Post Listing Update: This DDB did not meet reserve with 40 bids up to $36,322. Based on that price point, the seller has relisted the bike with an opening ask of…$99,500. So if you didn’t want it at less than $40k and instead wanted to spend over twice as much, you can now find it
After a 100+ year slumber, this De Dion Bouton is ready to hit the street again…almost. It still needs a little bit of work but it’s a running, riding trike with patina that’s just about as old as it gets on this site.
As the 1900s approached, there were big questions about how transportation would be powered going forward. (Sound familiar?) De Dion Bouton started with steam in the early 1880s, and their first prototype car caught on fire and burnt itself to the ground – so they were over a century ahead of the Ferrari 458! By 1889, DDB felt that internal combustion was the way to go. Hindsight obviously reveals that they guessed correctly, and they were rewarded with a few years of being the world’s largest automobile manufacturer. Today we’re more worried about the three-wheeler that they offered based on a frame sourced from Decauville. It was offered between 1896 and 1901, the ’89 model produced 1.75 horsepower.
Apparently, this example suffered a broken gear tooth before 1910, and the bike was put into storage. Fast forward over 100 years to 2016, when the tooth was fixed and the engine was refreshed where necessary. It’s now said to be a runner but only 2nd gear works at the moment, you’ll need to source or make a gear linkage assembly to access 1st. The seller also has access to a rear carriage chair that you could acquire in a couple of months:
Find this rare trike for sale in Gouldburn, NSW, Australia with bidding up to $23,600 and the reserve not yet met