The 1884 De Dion Bouton
et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout drew a standing ovation
as it was driven up onto the stage at Friday's RM Auction in
Hershey, Pennsylvania - to prove that this 127-year-old car
really does run! - and attracted a starting bid of $500 000,
which was immediately doubled to $1 million. The Dos-a-Dos (Back-to-Back) Steam Runabout was built in 1884 by George Bouton and Charles-Armand Trepardoux for French entrepreneur Count de Dion, who named it 'La Marquise' after his mother. In 1887, with De Dion at the tiller, it won the world's first ever motor race (it was the only entrant to make the start line!) covering the 32km from the Pont de Neuilly in Paris to Versailles and back in one hour and 14 minutes (an average of 25.9km/h) and, according to contemporary reports, hitting a breathtaking 60km/h on the straights! La Marquise has only had
four owners, remaining in one family for 81 years, and has been
restored twice, once by the Doriol family and again by British
collector Tom Moore in the early 1990's. Since then, it has
taken part in four London-to-Brighton runs and collected a
double gold at the 1997 Pebble Beach
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