The Ford Vendôme is a large car that was manufactured by Ford SAF at their plant in Poissy , France , from 1953 until 1954.
26-696: Introduced in October at the 1953 Mondial de l’Automobile in Paris, the Vendôme would undoubtedly have been the star of the Ford stand were it not for the manufacturer’s decision to fly in an eye catching futuristic prototype from Detroit called the X-100 which seems to have been the more effective show stealer. Despite sharing the modern – if to modern eyes heavy looking – body of the Vedette,
52-520: A steam-powered car and used it to win the world's first auto race , but his vehicle was adjudged to be against the rules. He was a co-founder of De Dion-Bouton , the world's largest automobile manufacturer for a time, as well as the French sports newspaper L'Équipe . Dion was the heir of a leading French noble family, in 1901 succeeding his father Louis Albert William Joseph de Dion de Wandonne as Count and later Marquis. A "notorious duellist", he also had
78-471: A consumption figure of 25.0 litres per 100 kilometres (11.3 mpg ‑imp ; 9.4 mpg ‑US ). The effortless power would have provided a pleasing contrast with other cars available in France, especially in mountainous areas or when overtaking. The car shared the independent front suspension incorporating MacPherson struts of the Vedette on which this configuration had first appeared. However,
104-479: A partnership which became the De Dion-Bouton automobile company, the world's largest automobile manufacturer for a time. They tried marine steam engines, but progressed to a steam car which used belts to drive the front wheels whilst steering with the rear. This was destroyed by fire during trials. In 1884, they built another, "La Marquise" , with steerable front wheels and drive to the rear wheels. As of 2011, it
130-452: A passion for mechanics. He had already built a model steam engine when, in 1881, he saw one in a store window and asked about building another. The engineers, Georges Bouton and his brother-in-law, Charles Trépardoux, had a shop in Léon where they made scientific toys. Needing money for Trépardoux's long-time dream of a steam car , they acceded to De Dion's request. During 1883, they formed
156-401: A result, de Dion withdrew all his advertising from the paper, and in 1900, he led a group of wealthy "anti-Dreyfusard" manufacturers, including Édouard Michelin and Adolphe Clément , to start a rival daily sports paper, L'Auto-Vélo , and compete directly with Le Vélo . De Dion and Michelin were also concerned with Le Vélo – which reported more than cycling – because its financial backer
182-514: Is a biennial auto show in Paris. Held during October, it is one of the most important auto shows, often with many new production automobile and concept car debuts. The show presently takes place in Paris expo Porte de Versailles . The Mondial is scheduled by the Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles , which considers it a major international auto show. In 2016,
208-444: Is the world's oldest running car, and is capable of carrying four people at up to 38 miles per hour (61 km/h). Comte de Dion entered one in an 1887 trial, "Europe's first motoring competition", the brainchild of M. Paul Faussier of cycling magazine Le Vélocipède Illustré . Evidently, the promotion was insufficient, for the de Dion was the sole entrant, but it completed the course. The de Dion tube (or 'dead axle')
234-467: The COVID-19 pandemic 48°49′51″N 2°17′12″E / 48.8308°N 2.2867°E / 48.8308; 2.2867 Jules-Albert de Dion Marquis Jules Félix Philippe Albert de Dion de Wandonne ( French pronunciation: [ʒyl feliks filip albɛʁ də djɔ̃ də wɑ̃dɔn] ; 9 March 1856 – 19 August 1946) was a French pioneer of the automobile industry . He invented
260-531: The First World War motor shows were suspended, meaning that the show of October 1919 was only the 15th "Salon". There was again no Paris Motor Show in 1925, the venue having been booked instead for an Exhibition of Decorative Arts . In October 1926, the Motor Show returned, this being the 26th Paris Salon de l'Automobile . The outbreak of war again intervened in 1939 when the 33rd Salon de l'Automobile
286-504: The Flathead V8 side-valve engine of which millions had been made worldwide and which, in this “Mistral” form, was already powering Detroit’s 1953 Ford Crestline and Ford's F-Series truck line. Maximum output in this form was listed as 93 bhp (69 kW; 94 PS) or 37% more than the 68 bhp (51 kW; 69 PS) of the Vedette. This translated into a claimed top speed of 148 km/h (92 mph) which in 1950s France
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#1733086208573312-521: The Pas-de-Calais . Motor racing was started in France as a direct result of the enthusiasm with which the French public embraced the motor car. Manufacturers were enthusiastic due to the possibility of using motor racing as a shop window for their cars. The first motor race took place on 22 July 1894 and was organised by Le Petit Journal , a Parisian newspaper. It was run over the 122 kilometres (76 mi) distance between Paris and Rouen . The race
338-501: The 1954 model year. Unfortunately for the Vendôme, however, 1954 was also the year in which Henry Ford sold his French business to Simca . Simca persisted and succeeded with the Vedette and its successor, but operating in a country with high fuel taxes, were not persuaded to persist with a model featuring the larger fuel-hungry Ford developed V8 unit. The Ford Vendôme is therefore now rare. Mondial de l%27Automobile The Paris Motor Show ( French : Mondial de l'Automobile )
364-644: The Dreyfus affair. Historian Eugen Weber described an 1899 conflagration at the Auteuil horse-race course in Paris as "an absurd political shindig" when, among other events, de Dion struck the President of France , Émile Loubet , on the head with a walking stick De Dion served 15 days in jail and was fined 100 French francs , and his behaviour was heavily criticised by Le Vélo , the largest daily sports newspaper in France, and its Dreyfusard editor, Pierre Giffard . As
390-454: The Ford Vendôme outperformed traditional French luxury cars of this size, such as the six-cylinder Hotchkiss Anjou 20.50 saloon/sedan, despite being listed at only two thirds of the price. While the six-cylinder Hotchkiss was withdrawn from sale at the end of 1953 (the much slower, less costly four-cylinder version lingered on only till 1954), approximately 3,000 Ford Vendôme found buyers during
416-470: The Paris Motor Show welcomed 1,253,513 visitors, making it the most visited auto show in the world, ahead of Tokyo and Frankfurt. The key figures of the show are: 125,000 m (1,350,000 sq ft) of exhibition, 8 pavilions, 260 brands from 18 countries, 65 world premieres, more than 10 000 test drives for electric and hybrid cars, more than 10 000 journalists from 103 countries. Until 1986, it
442-454: The Vendôme featured a more elaborate front treatment involving a greater quantity of chrome. Inside, the bench seats were covered by materials of two contrasting colours and the rear bench seat (though not the front one) featured a thick central foldable arm-rest. These, along with detailed differences on the instrument panel, differentiated the Vendôme. A distinguishing and, at the time in France, novel feature which only became apparent after dark
468-405: The larger engine resulted in a weight increase of more than 100 kg, all of it over the front wheels. It was more of a handful on twisty roads than the Vedette, and the front brakes on the Vendôme showed some tendency to overheating, though neither of these issues was serious enough, in the context of the standards of the time, to be considered dangerous. Priced, in 1953, at 1,148,500 francs,
494-537: The modern buildings of the Parc des Expositions , on the south western edge of central Paris at the Porte de Versailles , where the show had been held since 1962. There was no "Salon de l'Automobile" in 1920 There was no "Salon de l'Automobile" in 1925 due to the venue having been allocated to an Exhibition of Decorative Arts No shows were held from 1939 until 1945 There was no "Salon de l'Automobile" in 2020 due to
520-563: Was actually invented by steam advocate Trépardoux, just before he resigned because the company was turning to internal combustion . In 1898, he co-founded the Salon de l'Automobile ( Paris Motor Show ). He died in 1946, age 90, and is buried in Montparnasse Cemetery in Paris. There is a memorial plaque in the family chapel in Wandonne , 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) south of Audincthun in
546-569: Was called the Salon de l'Automobile ; it took the name Mondial de l'Automobile in 1988 and Mondial Paris Motor Show in 2018. The show was held annually until 1976; since which time, it has been held biennially. The show was the first motor show in the world, started in 1898 by industry pioneer, Jules-Albert de Dion . After 1910, it was held at the Grand Palais in the Champs-Élysées . During
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#1733086208573572-424: Was cancelled at short notice. Normality of a sorts returned some six years later and the 33rd "Salon" finally opened in October 1946. In January 1977, it was announced that no Paris Motor Show would take place that year, because of the "current economic situation": at the same time the organisers confirmed that a 1978 Auto Salon for Paris was planned. The 65th Salon de Paris duly opened on 15 October 1978 in
598-413: Was little short of eye watering for a large heavy six seater sedan. Acceleration was also impressive, even at low engine speeds, reflecting strong low-range torque. Fuel consumption was also eye-watering, however, and while drivers cruising below 80 km/h (50 mph) consumed fuel at little more than the rate achieved in the less powerful Vedette, there were reports of high speed cruising giving rise to
624-589: Was one of their commercial rivals, the Darracq company. De Dion believed that Le Vélo gave Darracq too much attention and him too little. After a legally enforced change of name to L'Auto , it in turn created the Tour de France race in 1903 to boost falling circulation. De Dion was an outspoken man who already wrote columns for Le Figaro , Le Matin and others. His wealth allowed him to indulge his whims, which also included refounding Le Nain jaune ( The Yellow Gnome ),
650-456: Was the inclusion of reversing lights which came on automatically when reverse gear was selected. The Vendôme used the well-tried formula of combining an existing model—in this case the Ford Vedette —with a larger engine in order to improve the performance. Fitting a larger engine in the existing engine bay was no problem, and for Ford there was little investment needed, since the engine used was
676-507: Was won by de Dion, although he was not awarded the prize for first place as his steam-powered car required a stoker and the judges deemed this outside of their requirements. The roots of both the Tour de France cycle race and L'Auto ( L'Équipe ), a daily sporting newspaper, can be traced to the Dreyfus affair and de Dion's passionate anti-dreyfusard opinion and actions. Opinions were heated and there were demonstrations by both sides in
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