World's Oldest Running Car Up For Sale 107
cylonlover writes "A very special car will cross the auctioneers block next month — it's the world's oldest running motor car, a historic 1884 de Dion Bouton et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout. The second prototype built by Count de Dion, the car participated in the world's first automobile race, which only attracted one competitor. It completed the course, and although it's arguably not possible to have a race without two competitors, this is the car that 'won' that race, achieving a claimed top speed of 37 mph on the straights."
37 mph? Too fast.... (Score:2)
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37 MPH ought to be enough for anybody.
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As a college educated American, I call BS on this. Cars were invented by Henry Ford. Ask 100 Americans and democracy will tell you that Hank invented them.
Yes, but... (Score:1)
...does it run DOS?
Yes, it does... (Score:2)
... Drive On Streets.
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It also still hasn't needed a reboot.
Count de Dion (Score:2)
None (Score:2)
I'd bet he's looking at buying it (Score:2)
Good chance he'll get it.
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Not so sure (Score:2)
So, will this car/auction be on Top Gear? (Score:3)
That is to say, the real Top Gear (UK), not any of the other cheap imitations.
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That is to say, the real Top Gear (UK), not any of the other cheap imitations.
Agreed - it would be hilarious to see James trying to drive that thing during the intro review segment...
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"We're going to see what it's like to drive it to Norway!"
Already done :P (Score:2)
they did something almost similar, take a look, it's hilarious:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWTcPdYfsAc [youtube.com]
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Actually, I re-played the video to hear the name, and unless there were different models of the de Dion Bouton, it *is* the very same car!
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Its a different model, the one they were driving was a production car (the article is about a prototype) and it appears to be gas powered, not steam like this one.
Looks pretty nice (Score:3)
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Competed in Steampunk DARPA Grand Challenge... 80 years before there was a DARPA.
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Here ya go:
http://www.faxpipe.com/images/fax-machine.png [faxpipe.com]
http://www.faxpipe.com/fax-history.html [faxpipe.com]
Leno? More likely some reality show (Score:1)
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Re:Leno? More likely some reality show (Score:5, Funny)
This car was featured in the popular zoetrope: "Pimpeth Thine Horseless Carriage".
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Must be scrapped (Score:2)
It doesn't meet government safety, environmental or fuel consumption regulations.
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Hey it's steam-powered. That means it runs on coal, that sexy America-tastic power source. You guys love coal right?
Insurance will still be a bitch on a car this old though...
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Steam powered means it will run on anything that can generate steam including matter-antimatter reactions.
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True, but steam engines from that era were typically designed to run on coal.
Incidentally... (Score:1)
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Just refit the boiler with a matter-antimatter core and you are good to go.
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Or just throw a picture of Justin Bieber down there in the firebox. Free energy.
Re:Must be scrapped (Score:4, Insightful)
Hey it's steam-powered.
It runs on steam, the same way a Prius runs on electricity.
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not really - it's a 4 seater so you don't get the "sports car" rate.. and i bet the blue book on it is crap. i've got a 79 midget.. and the insurance "value" of the car is ~300$.. when i added it to my insurance ~10 years ago it actually lowered my overall rate because it divided into the drive time of my then more modern and "valuable" car.
Re:Must be scrapped (Score:4, Informative)
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AFAICT, in California the vehicle smogs as the donor, and you're never allowed to swap a motor older than the vehicle, truck into car, or diesel into non-diesel. Once it's pre-smog, though, it no longer requires checks for registration.
If you live someplace else you're probably right.
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Well, would that car have any wood in it [slashdot.org]? You just might run into some unexpected difficulties importing it...
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Actually, the motoring public is running into BIG problems now in California, because they are now starting to retroactively apply regulations STRICTER than vehicles were required to meet when new, and stricter than were applied say five years ago
Not me, I drive diesels constructed before 1996, which do not require any emissions testing. I'm still subject to gross polluter rules, of course. Neither of my diesels smoke except at heavy load however, so I'm safe there, too.
Re:Still? (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, sadly it ran into hard times in the 1930s and had to hire itself out as a beer fountain.
88 mph (Score:1)
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It's okay, there's been plenty of inflation since 1884, that 37 MPH is much more now.
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But where will you get the pinball machine parts to replace it?
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But where will you get the pinball machine parts to replace it?
Easy; 1985!
Inexpolsible (Score:1)
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I once ignored a bi-lingual safety warning because the Spanish word for "Warning" is something very similar to "Advertisement". I thought it was spam. Don't worry, my eyebrows grew back.
Progress (Score:2)
It takes more than half an hour to prepare before it can drive, requires watering every 20 miles, and has a top speed of 37mph. That sounds like most of the crap American cars from the 70s I drove. A funny video they could make would have it cut off by Mr. Bean in his British Leyland Mini 1000.
Analogy (Score:2)
Could someone please work this car news into a linux analogy for me please?
Re:Analogy (Score:4, Funny)
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We are talking about Linux, so 3.5" floppy disk would be appropriate. They were ubiquitous in 1991. You can go for double density disks, though, since they were cheaper. Bonus points for drilling a hole in the capacity indicator and formatting the floppy for high density resulting in no errors in Norton disk doctor.
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Sure thing.
It would be like somebody selling Softlanding Linux System floppies.
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It would be like somebody selling Softlanding Linux System floppies.
I actually have some SLS floppies in a box in my garage. I don't imagine anybody would want them though. However, I predict a lot of interest in this car. Hell, if I had that kind of money and the space to store and maintain it, I would put in a bid myself.
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Yes.. it;s like someone selling MINIX disks..
Jay Leno, ftw! (Score:2)
A car with extremely unique provenance?
Don't even bother going to that auction Jay will pay whatever it takes.
-AI
Remember to check (Score:1)
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Since you are using british terminology i'm assuming you are reffering to the UK, I can't seem to find anything in TFA about where the care is located.
Avoid any nasty surprises.
While I'd agree your list of things to check for is good for those buying cars in general I don't think they are the most important things in this case.
I doubt anyone cares too much about the mileage on a car like this. You don't buy a car like this because of the mileage or lack thereof. You buy it to own a price of history. Did cars of that age even have an
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At 37 MPH is it even possible to get a speeding ticket? The lowest speed limit I have seen in the US at least was 30 MPH (on public roads at least...) and a cop surely won't pull you over for 7 mph over, it isn't worth it.
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Perhaps we should rename all speed cameras (and red light cameras) as a tax enforcement device. It would be much harder to hide from the public that all a speed camera is is income for the state. It surely doesn't make the roads safer.
Bogus! (Score:4, Informative)
FWIW.
Re:Bogus! (Score:5, Informative)
The admitted replica? [tbauto.org]
Which is of a 1770s vintage French steamer that is not run and itself a frankenbuilt [classicand...ncecar.com] reconstruction of the vehicle?
Running car my hiney.
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Running car my hiney.
Put it on the top of a hill, give it a light tap, and I assure you it'll run like a charm. You'd never know the boiler was on backwards. Why, I bet your friends will be clamoring for one too once they see how cool having one is, except well, there's one and only one in the world. Who wouldn't want that kind of prestige?
Think about it. But not too long because I have three other guys who were here earlier who said they're interested. In fact, I'm expecting a call this very afternoon from one of them. But sin
Re:!Bogus (Score:1)
"The original Fardier de Cugnot has been in the collection of the Le Conservatoire de Arts et Metiers, Paris, France since 1801. Currently on display is one reproduction Fardier on loan from the Deutsche Ban Museum in Nuremberg, Germany, as well as a completely functional, faithful reproduction that was created from the ground-up by The Tampa Bay Auto Museum."
So, the oldest car is on display in Pari
Totally steampunk (Score:2)
Totally steampunk. Miniaturizing the locomotive and taking it off-track was an obvious approach towards independant motorized transit. This makes me wonder, what are the oldest running vehicles in the various tech categories (gasoline powered, diesel, electric, and hybrid). You could break this down even further I suppose. Oldest fuel injected vehicle still running? Less interesting though. Yeah I know I could google it, and maybe I will later...
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For all intensive purposes, "whom" is no longer a word. That begs the question, "who cares"?
Intensive?
And who cares about whom?
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Whom are you, whom whom, whom whom.
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I wonder what steam car would be possible to build using modern materials/tools. I probably would be quite good, well apart from the 'takes x minutes to build up steam" part.
It's missing... (Score:2)
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The first pascaline up for auction?
The first difference engine?
The first Jacquard loom?
The first Hollerith tabulator?
Actually, I probably go with Konrad Zuse's Z1 if any of these still existed. As it is, I think it would have to be the Smithsonian auctioning off ENIAC.
Note that up above there are linux analogies.
Vehicle Inspection is going to be a hassle (Score:1)