A Darracq and Company Limited, was a British-French manufacturer of motor cars between 1902 and 1920, which evolved from A. Darracq et Cie, and became S.T.D. Motors Limited.
A. Darracq et Cie, a French manufacturer of motor vehicles and aero engines based in Suresnes near Paris, was founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after selling his Gladiator Bicycle business. In 1902 Darracq sold A. Darracq et Cie to A Darracq and Company Limited of England, taking a substantial shareholding himself.
Darracq continued to run the business from Paris until retiring in 1913 following years of financial difficulties. He had unsuccessfully introduced an unproven unorthodox engine in 1911 and neglected Suresnes' popular conventional products.
After Darracq & Company's purchase of the Sunbeam Motor Car Company in 1920 the firm was renamed S.T.D. Motors Limited, recognizing the gathering of Sunbeam, Talbot, and Darracq under one ownership. In 1922 the Darracq name was dropped from all products, the Suresnes business was renamed Automobiles Talbot, and the Suresnes products were branded just Talbot. The Suresnes business continued, still under British control, under the name Talbot until 1935, when it was acquired by investors led by the Suresnes factory's managing director, Antonio Lago.
A Darracq and Company Limited
A Darracq et Cie was sold 30 September 1902 to a newly created English firm, A Darracq and Company Limited.Doings of Public CompaniesA. Darracq and Co. (Limited). — Capital £375,000 in £1 shares (100,000 six per cent cumulative preference). Object, to acquire the business of A Darracq et Cie, carrying on business at Suresnes, France, and elsewhere; to enter into a deed of contribution between A. Darracq et Cie and this company for the transfer to this company of the said business in consideration of an allotment of 100,000 preference shares and 271,274 fully-paid ordinary shares whereof the Anglo-French Motor Syndicate (Limited) is to receive 57,109 shares in respect of services rendered and expenses incurred by in the formation of this company. ‘’The Automotor Journal’’ page 364 11 April 1903 The attraction for the British venture capitalists was that French automobile technology and industry experience led the world. It was incorporated in England because French law made the necessary flotation processes more difficult than English law. The perception from across the Atlantic in USA was that French industry was "offloading" on British investors. The English financial group was headed by William Beilby Avery of W & T Avery, a Birmingham scales manufacturer, J S Smith-Winby a London lawyer and a retired army officer, Colonel A Rawlinson. They bought A Darracq et Cie and selling it to other investors for five times their purchase price. Darracq received slightly less than 50 percent of the shares in the new company. There was no public offering, eight other investors took up the rest of the shares.James M Laux, In First Gear, the French Automobile Industry until 1914, Liverpool University 1976
Further capital was raised and large sums were spent on factory expansion. The Suresnes site was expanded to some four acres, and in England extensive premises were bought.A Darracq and Co Limited The Times 18 November 1905 page 17
The Darracq & Co automobile company prospered, such that, by 1903, four models were offered: a 1.1-litre single, a 1.3 L and 1.9 L twin, and a 3.8 L four. The 1904 models abandoned flitch-plated wood chassis for pressed steel, and the new Flying Fifteen, powered by a 3-litre four, had its chassis made from a single sheet of steel.Wise, p.493. This car was Alexandre Darracq's chef d'oeuvre. There was nothing outstanding in its design but "every part was in such perfect balance and harmony" it became an outstanding model. Its exceptional quality helped the company capture a ten percent share of the French auto market. In late 1904 the chairman reported sales were up by 20 per cent though increased costs meant the profit had risen more slowly. But what was more important was they had many more orders than they could fill and the only solution was to enlarge the factory by as much as 50 per cent.A Darracq and Co. Limited The Times 26 November 1904 page 16 Almost 75 per cent of 1904 output was exported.
At the following annual general meeting, twelve months later, the chairman was able to tell shareholders all the six speed records of the automobile world were held by Darracq cars and they had all been held more than twelve months and yet another had recently been added by K Lee Guinness. He also reported that during 1905 a large property had been bought in Lambeth for examining adjusting and stocking new cars ready for the peak sales period.
An announcement followed two days later of a scheme of reconstitution of the company to raise more capital for further expansion. The reconstituted company was named A Darracq and Company (1905) Limited. Paris resident Alexander Darracq remained managing director, Rawlinson was appointed managing director of the London branch.A. Darracq & Company Limited The Times 20 November 1905 page 13 The "reconstitution" was to circumvent some holders of the company's shares who were unwilling to share the prosperity and blocked proposed new issues. So the company was (technically) sold, they were paid out and obliged to buy new shares like anyone else. J S Smith-Winby continued as chairman.Board 1905 John Sidney Smith-Winby (c.1863–1920), chairman; promoter and organiser; director of oil, steel and insurance companies Sir William B Avery, Baronet, deputy chairman; philatelist and company director, Avery Scales Alexandre Darracq Edward Festus Kelly (1854–1939), of Kelly's Directory Joseph Malesset, manufacturer of soda siphons, Paris William Weir, engineer Weir Group A Rawlinson, Toby Rawlinson pilot and motor racing driver, managing director of the London branch.Ian Nickols and Kent Karslake, Motoring Entente, Cassell, London 1956 After this restructure over 80 per cent of the shares were held in England.
Meanwhile, there was a move towards building larger cars and by 1907 there was one model with an 11.5-litre engine.Montagu of Beaulieu and Michael Sedgwick, Lost Causes of Motoring vol II, Cassell, London, 1971
Alexandre Darracq had long been interested in heavy vehicles for the carriage of people and the transport of goods. On his advice the company entered into a joint venture with Léon Serpollet in 1905 to build steam-powered buses. A new factory was built at Suresnes capable of making one hundred chassis each month but the buses were not successful and in 1910 the directors had to tell their shareholders they had written off £156,000 of investment in heavy steam vehicles.
Management changes Alexandre Darracq retires In April 1908, the directors found it necessary to formally deny rumours of Alexandre Darracq's intention to resign, noting his contract did not expire until September 1910.Public Companies, A Darracq and Company (1905) Limited The Times 11 April 1908 page 3
Returning to an 1898 idea by M. Darracq to build low-cost, good-quality cars, much as Henry Ford was doing with the Ford Model T, Darracq & Co introduced a £260 model at the very end of 1911.Wise, p.494.Company Meetings, The New Darracq Valveless Model The Times 14 December 1911 page 18 These, at the founder's insistence, would all be cursed with the HenriodC E Henriod & Cie manufacturers of the change-speed rear axles where the change-speed box forms part of the differential casing rotary valve engine, which was underpowered and prone to seizing. The new engine's failure was reported by Darracq & Co to its shareholders to be no more than the difficulty of achieving quantity production. It proved disastrous to the marque, and eventually Alexandre Darracq, left, retiring in late 1911.
Paul Ribeyrolles In late 1911, Alexandre Darracq was replaced by a new managing director, chief engineer Paul Ribeyrolles, one-time head of Darracq's Gladiator Cycle Company and, unlike Darracq, a motor racing enthusiast. In June 1912, Darracq, surrounded by "new blood", resigned, he had already successfully speculated on then sold all his shares. A main board director, Hopkins, was sent to Paris to take charge of general administration, and Owen CleggOwen Clegg (1877–1940) born Shipley died Knaresborough, West Riding. Rose to be works manager at Wolseley, then went to Rover as chief designer in September 1910, moved on in March 1912 to works manager of Darracq at Suresnes. Soon appointed chief engineer, (managing) director and main board director and, post-Armistice, director of Sunbeam and Clément-Talbot. Replaced in 1934 by Anthony Lago and appointed in 1935 with the Air Ministry in its Production Directorate under Lord Weir, died 1940, widow 1965 was sent to Suresnes from Rover in Coventry and appointed works manager.Darracq Meeting Adjourned The Times 17 December 1912 page 16 At the end of 1912, the chairman reassured shareholders a return on their investment in the valveless motor would arrive in 1913.Company Results. A Darracq The Times 10 December 1912 page 19
By February 1913, shareholders had set up their own inquiry into the unsatisfactory position of the business and it reported poor co-operation between London and Suresnes, they had been pulling against each other, furthermore there had been considerable loss through "recent changes in personnel".The Darracq Inquiry The Times 20 February 1913 page 15 The committee then went on record saying: "M. Darracq, as a typical Frenchman, probably possessed far more originality and initiative than any Englishman of corresponding situation, but, if he displayed a failing, it was that he, like most of his brilliant race, lacked the Englishman's pertinacity, and, after a time, seemed to lose interest, as it were, in his original conceptions without making any serious effort to strike out a fresh line."The Darracq Board And The Committee's Report The Times 28 February 1913 page 14
Norman Craig The chairman of the investigating committee, Norman Craig, was appointed chairman of Darracq & Company. Works manager Owen Clegg, designer of the proven Rover Twelve, sensibly copied the Twelve for Darracq & Co's new model. The factory at Suresnes was retooled for mass production, making it one of the first in the industry to do so. The 16hp Clegg-Darracq was joined by an equally reliable 2.1-litre 12hp car, and soon the factory was turning out sixty cars a week; by 1914, 1,200 men rolled out fourteen cars a day.
Société Anonyme Automobiles Darracq Darracq & Co factory was switched to the production of various war materials during World War I. In 1916, aside from the land and buildings, all the Suresnes assets were transferred to Société Anonyme Automobiles Darracq, a new company incorporated in France for the purpose; British assets were transferred the British Darracq Motor Engineering Company.The Motor Transport Year Book and Directory Electrical Press, London, 1918 Suresnes land and buildings were transferred to Darracq Proprietary Company Limited of London and leased back to SA Darracq.Jean-Louis Loubet, L'Industrie automobile: 1905–1971, Droz, Geneva 1999
Acquisitions In the wake of WWI Darracq & Company went on a buying spree, mainly of automobile-related companies. After the Armistice of 11 November 1918, it bought Heenan & Froude, constructional engineers, of Worcester and Manchester. At the end of 1919 Darracq & Co bought Clément-Talbot.A. Darracq & Co. (1905) (Limited) The Times 2 December 1919 page 24 In early 1920 Jonas Woodhead & Sons of Leeds, suppliers of springs for cars, was acquired. In June 1920 Darracq & Company they bought control of Sunbeam Motor Car Company.Big Motor Amalgamation. The Times 9 June 1920 page 21 In August W & G Du Cros of Acton, taxi operators and van, lorry, bus and ambulance body builders, was purchased.City Notes The Times 11 December 1920 page 16
S.T.D. Motors Limited