Derby (1921-1933) - competitive cycle cars from Paris
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Summary
There have been around 10,000 car brands and designers - most of which have disappeared. One of these vanished brands is Derby, which was founded by Bertrand Montet and successfully entered the cycle car segment. A wide variety of designs, a less than transparent engine policy and the death of the founder were the reasons for its decline, which was delayed until 1933 by a change of ownership.
This article contains the following chapters
- Success with cycle cars
- Racing as a catalyst
- Ever bigger and stronger
- A brief second spring
Estimated reading time: 4min
Preview (beginning of the article)
Derby automobiles originated from Courbevoie sur Seine near Paris. In 1912, Bertrand Montet founded "les Etablissement Bertrand Montet". The French army was his most important client. After the end of the war, Montet looked for a new field of activity and, like so many others, found it in automobile construction. Success with cycle cars Cyclecars became fashionable: lightweight four-wheeled vehicles weighing less than 350 kg, often assembled from motorcycle parts. In 1921, the type D2 appeared, equipped with a Harley-Davidson engine (2-cylinder in V-shape, 988 cc, air-cooled). Montet obtained the engines from American army stocks. He called his car brand Derby. His partner Georges Goëtt clad the primitive chassis with a two-seater torpedo body and the two hoped to make the new brand known at the "Salon de l'auto" in Paris. The D2 was subject to terrible vibrations, and the first race was a flop.
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