RM Auctions to sell the world's oldest working vehicle in October

Every weekend around the country there's an auction selling a rare automobile or piece of ephemera that is priceless to collectors. But on Oct. 7, RM Auctions will be able to say it truly has something that's one-of-a-kind.

One of the first horseless carriages, the 1884 De Dion Bouton Et Trepardoux Dos-a-Dos Steam Runabout, will be auctioned off in Hershey, Pa. RM expects the car will bring $2 million to $2.5 million.

The 127-year-old Runabout, named La Marquise after de Dion's mother, is certified as the oldest running car in the world.

In December 1881, de Dion was shopping in Paris and stopped at the Giroux toy shop. He was looking for prizes to give away at a ball he was planning. De Dion loved the workmanship of the steam engines he saw and asked who built them.

De Dion was introduced to Georges Bouton and Charles-Armand Trepardoux, who were working at the shop making seven francs a day. He immediately hired them to build a bigger steam engine, one that could power a carriage.

After first adding a steam engine to a tricycle the pair went to work on adapting it to a four-wheeled machine. La Marquise was born.

The quadricycle sends power to the rear wheels with connecting rods, similar to a train locomotive. Steering was done through the front wheels, as opposed to the hard-to-control, rear-steer tricycle. Its sophisticated boiler can be steamed in just 45 minutes, a small amount of time for the era.

The carriage is nine feet long and weighs about 2,100 pounds. La Marquise seats four and can be driven by one, just like the modern interpretation.

The only older functioning vehicle is the 1875 Greenville, according to RM, which is basically a power gun carriage. Other older vehicles sit in museums but none are likely to ever run again.

In 1887, Bouton competed in the first motor-car race from Paris to Versailles and back. He won, being the only car that competed, and hit almost 40 mph on the straights, according to an observer who timed him. By that time de Dion was selling copies of the quadricycle for the princely sum of $850.

This remaining example has been in the hands of only four owners since its inception, one of whom had the car for 81 years. It was the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance double award winner in 1997, and it is being offered from the estate of John O'Quinn.

With the vehicle's history, provenance and its working order, La Marquise could be considered one of the most important motor cars in the world. We expect that the next owner will treat it that way.

By Jake Lingeman