Axon's Automotive Anorak – Which 19th century car‑makers still survive?

For this year’s Cartier ‘Style et Luxe,’ one of the seven classes that we have chosen is dedicated to half-a-dozen or so late 19th Century pioneering motor cars, all built when Queen Victorian still ruled over the huge British Empire.  The cars range from the oldest, an 1894 Peugeot Type 3, to the youngest; an 1899 Fiat 3.5 hp, the oldest example of the famous Torinese marque in the UK.

Both Peugeot (which built its first car in 1891) and Fiat (1899) are still highly active and churning out millions of brand new vehicles today, along with just two other surviving pre-20th Century car marques in their original form; Opel and Renault, both founded in 1898. 

This European quartet are now the only remaining original car manufacturing companies from the pioneering motor car era, as all others from these early days have subsequently merged or fallen by the wayside, including arguably the very first car brand; Benz (1885), which disappeared as a stand-alone marque when it combined with the German Daimler marque (established in 1901) to form today’s Mercedes-Benz 90 years ago, in 1926.

Beyond the four surviving late 19th Century marques, both Oldsmobile (1896) and the British Daimler Motor Company (also 1896) lived on into the 21st Century – just – yet both firms have subsequently been laid to rest in recent years.  

A couple of pre-20th Century British car makers made it on into the mid-1970s, with Wolseley (1896) killed off by British Leyland in 1975, and Coventry’s Humber (1988) sent packing by its struggling Chrysler parent in 1976. Riley (1899) fell victim of the messy BMC/BLMC take over in 1969, with the once-respected Lanchester dying off as a shadow of its former self under B.S.A-Daimler in 1956, and Scotland’s Arrol-Johnston (1895) only making it until 1927. Their demise now makes the early 20th Century Vauxhall (its first car made in 1903) the UK’s longest-running continuous production marque. 

With Oldsmobile gone (in 2004), Cadillac is now the USA’s oldest car marker, established in 1902, just one year ahead of its General Motors cousin Buick, plus the Ford Motor Company. Just like Oldsmobile, none of America’s other 19th Century car brands have survived, with Packard lasting the longest (from 1899 to 1958), followed by steam car specialists Stanley (1897 to 1927), Winton (also 1897 to 1927), Locomobile USA (1899-1920) and Duryea (1893-1916).

Closer to home, the respected Belgian make Minerva lasted from 1899 to 1939, with a revival of the marque imminent, now being reinvented as a supercar brand. Austro-Daimler lived from 1899 to 1936, and over the border the German luxury Horch brand lasted from 1898 until 1940. 

France led the way in the pioneering days of motoring by some margin though, introducing the then-new sport of motor racing, with the more vehicle manufacturers than the rest of Europe combined. Household names such as De Dion Bouton (1883 to 1932), Panhard (1890 to 1967), Delahaye (1894 to 1954) and Darracq (1896 to 1920) really helped put motoring on the map, with lesser Gallic makes such as Leon Bollee (1895 to 1933), Mors (1895 to 1925) and Berliet (1895 to 1939, but with truck production continuing on into the 1970s) also making a useful contribution.

As the world’s longest-established original car maker, marking its 125th anniversary since the production of its first motor car this year, it is only fitting that the oldest car on the Cartier lawn later this month at the Festival of Speed will be a Peugeot, an 1894 Type 3 vis-à-vis four model, powered by a Panhard et Levassor V Twin motor. 

This fine French machine will contrast beautifully with the prestigious Rolls-Royces, innovative Lancias and exotic Lamborghinis all set to share space on the Cartier lawn, along with some stunning 1920s Vauxhall 30/98s, sporting Alpine-Renaults and exquisite English coachbuilt GTs, powered by snarling American V8 motors. I for one can’t wait to see all of these fine machines, and in particular, pay my respects to the 19th Century pioneers of motoring.  Before that though, I just need to write 150 words about each car, with Wikipedia offering little help at all for most of these late 1800s pioneers!