Renault Voiturette Type A

1898 · Voiturette with Shaft Drive · Work 254 of 1,871

Renault Voiturette Type A, 1898, Voiturette with Shaft Drive

A Renault Type A voiturette climbing the steep paved Rue Lepic in Montmartre, a tiny two seat open body on four spoked wheels with thin tyres, the single-cylinder De Dion engine under a small low bonnet at the front, an enclosed drive shaft and rear axle in place of chains, the driver in cap and coat seated at the controls, the car running on the paved street between the tall houses of Montmartre.

What it was used for
Louis Renault built the car in summer 1898 in a shed at Billancourt. On the evening of 24 December 1898 he drove it up the Rue Lepic in Montmartre; afterwards, according to Renault and the Association Renault Histoire, twelve acquaintances ordered a car. Buyers were wealthy private owners who also raced: according to Renault, Type As took first and second place in the 1899 Paris–Trouville amateur race. According to L'Automobile Ancienne the price was 3,500 francs. 71 cars were built in 1899. Renault did not build the engine himself; he bought it from De Dion-Bouton.
What was new
What was his own was the gearbox: three speeds with direct drive in top gear and a shaft instead of chain or belt. The patent for a "transmission and gear-change mechanism for motor cars" was filed on 9 February 1899; its claims and grant date were not checked here. Whether direct drive existed earlier, the sources checked do not say. The defence manufacturer Arquus writes on its heritage page that the patent earned 3.5 million francs until 1914, when it entered the public domain; the page lists Jean-Louis Loubet's history of the French car as further reading.

Further reading