‘Albertine’ and Albert and the Salmson

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We found this lovely picture of a lady named Madame Derancourt and a little boy in what is said to be her Salmson. It was taken in Paris in September 1926 at the start of the Rallye Automobile Féminin. Apart from the driver and passenger, the first thing that struck us was the unusual style of the wings. Or is that perhaps 'wing'? The front and rear mudguard seem to have been made into one, in an unusual shape, too. Suggestions on coachbuilders responsible for the job are welcomed in the comments below.

Rallye Automobile Féminin

We, ourselves, couldn’t find anything more on the car but then did a simple search combining the names ‘Salmson’ and ‘Derancourt’ only to be most pleasantly surprised. An eight-year-old boy named Albert Derancourt is mentioned to have been the youngest racing car driver in the world back in 1924. His car: a dark-coloured Salmson with a speedster-esque body. Another picture of the young Derancourt shows him at the age of ten behind the wheel of a Bugatti Type 35, which he supposedly dared to drive at speeds up to 150 km/h. Little Albert’s parents certainly must have had great faith in the French automobile!

We guess the lady seen above has to be his mother Marie-Léonie, who was a known racing car driver herself and was sometimes called 'Albertine' after her famous son! That surely has to be little Albert next to her here? Is it possible that he joined her as a co-driver on the 1926 Rallye Féminin from Paris to La Baule?

Words by Jeroen Booij. Picture National Library of France.

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