De Dion Bouton Model Q 6hp 1903

A 1903 De Dion Bouton Model Q 6hp veteran car

Key facts

Year

1903
Country

France
Capacity

698cc
Cylinders

1 cylinder
Valves

Side valve
Performance

30mph
Price new

£200
Owner

Montagu Collection
Manufacturer

De Dion, Bouton et Cie, Paris

This 1903 De Dion Bouton is one of the original five cars that launched the Montagu Motor Museum in 1952. It has been in the Montagu family since 1913 when it was acquired from a tenant on the Beaulieu Estate. It was used as a works vehicle by the estate engineer Frank Wadley until the early 1930s when it was replaced with a Morris Cowley.

Edward, Lord Montagu found the car in an outhouse and placed it on display in Palace House in 1952 as part of a small display of cars intended as a tribute to his father, pioneering motorist John Montagu, 2nd Baron Montagu of Beaulieu. This was the nucleus of what would later become the Montagu Motor Museum, now the National Motor Museum. It is a regular entrant in the annual London to Brighton run.