Panhard & Levassor, 1894 - 1896
From 1890, the Paris-based company Panhard & Levassor marketed the petrol engines, which it built under licence according to Gottlieb Daimler's design plans, not only as a universal power source that could act as a replacement for slow-running stationary gas engines, but it also became an automobile manufacturer by installing them in chassis it had developed itself. Another customer for the Daimler licensed engines produced in Paris was Peugeot, which also began producing petrol-driven cars. With their vehicles powered by Daimler licence engines, Panhard & Levassor and Peugeot began to develop the automobile market in France from 1891. French customers showed much more interest in the then new type of petrol car than was the case in Germany.
The widespread enthusiasm for the emergence of motoring in France – similar to that of the bicycle a few years earlier – led almost inevitably to the organisation of sporting competitions, which subsequently sprang up all over the country. The first race of a sort was the 126-kilometre Paris - Rouen long-distance drive on 22 July 1894, which was actually a reliability trial, but was also about which starter would be the first to reach the finish line in the northern French city. The event was organised by the Paris-based newspaper "Le Petit Journal" on the initiative of its editor Pierre Giffard.
Of the 21 (out of 102 registered) vehicles that rolled onto the starting grid in Paris, 14 were petrol-powered, while the remaining seven were steam-powered – a circumstance that makes it clear that the "competition between the systems" of petrol engine, steam and electric drive was in full swing in those early days of the automobile. In the 1890s, it was by no means foreseeable that petrol-powered cars would ultimately win the race. One of the steam cars – a De-Dion-Bouton, which with 20 hp/15 kW was the most powerful representative of the field of participants – was actually the first to reach the finish line in Rouen. However, the winning vehicle was disqualified because its design as a steam tractor with a passenger carriage did not comply with the tender, which only envisaged four-seater carriages.
Panhard & Levassor brought four vehicles to the start: in addition to three four-seater cars, there was also a two-seater, which was driven by Émile Levassor himself. Another motor car from Panhard & Levassor had been modified by its owner, Alfred Vacheron: Vacheron's vehicle was the first car ever to have an inclined steering column and steering wheel. Five Peugeot cars, which also competed in Paris, were also equipped with Daimler licence engines.
All ten vehicles with Daimler engines reached the finish line in Rouen, and so the first prize of 5000 francs was split between the two manufacturers. Of course, none of these or any of the other vehicles that crossed the finish line were "racing cars" as we understand them today; nevertheless, the cars from Peugeot and Panhard & Levassor that won the first motorsport event rightly have a firm place in the lineage of competition vehicles.
Power was provided by a two-cylinder V-engine from Panhard & Levassor, "Systeme Daimler", which had a displacement of just under one litre. At 620 rpm, the engine produced 3.5 hp/2.6 kW, and the cylinders and cylinder heads were made of grey cast iron. The engine timing was only rudimentary at that time: while the intake valves remained uncontrolled, the work of the side exhaust valves was regulated by means of a centrifugal governor. The engine was lubricated by a drip oiler; only the cylinder head was water-cooled.
On the journey from Paris to Rouen, the two-cylinder engine demonstrated qualities that are still decisive today: endurance and reliability, and that's also what was stipulated in the entry criteria: "The winner will be the car that best fulfils the criteria of being "safe to use, easy to operate and not too expensive to run" ('être sans danger, aisément maniable pour les voyageurs et de ne pas coûter trop cher sur la route')."
The next automobile race in France was not organised by a newspaper, but by a racing committee set up for this purpose, which then became the Automobile Club de France. The task that the participants had to face from 11 to 14 June 1895 was far more ambitious than eleven months earlier and the overall distance was almost the same as the Paris - Brest - Paris cycle race down to the last kilometre. The route was from Paris to Bordeaux and back, a total of 1192 kilometres, with the journey from Paris to Versailles taking place as a non-classified parade. In the end, the decisive factor was the speed or rather the time of arrival in Paris.
Of the 46 registered vehicles, 23 were at the start, including 6 with steam engines and 1 with electric drive. Panhard & Levassor took part with four cars. Compared to the previous year, the Parisian manufacturer had two trumps up its sleeve: This time, not all of its vehicles were equipped with the two-cylinder V-engine, which was also available to Peugeot. In addition to the two four-seater cars that had already travelled from Paris to Rouen, Levassor equipped a two-seater, which he drove himself, with the new light and powerful Daimler-Phoenix engine. Gottlieb Daimler contributed an 8 hp/6 kW four-cylinder engine, originally designed as a boat engine, for a heavy five-seater that weighed 1800 kg. This was probably the first use of a four-cylinder petrol engine in an automobile.
Within the limit of 100 hours defined in the regulations, 9 participants reached the finish line – 1 steam car and 8 petrol-powered cars, including the two Roger-Benz's and 6 vehicles with Daimler or Daimler licence-built engine. The first was Emile Levassor after 48 hours and 48 minutes. However, since his Panhard & Levassor, as a two-seater, did not fulfil the entry conditions, he only received the second prize of 12,000 francs despite a six-hour lead over the – also two-seater – Peugeot of Koechlin. The first prize of 30,000 francs was awarded to Louis Rigoulot's four-seater Peugeot, also equipped with a Daimler licence engine, which had crossed the finish line more than eleven hours after Levassor – incidentally almost five hours ahead of the first Benz, which had again started under the name of the French sales partner Roger. The Bollee steam-powered bus was the last of the nine vehicles to reach the finish line after a time of just over 90 hours – 41 hours and 15 minutes after Emile Levassor's arrival. Another thirteen and a half hours later – and thus almost four hours over the 100-hour limit imposed by the regulations – the Michelin brothers' car with pneumatic tyres arrived in Paris.
In the years that followed, vehicles with Daimler licence engines won numerous other events. From 1896, Panhard & Levassor even used vehicles with a four-cylinder engine that was a further development of the licensed Daimler engines.