Wheeler Dealers, in this episode which is a celebration for their 100th car milestone, decide to stray a bit from the usual concept. They go totally old school with a 1903 Darracq! However, with every episode they buy a classic car and attempt to restore it. But in this episode, instead of buying the car, they borrowed it from a museum. The reason behind this is because buying a 1903 Darracq is way too expensive. A 1903 Darracq must cost above 150.000 dollars!
The 1903 Darracq is one amazing invention. It is made 18 years after the invention of the motorcar and already it looks totally like a car. It`s got headlamps, seats, steering wheel, pedals etc. When they open up the hood we can see one marvelous engine from the 1900`s! It`s got whole 8 horsepower! And the parts are easily recognizable. We can see a silver carburetor, exhaust system, spark plugs…the whole package! We can even see a water reservoir that is used as a radiator!
Up next, we can see the museum curator, Michael Penn who gives the boys of Wheeler Dealers some constructive advice. He says that the 1903 Darracq has not got any automatic controls whatsoever. Everything with this car got to be done manually. This means that one really got to be alerted about many things while driving it. Also, the 1903 Darracq has wooden wheels which means they wobble a lot. The driver has to be very concentrated while driving this 113 years old vehicle indeed!
When they push the car outside of the museum it won`t start, because this 113 years old vehicle hasn`t been driven for many years. The vehicle needs some assistance in order to start. So they call in the cavalry!! The cavalry is in a form of a lawn mower…sorry for the hype…
Anyhow, the lawn mower proves to be a great towing assistance. After lending the towing assistance, the Darracq`s engine starts up greatly! Make sure to watch the video and feel the awesome driving atmosphere of the 1900`s!
Finally, take a look at the early 1900`s American car models by following this link!
