Berliet Dauphine

Berliet Dauphine
Berliet Dauphine berline (ca 1936)
Overview
Manufacturer	Berliet
Also called	Berliet Type VIRP 11 (1934-1939) Berliet Type VIRP 9 (1934-1937)
Production	1934-1939
Assembly	Vénissieux
Body and chassis
Body style	Roadster cabriolet 4 or 2 door saloon/sedan « Berline » or « Coach »
Powertrain
Engine	1990 cc four-cylinder 1934-39 1600 cc four-cylinder 1934-37
Transmission	Four speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase	2,850 mm (112 in) (1934-1936) 2,980 mm (117 in) (9CV 1936-1939) 3,080 mm (121 in) (1937-1939)

The Berliet Dauphine is a family car produced by Berliet at their Vénissieux plant on the south side of Lyon between summer 1934 and 1939. The original cars had a 1990cc engine placing them in the 11CV car tax band, but this was quickly joined by a 1,600cc (9CV) version, and at one stage a 14CV powered version was advertised as available “sur commande” (only if specially ordered).

For most of its production run the Dauphine was the principal or only passenger car produced by Berliet. In the end it was also Berliet’s final car. After the war the company concentrated on building trucks and buses.

The principal longitudinal bars of the chassis curved up at the ends which meant that the car body sat lower on the road than on cars featuring a more traditional 1920s style "overslung" chassis. The Dauphine’s chassis was also noteworthy for following the recent trend to independent front suspension, the front wheels being suspended from a transverse leaf spring, and here combined with rack and pinion steering. At the back there was a traditional rigid axle suspended from a pair of longitudinally mounted leaf-springs.

The car was offered as a four door “Berline” sedan/saloon and as a two door “Coach” sedan/saloon. There was also a sporting bodied “Roadster” and a two door five seater “Cabriolet”. However, the “Roadster” and “Coach” bodied cars were delisted in 1935, leaving just the four door “Berline” and the “Cabriolet”.

The bodies were manufactured in what was becoming a rather old fashioned manner, with the structural strength coming from a timber frame over which steel panels were fitted. By this time competitor vehicles from volume automakers such as the Peugeot 402 and Citroën Traction were coming with all-steel bodies formed from sheet steel using heavy presses, and without the need for any separate structural frame underneath the panels. The all-steel car bodies could be more curvaceously styled and, given sufficient volumes, more cheaply produced, but Berliet sold fewer than 10,000 Dauphines, and this would have fallen far short of the volumes necessary to amortise the high capital costs involved with heavy steel presses and dies for stamping body panels.

The 11CV 1,990cc four cylinder water-cooled unit delivered a maximum of 50 hp (37 kW) at 4,000 rpm to the rear wheels via a conventional 4-speed manual gear box. Maximum power listed for the 9CV 1600cc unit was 40 hp (30 kW) at 4,000 rpm. The 9CV engine was removed from the list for Model Year 1938, leaving just the 11CV Dauphine offered.