203 'style'

I've put this up before but I think the cartoonist had the Darl'mat firmly in his sights.
So very early 50's, lacked the style and elegance we might have hoped for.
 

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the Worblaufens were more balanced designs
 

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I did but I'm also aware that another mutual friend (in Canberra) ran a white 69ner with Super Oscars. Not sure what thread I'm in at present but my appreciation of pugs extends back through 203's 403's 404's and 504's. A long hiatus over many years then a return to the fold with a 2018 3008 GTline and my personal favorite, a recently acquired 69 404 (with slightly smaller Cibies) happy days !!
I may have conflated the two Super Oscar equipped white 404's in Canberra (hadn't known there were two such there at that time). Did you also at one point have a Rover P5?
I do think those big lights suited the 404 very well. I had a green '66 404 with Super Oscars fitted, and then a '68 404 wagon - onto which were transplanted the Super Oscars. The 504 that followed the 404s had 2x Oscar+ fitted - a better size for that car.

One day ... maybe ... I'll have a 404 or a 403 again, as retirement toy. Dreams ... :)

(And yes, I know we are getting of the topic of 203s - but still, mostly Peugeot)
 
I digress all the time ( one pencil, one spread, please )
but back to the Worblaufens ( probably as much effort or more than Darl'mat - i could argue about relative merits ) - might the period photos be touched-up to give the impression of a curved windscreen?
 
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During the 1930's Peugeot used a bloc tube chassis with a welded steel body bolted to it. Strong and didn't squeak or rattle. Hence the Peugeot publicity of the crashed 202 in 1939 - the car held together well.
You could modify a body on a chassis more easily - as on the Delahaye of 1938 which was a 402 body with a conventional front.
Large pre-war cars were exceptionally comfortable. Because there was little or no boot the passengers enjoyed all the space of the wheelbase. The tendency of lowering roof heights had not begun and they were easy to get in and out of. The 402 even had an adjustable footrest. After the war some owners lucky to have good 402 declined to trade them on the 203 and kept them until the 403 came. This owner paid a coachbuilder to fit a modern 203 front to his 402.
 

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With reference to the 303 maquette - the Peugeot styling department led by Henri Thomas produced a design for the 403 code named 303 but it was rejected by management for being too close to existing designs of other makers.
 
Russell I found some photos of XUM 415 but your email has changed?
 
2nd iteration ( assuming this HOTCHKISS-GREGOIRE-IX.jpg.5b199686c94284240d122b6d53c4e985.jpg was first )
of the Gregoire Hotchkiss, so the badge is crossed ... cannons?
 
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During the 1930's Peugeot used a bloc tube chassis with a welded steel body bolted to it. Strong and didn't squeak or rattle. Hence the Peugeot publicity of the crashed 202 in 1939 - the car held together well.
You could modify a body on a chassis more easily - as on the Delahaye of 1938 which was a 402 body with a conventional front.
Large pre-war cars were exceptionally comfortable. Because there was little or no boot the passengers enjoyed all the space of the wheelbase. The tendency of lowering roof heights had not begun and they were easy to get in and out of. The 402 even had an adjustable footrest. After the war some owners lucky to have good 402 declined to trade them on the 203 and kept them until the 403 came. This owner paid a coachbuilder to fit a modern 203 front to his 402.
I think you'll find that the middle car is a Berliet Dauphine, produced from March 1939.
 
You are quite right, a Berliet front on a Peugeot 402 body, I picked up the photo from Caradisiac where it was labelled a Delahaye.
Part of a collection of photos from Paris Salon 1938.
 
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in C&SC July '06 Jon Pressnell wrote about the confusing of bodies by Citroen ( La Licorne, Delage ) Peugeot ( Berliet ) and Renault ( Delahaye )
 
I may have conflated the two Super Oscar equipped white 404's in Canberra (hadn't known there were two such there at that time). Did you also at one point have a Rover P5?
I do think those big lights suited the 404 very well. I had a green '66 404 with Super Oscars fitted, and then a '68 404 wagon - onto which were transplanted the Super Oscars. The 504 that followed the 404s had 2x Oscar+ fitted - a better size for that car.

One day ... maybe ... I'll have a 404 or a 403 again, as retirement toy. Dreams ... :)

(And yes, I know we are getting of the topic of 203s - but still, mostly Peugeot)
I have PM'd you re above, you may not be aware :)
 
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2nd iteration ( assuming this View attachment 137630 was first )
of the Gregoire Hotchkiss, so the badge is crossed ... cannons?
We have been sold the line for years that cars have to be low to be aerodynamic but the Gregoire had a CX of 0.28 verified by modern testing. The underside is very clean with low drag. Hartnett had the right to import Hotchkiss but never did. Once Peugeot took them over that was it. I notice large Gregoire grape harvesters in SA and wonder if there's a link.
 
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