Only a ten year age difference
I recently had the pleasure of taking a few laps as a passenger in a 1910 Delage AC. Not only did the car start on the first turn of the crank, but it also handled the drive through the narrow streets of the medieval town where we photographed it without a hitch. The Delage is already equipped with a Ballot block engine; it has four cylinders, a displacement of about 1.5 liters, and produces about 15 PS. It also features a three-speed transmission mounted beneath the floor, and power is transmitted to the rear axle via a propeller shaft—a real car, in other words. It may not be particularly fast, but even today it's a wonderful car for leisurely travel on quiet back roads—with a windshield and convertible top to protect four passengers from the elements.
Some time ago—it must have been 2019—I was invited by Opel to their test track in Dudenhofen. The topic was vehicle lighting. The extremely energetic and knowledgeable team at Opel Classic in Rüsselsheim used this opportunity to demonstrate the progress in lighting technology to us using selected pieces from their collection.
They really went out of their way for us journalists, as the story was meant to go all the way back to the very beginning. And at Opel, that beginning is called the “Patentmotorwagen System Lutzmann”—which features spark-plug lighting. After riding along with a mechanic from Opel Classic, I was allowed to take it for a few laps myself.
The 1899 Lutzmann has two gears and a belt drive. The belt is “switched over” using a lever on the steering column, while the single-cylinder engine—which, like the Delage, also has a 1.5-liter displacement—rumbles away at about 650 to 800 revolutions per minute. In first gear, the speed is barely faster than walking pace. However, when you shift into second gear, the car practically leaps forward, and you feel every single stroke of the engine from the driver's seat. Meanwhile, the speed it's now maintaining makes you feel a bit queasy. It's probably already between 20 and 30 km/h, and it feels—too fast! But still: the Lutzmann is moving, and it's doing so faster and with more endurance than a horse-drawn team could back then.
Just ten years later, however, the Delage operates in a completely different realm. It's a car that, at most, still gives the impression of a carriage thanks to its little lights on the dashboard. The first two gears may howl and rumble terribly, but in the high third gear—which has a direct ratio—calm returns, and the steady purr of the engine lulls you into a dreamlike state. This car drives smoothly, whereas the 1899 pioneer still felt like a ride on a cannonball. It's crazy how rapidly development progressed back then. Of course, we'll be presenting the Delage in detail at some point.
