Delaunay-Belleville

Automobiles Delaunay-Belleville was a French luxury automobile manufacturer at Saint-Denis, France, north of Paris. At the beginning of the 20th century they were among the most prestigious cars produced in the world, and perhaps the most desirable French marque.

Julien Belleville had been a maker of marine boilers from around 1850. Louis Delaunay joined the firm in 1867 and married Delaunay's daughter, changing his name to Delaunay-Belleville and succeeded Belleville in charge of the company.

S.A. des Automobiles Delaunay-Belleville was formed in 1903 by Louis Delaunay and Marius Barbarou (). Barbarou's family owned the boiler making company St. Denis in Belleville, with boiler design influences inspired by the company. Barbarou, then 28, had experience working for Clément, Lorraine-Dietrich and Benz and was responsible for design and styling, including the trademark round grille shell. The first car was exhibited at the 1904 Paris Salon, and it received enormous acclaim.

The company started with three models, all fours: a live axled 16 hp (12 kW; 16 PS) and a 24 hp (18 kW; 24 PS) and 40 hp (30 kW; 41 PS) model, both chain-driven. These were likely the first automobiles to have pressure-lubricated camshafts. The bodies were attached with just four bolts, and the brakes were water-cooled, from a 2 imp gal (9.1 l; 2.4 US gal) reservoir.

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