This company was one of the biggest car manufacturers in Europe in the very first period of car history. It was configured as the precursor of a typical multinational corporation, whose corporate aims quickly went from direct entrepreneurship to those of a financial holding.
For instance, already in 1900, Darracq had produced a series of 1,200 basic model cars. However, the most probably interesting aspect of its history are the companies born or derived from Darracq. Opel started its activity producing Darracq models on licence; Alfa Romeo found its origins in the company’s idle plants in Milan and Naples; not to mention the many French-British companies, like Talbot and Talbot-Darracq, which collected the heritage of the first Darracq companies and then perpetuated the brand. Darracq’s history came to an end when the production had to be converted due to the consequences of WWI.
