D.F.P.

France, 1906 – 1926

Doriot, Flandrin et Parant, Courbevoie, Seine

Doriot and Flandrin had worked for Clément-Bayard and Peugeot, and their first products were straightforward shaft-driven single-cylinder voiturettes with transverse rear suspension, sold as Doriot-Flandrins until Parant arrived to complete the triumvirate. The singles DFP cars were still being marketed with 1100cc engines as late as 1910, but the 1908 DFP car range already included two 4-cylinder cars with sv Chapuis-Dornier engines of 2.4-litres and 2.8-litres capacity. By 1910 there was a small DFP four, the very successful DFP 10/12hp of 1.6-litres, with L-head Monobloc engine, magneto ignition, thermos-syphon cooling, cone clutch and 3-speed gearbox. There was also a DFP 25/30hp 6-cylinder car in 1911. In 1912 DFP started to make their own engines the ‘DFP 10/12’ being joined by an excellent 2-litre ‘DFP 12/15’ with pressure lubcrication, 3-bearing crankshaft and 4-speed gearbox, capable of 2500rpm and 55mph. Further, the British concession was acquired by the brothers W.O. and H.M. Bentley, who ran the ‘12/15’ in competitions; by the end of 1913 a specially prepared example of the DFP car had been timed of the half-mile at 89.70mph. Nothing, however, could be done with the DFP 16/22hp, a 2.8-litre (later 3-litre) machine with pair-cast cylinders and poor performance. In 1914 came the sporting DFP 12/40hp with V-radiator and electrics: for this model the Bentleys persuaded D.F.P. to fit aluminium pistons, as a consequence of which a 65mph performance was available for only £320. W.O. Bentley finished 6th in that year’s T.T., an excellent effort for a 2-litre car competing against specialized 3.3-litre machines.
DFP never recovered fully from World War 1 and Bentley’s decision to set up as a manufacturer in his own right meant that the DFP car company lost its best export market. A DFP 12/15hp chassis now cost £675 as against £290 in 1914. Failing finances forced the DFP company to use proprietary engines, Altos for the 2-litre models, and a Sergant in the ‘10/12’, which went American in 1922 with central change and coil ignition, but reverted to a magneto in 1923. 1922 ‘DFP 12/40s’ had 4-wheel brakes, and a year later this model was supplanted by an ohv 4-speed ‘13/50’, once again with a DFP-built engine. At the same time the DFP company marketed the little D.F.Petite, a sporting machine in the Amilcar idiom, with an ohv 1100cc engine, 3-speed gearbox, quarter-elliptic springing all round and a back axle without differential. This DFP car had front-wheel brakes by 1925, but a year later production had ceased, the DFP car factory being acquired by the Lafitte concern.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS
The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com

Oakland

US, 1907 – 1931

Oakland Motor Car Co, Pontiac, Mich.

The original Oakland car was the work of A.P. Brush, designer both to the original single-cylinder Cadillac and of the Brush Runabout. The Oakland car was a 2½-litre vertical-twin with planetary transmission, selling for $1.300. The power unit on the Oakland car rotated anti-clockwise. In 1909, when General Motors took over, the Oakland car company was also marketing a conventional 4-cylinder Oakland car with sliding-type gearbox at $1.600. For the next few years Oakland car with fours were the stape product, 3.3- and 4.4-litre engines being used in 1912. 1913 Oakland cars had rounded V-radiators reminiscent of the Belgian Métallurgique, and these Oakland cars were made in 4- and 6-cylinder forms with electric lighting and starting. Left-hand drive was adopted on Oakland cars in 1915, when the bigger ‘Oakland 6-49’ model used a Northway engine. Four Oakland car models – a 5½-litre V8, two sixes, and a four – were offered in 1916, in which year the Oakland car firm’s own small ohv 6-cylinder unit appeared. This Oakland car was in a car modestly priced at $795, of which Oakland sold over 35.000 Oakland cars in 1917. From 1919 to 1923, this ohv car was the only Oakland car model listed, but in 1924 the Oakland car firm brought out a new and inexpensive sv six which offered both front wheel brakes and Duco cellulose finish for $995. 1926 saw the introduction of the companion make, Pontiac, but unlike other maker’s cheap lines this rapidly overshadowed the Oakland car, sales of which dropped from some 58.000 in 1926 to 30.826 Oakland cars in  1929.

An inexpensive sv V8 Oakland car on the lines of Oldsmobile’s Viking was introduced as a replacement for the six in 1930, but demand continued to fall and after 1931 only Pontiacs were made.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

The information is written with the greatest of care. However, if you have any suggested amendments please contact us at office@prewarcar.com