1938 PEUGEOT DARL'MAT | OFFERED WITHOUT RESERVE VIN# 705516, As one of France's oldest and most famous Automobile manufacturers, Peugeot is a key of the modern automobile industry both in France and internationally. Though the company predates the motor car Peugot has always been innovative, especially among the pre-war European brands. They realized early that in order to capture the public imagination they needed to be at the forefront of motorsports. Peugeot's first significant victory came in 1895 when a Type 7 won the Paris-Bordeaux-Paris rally. Multiple victories followed, with notable wins at the French Grand Prix and at the highly-publicized Indianapolis 500 mile race, where they were three times a winner - in 1913, 1916, and 1919. Peugeot eventually quit motorsport to concentrate on their core business of production road cars. They continued to build high performance and stylistically complex cars both in house or with coach builders as is the case with this Darlmat. Emile Darlmat owned one of the world's largest Peugeot dealerships, located in Paris. He wished the company to return to racing and used his considerable influence to get Peugot’s permission for a limited run of sports cars that lived up to their sporting legacy. He was one of a select few dealers with the ability to offer custom coachwork options to his customers, providing Peugot a new and lucrative market for hand built high end performance cars. Darl'mat had a close relationship with Marcel Pourtout's successful carrosserie on the outskirts of Paris, and together the men created some of Peugeot's most memorable - and beautiful - automobiles. The car’s fabulous shape was drawn by Georges Paulin and fabricated from sheet aluminum by Marcel Pourtout. These two had collaborated on a number of aerodynamic cars including the Peugeot 301 that debuted at the World’s Fair in Chicago and the Eclipse retracting roof system. The car has underwent an exceptional restoration finished in stunning light metallic silver over blue leather. Powered by a tuned two-litre overhead-valve four-cylinder engine with dual carburetors, a Cotal four-speed pre-selector gearbox, the Darl'mat was a remarkable performer on road and track alike. Competition versions, remarkably similar to their road-going stable-mates were very successful. They competed at LeMans in 1937 and 1938, achieving a sterling class victory in the latter year. 1935 saw the introduction of the 402 at the Paris Show in October. It marked a turning point in the history of the Peugeot brand, which was ahead of all its French competitors in introducing aerodynamic bodies as standard. This is the famous 'Sochaux rocket' range, characterized by fluid lines and a shield-shaped grill to protect the headlights. A total of 105 Peugeot 402 Darl'mat models were crafted on the 402 chassis. It is believed that 53 were roadsters, 32 cabriolets, and 20 coupes. They were upgraded at Darl'mat's shop with Cotal four-speed electro-mechanical gearboxes, before being shipped to Pourtout and fitted with the Paulin-designed bodies, formed from pieces of sheet aluminum hand-shaped and then nailed to wooden structures of ash framing that were then attached to the chassis. This vehicle is an exceptional restoration, with a windscreen that can be raised or lowered!
VIN# 705516, This Bank Seized vehicle will sell at public auction on Saturday, June 25th. Location: Barber Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama, USA. www.hendersonmotorseries.com for all the details.
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