The Heart of the Lion

Peugeots and I go back a long way. The year I graduated from elementary school, my parents bought a new Peugeot 403, one of the first imported to the USA. When I got my driver's license almost three years later, I was allowed to drive it on special occasions (my everyday wheels being either the Nash Rambler or DeSoto you've seen in earlier CarPort installments). The 403 remained in the family until it rusted voraciously away.

The French have a way with car design: utterly unconventional by American standards, but resulting in excellent handling with a very comfortable ride. This has been true of all our subsequent Peugeots, a 1979 504 diesel sedan that my wife Jill bought in 1986 and the 1985 505STI and 1987 505STX that succeeded it (the latter with the bulletproof Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 engine). These later Peugeots have been reliable, too, the 505s recording over 200,000 miles each. Peugeot's rearing lion mascot is well chosen.

I have not, however, had much experience with prewar Peugeots, so I was anxious to sample the 402 berline owned by my friend Victor Lane. Victor, an American living in Wales, is an eclectic collector, the inhabitants of whose garage are constantly changing, and a person who enjoys sharing his treasures with his friends. An afternoon with Victor is a car person's delight.

The Peugeot 402 was manufactured from 1935 until production halted during World War II, nearly 80,000 cars in all. Looking akin to a small Chrysler Airflow, the 402 is streamlined and distinctive, one of its hallmarks being behind-the-grille headlamps. It turns out to be, interestingly, the comsummate car for touring in Europe. Nimble on its Michelin shoes, it also boasts the French standard for comfort. A 2-liter engine provides plenty of forward movement, through gears stirred with another French innovation, the push-pull-and-twist shifter. This odd-looking device is nowhere near as clumsy as it looks.

The ultimate Peugeot 402 is the Eclipse Décapotable, a retractable hardtop anticipating the Ford Skyliner by over two decades (here's a similar body on the 1934 601 chassis). Eclipses are understandably rare, but "ordinary" 402s are frequently available and for less than a king's ransom.

Not all Peugeots are wonderful. I suffered a long year with a notoriously unreliable 405, the model that pretty well ended Peugeot's presence in North America. In a way I miss it. Though underpowered and inappropriately geared, it, too, had nimble handling and the most comfortable seats of any automobile I've ever owned.