A very special Peugeot
05/24/2019
Today, Peugeot is known as a manufacturer of compact and practical everyday cars (and as the owner of Opel within the PSA Group). In the past, however, Peugeot also built extremely exclusive and rare cars, one of which was the Peugeot 402 Eclipse, a convertible with a retractable tin roof.
One of these cabriolets, chassis number 601504, was built in March 1936 and is one of only 36 Eclipse examples that have survived to this day.
The early history of 601504 is not entirely clear, but the car was not delivered until June 30, 1937. Before that, it may have been used as a demonstration car, and it may also have been on display at the Geneva and Paris Motor Shows.
Even after that, its history remains unclear. Sometime in the late 1940s, the Peugeot was given a new front end at the Brandone body shop.
Between 1950 and 1960, the car is said to have been registered in the canton of Lucerne in Switzerland, bearing the registration number LU 5851.
In 1964, the car was purchased by Mr. J. Neubert and Mr. H. Grieger and subsequently moved to Germany. A restoration was started but never completed. The car was presumably moved for the last time in 1980 and has been awaiting completion ever since.
Auction house Bonhams will auction the restoration project in Chantilly on June 30, 2019, with an expected price of EUR 100,000 to 150,000 (CHF 110,000 to 170,000). According to Bonhams, the car is largely complete, even the engine has already been overhauled. The car is described as "honest".
It will certainly take some courage to restore this Peugeot to its former glory. But it may well be that bidders will be prepared to invest considerably more money for this special rarity than the estimate suggests.
