Book review: 1902 De Dietrich & The Paris-Vienna Race

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There was never a veteran car enthusiast born who was not enthralled by the heroics of the great city-to-city races, so they will all want to take notice of Thomas Ulrich’s new book.

It is necessary to expand upon the title, lest readers should infer that it is specifically about De Dietrich’s involvement in the 1902 Paris-Vienna. In fact, ‘1902 De Dietrich’ and ‘The Paris-Vienna Race’ are dealt with as two separate subjects. The first part is simply an analysis of a 16hp De Dietrich of the same type as raced by Lorraine Barrow in the Paris-Vienna. It serves to illustrate the technology in use at the time, and then expands on the history of the model illustrated, which was sold new to the Hon. Rupert Guinness and later rescued from the twin wartime threats of bombing and the scrap metal drive by some early leading lights in the Veteran Car Club.

The book is mainly devoted to the Paris-Vienna, and an excellent job it does. Ulrich has researched the subject extensively and has been generous in sharing his discoveries. Some original source material has been transcribed in full, including correspondence between the Österreichische Automobil-Club and the Automobile Club de France as well as news excerpts. He goes into substantial detail about how the race was planned and the obstacles it faced, before getting to the race itself, which was not just a single competition but also incorporated that year’s Gordon Bennett Cup, and a 10-day touring drive for motorists of a less competitive disposition. It is a delight to learn that, in that gentler and more elegant age, the magazine Femina offered a prize of eau de toilette to the lady driver able to complete the tour with the greatest charm.

Ulrich deals matter-of-factly with the race in its various stages, then supplies us with the personal accounts of people who were there, including the embittered report from the editor of La France Automobile and the Allgemeine Automobile Zeitung’s suitably catty response.

The book concludes with brief histories and biographies of all the participating car and motorcycle manufacturers and drivers. Some are well-known but many have been lost to the mists of time, which makes Ulrich’s potted summaries very welcome.

The book is beautifully designed and is illustrated with dozens of very high-quality, rather enchanting pictures which one feels strongly tempted to try to dive into. Ulrich and CEAuto have created a book which is comprehensive and authoritative, but attractive enough for the coffee table. The only criticism which might be levelled is that occasional mistakes in grammar and syntax give away the fact that English is not the author’s first language, but that is of the smallest consequence when the rest of the book is so well done.
 

1902 De Dietrich & The Paris-Vienna Race
Author: Thomas Ulrich
Publisher: CEAuto
Price: £25.68/€29,90/$32.86. Hardback. 148 pages with 145 illustrations
ISBN: 978-3200087088

Words: Zack Stiling
 

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