Founded in 1896 to build-under-license designs by Amédée Bollée, the company’s long if somewhat patchy relationship with the sport included victory for Arthur Duray at the 1906 Circuit of Ardennes.
Engineer Marius Barbarou, the son of a blacksmith, joined in 1914 after short spells at Clément-Bayard and Benz (where he updated its product) and 10 years with Delaunay-Belleville. A racer – he had contested the fateful 1903 Paris-Madrid – his 3.4-litre pushrod ohv ‘Silken Six’ B3-6 made a reasonable showing at Le Mans in 1923, finishing eighth to win its class.
Encouraged, the model’s comfortable touring body was junked for 1924, and servo-assisted four-wheeled brakes were employed to cope with increased power.
Three-car squads of these sensibly developed and well-prepared machines, capably driven by experienced and regular pilots, would score seven podium places and register just two DNFs in the next three years. Led by André Rossignol, they successfully fended off Sunbeam and then Bentley to win on distance in 1925 and 1926.
Courcelles and Rossignol won on distance in their Lorraine-Dietrich B3 at the 1925 running
Alamy
On the latter occasion B3-6s – by now fitted with twin carbs and twin-spark ignition but still with only three speeds in its gearbox – finished 1-2-3 after brakes cooked giving valiant caused the remaining Bentley of Sammy Davis to crash in the 23rd hour.
The French outfit was, therefore, understandably dismayed to discover its loss on countback of the Biennial Cup to an OM driven by Ferdinando Minoia and Giulio Foresti; the leading B3-6 had not been registered for the award.
Its high point even so, Lorraine-Dietrich would be conspicuous by its absence in 1927. And this time there was none to pick up the baton. Extended periods of British and then Italian dominance, courtesy of Bentley and Alfa Romeo, followed before Bugatti (twice) and Delahaye restored French pride as another global conflict loomed.