Editing DB (car) (section)

==Racing origins==
[[File:1945 DB5 at Rétromobile 2011, Citroën Traction-engined Le Mans racer.jpg|thumb|left|The 1945 Citroën-engined DB5, which competed at Le Mans in [[1949 24 Hours of Le Mans|1949]] and [[1950 24 Hours of Le Mans|1950]]]]
Bonnet had been promised a works drive in an [[Amilcar Pégase]] in the 1936 French Grand Prix for sports cars, but when this failed to materialise they set about building their own racer.<ref name="A-Z"/><ref name=AQ56>[[#AQ181|Borgeson]], p. 56</ref> The 1938 alloy-bodied '''DB1''' roadster was a special, built using the remains of a [[Citroën Traction Avant]] 11CV. The construction took seventeen months.<ref name=AQ57>[[#AQ181|Borgeson]], p. 57</ref> A series of numbered successors followed. The close-roofed 1.5-litre DB2's career was hindered by the war and was sold later, without Deutsch ever using it.<ref name=AQ58>[[#AQ181|Borgeson]], p. 58</ref> The DB3 was a monocoque project developed during the war, but was never built, as the improved pontoon-bodied DB4 took preference. With a central beam chassis with a forked cradle for the 1.5 litre [[Citroën Traction Avant|Traction 7A]]-based engine (originally intended for the DB2) it was finished in July 1945, with most of the work having been carried out in secret during [[German military administration in occupied France during World War II|the occupation]].<ref name=AQ58/> The very similar 2-litre DB5 was finished soon thereafter. Their two specials both placed in the first postwar race in France, in Paris in 1945, being the only post-war cars entered.<ref name=AQ58/> An open-wheeled DB7 appeared in 1947 (preceded by the heavy and large DB6 which saw very little action), after which the ''Automobiles Deutsch & Bonnet'' was officially formed.<ref name=scimp/><ref name=AQ58/>

[[File:Paris - Retromobile 2013 - DB Racer 500 - 1950 - 102.jpg|thumb|1950 DB Racer 500]]
Neither single-seater DB was at all successful, but they did show Deutsch - who had hitherto preferred dependable standard units - that a tuned engine would become necessary. DB thus moved into the performance parts market, developing and offering a four-speed conversion for Citroëns and an [[overhead camshaft]] head - developed with the aid of engine specialists [[Maurice Sainturat]] and [[Dante Giacosa]].<ref name=AQ58/> The DB8 appeared in 1948, and won two ''[[Concours d'Elegance|concours d'élegances]]'' before partaking in any competitions.<ref name=AQ59>[[#AQ181|Borgeson]], p. 59</ref> Their early cars were all built using Citroën parts, but supply was troublesome and DB soon moved on to using Panhard technology. This relationship came about as Deutsch was an officer of independent racer's club AGACI. When this organization decided to begin a ''Mouvement Racer 500'', modelled on the [[Formula Three|British Formula 3]], Deutsch offered club members the design of a racing car using a Panhard 500 engine. One member asked to have DB build such a car, and after it made a star appearance at the 1949 [[Paris Motor Show|Paris Salon]] Panhard was happy to support the construction of about fifteen more.<ref name=AQ59/> The formula expired in 1951, with the DB Panhard 500 never competitive abroad.

DB was very active in competition, especially in [[Le Mans 24 Hours]] and other long distance racing. Nearly all DBs, even the road cars, were designed with competition foremost in mind.<ref name=borgeson54/> In 1952, a DB Speedster was entered in the [[12 Hours of Sebring]] and won its class handsomely, beginning its career in the United States market. Steve Lansing and Ward Morehouse were the drivers.<ref name=scimp/>

At the [[1954 24 Hours of Le Mans|1954 Le Mans]] DB entered five cars and were also involved with Panhards "[[Monopole (company)|Monopole]]" racers. René Bonnet himself, together with racing legend [[Élie Bayol]], finished tenth overall and best of the DBs. The other Panhard-engined also finished (in 16th), while three Renault-engined central-seater DB designs all failed to complete the race.<ref name=Rampal1>{{cite web|url=http://panhard.racing.free.fr/?page_id=582 |title=Le Mans 1954: DB en force! |trans-title=DB in strength |first=Charly |last=Rampal |work=Panhard Racing Team |date=2010 |language=fr |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150626122025/http://panhard.racing.free.fr/?page_id=582 |archive-date=2015-06-26 }}</ref> The Renault-engined designs had been created as a concession to pressure from DB's customers, but they did very badly in the race, in part because of a shortage of preparation time for what was an unknown entity to Deutsch and Bonnet.<ref name=Rampal1/> In either case, DB proceeded to focus on Panhard designs exclusively.