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Whatever happened to Sweden's pioneering De Dion?
The first driving licence issued in Sweden in 1902 is said to have been presented to the owner of an 1899 De Dion Bouton and, as it happens, an 1899 De Dion Bouton is exactly what we see here in a parade in or near Stockholm. The year is unknown, but judging by the pick-up carrying it, it must have been sometime in the early 1930s.
Was it also Sweden’s first car? That’s possible, but probably not. At around the turn of the century, De Dion Bouton vehicles were imported to Sweden by no fewer than three companies, we’ve discovered: Svenska Cykelbörsen, Arvid Schubert's Factory & Handelsaktiebolag and a company named Patria. However, most of the early vehicles they brought over from France must have been tricycles, with plenty of pictures surviving of such vehicles in Swedish street scenes.
This four-wheeled car, which we think may be a 3½hp Voiturette, is also said to have been on display at the Swedish Technical Museum. We don’t think it’s there anymore, but we’re sure one of our Swedish readers will know. It was obviously very highly regarded at the time of the photograph, though, if people made that special pick-up bed to carry it around on. Who knows more about this De Dion-Bouton?
Words: Jeroen Booij,; picture: Fotografiska Stockholm
Pubblicato:
mercoledì agosto 16th, 2023
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Commenti
Anthony Green
18 Agosto 2023, 10:30
With respect, I’m not sure about A. F. Westerblom in 1907 being Astrid Ferdinand Westerblom because the caption to the photograph on the Automobilhistoriska website says that the registered owner of the car with reg number U4 was 'plåtslagare' A. F. Westerblom, which means A. F. was a sheet-metal worker by profession. I doubt if there were any female (Astrid) sheet-metal workers in Sweden in 1907. Also, 'Astrid Ferdinand' doesn’t sound right with a combination of female-male names.
However, 'Astrid’s' year of birth 1864 would roughly fit with the appearance of the gentleman sitting in the car with what could be his two young daughters. I’m only guessing, but perhaps the handwritten records from 1907 have led to the name being mistaken for Astrid but in fact is a similarly looking (but male) name.
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However, 'Astrid’s' year of birth 1864 would roughly fit with the appearance of the gentleman sitting in the car with what could be his two young daughters. I’m only guessing, but perhaps the handwritten records from 1907 have led to the name being mistaken for Astrid but in fact is a similarly looking (but male) name.
Laurent Zoller
18 Agosto 2023, 18:35
Hello.
Thank you for your insight.
I made a huge transcription error.
The first name is Arvid Ferdinand.
But I did not find the relationship between Arvid Ferdinand and the car racer.
Laurent Zoller
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Thank you for your insight.
I made a huge transcription error.
The first name is Arvid Ferdinand.
But I did not find the relationship between Arvid Ferdinand and the car racer.
Laurent Zoller
Mässing & Nickel
17 Agosto 2023, 18:03
The car is still at Tekniska Museet in Stockholm. It's not on permanent display at the museum, but it is currently on display there as part of their exhibition Zero City.
Photo from earlier this year.
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Photo from earlier this year.
Anthony Green
17 Agosto 2023, 10:38
I see now that an ordinance requiring the registration of cars in Sweden by each county administration only came into force in September 1906, and that it took time before all existing cars had been registered. This would explain why the car now in Tekniska Museet in Stockholm was only first registered in 1908. The T in the reg number T21 would be Örebro County which fits with the owner Alfred Hahn’s residence.
The Swedish Automobilhistoriska Klubben has a photograph of an identical car taken in 1899 in Västerås, but which was only registered in 1907 with reg number U4, with U signifying Västmanlands County.
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The Swedish Automobilhistoriska Klubben has a photograph of an identical car taken in 1899 in Västerås, but which was only registered in 1907 with reg number U4, with U signifying Västmanlands County.
Anthony Green
16 Agosto 2023, 13:28
According to the Museum’s website, the car is still there. It was manufactured by a French company called Société Parisienne E. Couturier et Cie with a DDB engine in 1899-1900, and as Messrs Gillingham and Svenfelt have said below it was known as a Victoria Combination. The company initially manufactured bicycles, and even this car apparently has a tubular frame.
The first Swedish owner of this car was a one Alfred E. Hahn, who indeed was issued the first Swedish driving licence on 12 May 1902 in Örebro, with the provision that ‘driving may not take place on market days.' Perhaps it was considered dangerous to drive a car with many people around, or that it could frighten the horses…?
According to the Museum’s website, the car exhibited was first registered in Sweden in 1908 with reg number T21, but doesn’t say where it was before that. Perhaps it was imported as a second-hand car?
Sweden’s first internal combustion engine car was of Swedish manufacture, produced by Gustaf Erikson in 1897, and which is also exhibited in the Tekniska Museet in Stockholm.
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The first Swedish owner of this car was a one Alfred E. Hahn, who indeed was issued the first Swedish driving licence on 12 May 1902 in Örebro, with the provision that ‘driving may not take place on market days.' Perhaps it was considered dangerous to drive a car with many people around, or that it could frighten the horses…?
According to the Museum’s website, the car exhibited was first registered in Sweden in 1908 with reg number T21, but doesn’t say where it was before that. Perhaps it was imported as a second-hand car?
Sweden’s first internal combustion engine car was of Swedish manufacture, produced by Gustaf Erikson in 1897, and which is also exhibited in the Tekniska Museet in Stockholm.
Anders Svenfelt
16 Agosto 2023, 04:56
It was there in 1983 when I visited the museum. Actually it's a De Dion-engined Parisienne Victoria Combination .
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C. Gillingham
16 Agosto 2023, 02:03
I think it's actually a Victoria Combination, rather than a DDB.
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Gilbert
16 Agosto 2023, 11:09
It is for sure not a De Dion Bouton which is here displayed.
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Thank you for this recent photo of the Parisienne
The Automobilhistoriska website is very interesting. It actually has two photos of the Parisienne Victoria Combination.
The owner of the vehicle registered in 1907 is referred to as A. F. Westerblom.
I went to consult the municipal archives of Vasteras.
I discovered :
Adolf Ferdinand Westerblom was born in 1909 and died in 1960.
He won the Swedish Grand Prix in 1939 in an Alfa Romeo. The name of his racing team was "Vasteras Racer Kompani".
Adolf Ferdinand Westerblom was therefore not born in 1907.
While studying a genealogy site, I found other interesting information:
List of people living in Vasteras, surname Westerblom and first name A. F.
Anton Ferdinand born June 11, 1895
Allan Ferdinand born March 5, 1893
Axel Ferdinand born June 2, 1907
Alkirk Ferdinand born October 26, 1911
Alfons Ferdinand born September 1, 1900
and finally
Astrid Ferdinand born January 30, 1864 and died July 26, 1936
I deduce that the owner was probably Astrid Ferdinand
The Westerblom Ford advertisment of 1924 probably concerns Astrid Ferdinand
Laurent Zoller