Drivetime

DARRACQ

It was the car that sparked a firestorm of interest in veteran motoring in the 1950s.

A Darracq called Genevieve starred in the Bafta award-winning movie of the same name which was voted Best British Film of the Coronation year in 1953 and had an Oscar-nominated music theme by harmonica legend Larry Adler.

The film had a star-studded cast including John Gregson, Kenneth More, Dinah Sheridan and Kay Kendall and was one of the first movies I went to see.

Genevieve’s participation in the annual London to Brighton run for veteran cars, alongside her rival, a throaty, bright yellow Dutch Spyker, has become a legendary tale.

The car has achieved such fame that a book has now been written of its life before and after its film career.

Rodney Laredo’s in-depth biography of Genevieve is the first of its kind. It charts both the public and private life of this famous set of wheels.

For more than forty years the author has collected an extensive pictorial and documented archive of material, through his own personal association with Genevieve and her respective owners and restorers in England, New Zealand, Australia, and Holland.

The car was a product of a company founded by one Alexandre Darracq.

Using part of the profit he had made from selling his Gladiator bicycle factory, Darracq began operating from a plant in the Parisian suburb of Suresnes.

The company started by building electric motor carriages until 1900 when it went on to produce a series of petrol powered models.

The Darracq automobile company prospered and produced amazing models such as the car named Genevieve.