we have said, several records under his belt and the best of all is that he is still alive and giving a show, as he did at Goodwood in 2015, something that you can see on video and see how his pilot enjoys to the maximum of the car, he even gets to compete in races with it.
The first Darracq cars began to appear in 1900, after having experimented with “Gladiator” bicycles, a very lucrative business that helped Alexandre Darracq, the founder of the company, to get a good amount of money after selling the company. Money that he used to create Darracq SA, with which he began to commercialize tricycles with an electric motor, even studying the possibility of producing the innovative internal combustion engines.
By 1902 he reached an agreement with the Opel brothers to produce cars between both companies, giving rise to the famous Opel Darracq, an association that lasted until 1907. Before this, in 1905, the company expanded to Great Britain, where it was he founded the Darracq Company Ltd which, in 1913, was sold. That same year, 1905, is when our protagonist appears, the Darracq V8 Sprint Special, with which it was intended to break records on gravel.
It was shown in society on December 28, 1905, in the city of Arles, in France, only two days later, marking its first registration. On December 30, 1905, without having made any previous tests or attempts, he managed to reach 176,4 km / h, setting a new world speed record. The next year, In 1906, it was presented in Daytona Beach, reaching a speed of 197,06 km / h, earning the title "1906 Speed King". Back in Europe, the car was sold to Algenon Lee Guinness (yes, the owner of Guinness beer), who continued to set records until 1909, when a piston broke and was recalled.
Among the records held by this car is the kilometer launched in 19 seconds, having been the first car in the world with a V8 engine, running at a “frightening” speed of 5 meters per second, covering the kilometer from a standstill in 32,4 seconds or, to mention something else, climbing the famous hill of "La Barbe" in 25 seconds with an average of 144 km / h.
On the one hand, it is logical that it was so fast. The engine, the oldest known V8, is 25.422 cubic centimeters, two valves per cylinder and the power is achieved by carburettor. The final estimated power is 200 hp, which reaches the rear wheels through a change of two ratios.
It only had three owners until Bonhams auctioned it in 2006 after a restoration of its engine (which remained intact after the breakdown) for 231.210 euros. The first owner was, unsurprisingly, Alexandre Darracq and the second, Mr. Guinness, who had it in his possession until his death in 1954, when the third owner bought it from the Guinness family, Mr. Gerald Firkins. Today it is owned by Mark Walker, who has used it in races and exhibitions since he acquired it. He has even blown the engine in one of those races, being forced to rebuild it.
However, reportedly the car was actually scrapped because the Guinness woman insisted that he "get his trash out of there." Guinness regretted the decision and recovered the engine and part of the chassis. The rest had to be recovered after his death, a job that took several decades, five to be exact. Then its last owner came along and finished the job in four years.
The restoration was carried out with authentic pieces of the time whenever possible, while others had to be manufactured again.. For example, the exclusive two-speed transaxle had to be manufactured from scratch again using drawings from 1906. During the restoration of the engine, its capacity could be measured and that was when it was found that it exceeded 25.000 cubic centimeters, something more than 22,5 , XNUMX liters that had been established historically. The curved radiator, originally made by Grouvelle & Arquembourg, was lost and one had to be built from scratch.
