This was one of many Darracq cars packed into St. Samson’s Square in York at the weekend. This was the oldest one there.
Darracq was a French motor vehicle manufacturing company founded in 1896 by Alexandre Darracq after selling his Gladiator Bicycle company. By 1905 it established branches in the UK, Spain and Italy and then expanded into both cars and aviation engines. In 1920 the British arm became the majority shareholder in Sunbeam-Talbot-Darracq ('STD Motors') which was sold to the Rootes group in 1935 such that Darracq ceased to be a distinct marque, instead becoming a badge-engineered Sunbeam.
The film Genevieve, a 1953, British film directed by Henry Cornelius, Genevieve, featured a 1904 Darracq as its centrepiece. The film sparked an increase in collecting and restoring vintage automobiles.
For further info: http://www.sunbeam.org.uk/Darracq.htm
@dolphin Thank you Molly. York does have a lot of events. I happened on this one by chance. There are regular events like the Illuminating York every October and the Viking festival every February half term, not to mention various markets. We also seem to be on the film makers maps if the local press reports are anything to go by. katharine
