PEUGEOT 601 D Torpedo Grand Sport TM Coachwork by Meulemeester 1936 Châssis n° 712 006

Thanks to the success of the 201 exhibited at the Paris Motor Show in 1929, the future of the brand was well assured despite the Wall Street Crash, which happened at almost the same date. Its consequences seriously affected France in 1931 and 1932, but Peugeot had the right product at the right time. On top of this healthy basis it soon had optional independent front suspension and the brand developed a very full range of tourism and commercial bodies, then an 8 CV in 1932 and a 10 CV in 1934, not without improving on a technical level with the Bloctube chassis. But in the meantime, and as if to refute the crisis, February 1934 brought a new six-cylinder model that had been in the design process since 1932, but had been delayed. It was a matter of refocusing the range upwards, without returning to the expensive valveless engines or to the unloved 12-Six and, above all, of positioning itself with the Renault Vivasport and the Citroën 15, even if the market was narrow and the sales forecasts modest.

The new 601 offered a 2.2 litre six-cylinder engine which, despite its side valves, developed 60 real hp in flexibility and in silence; that is to say, as much as the competition six while being taxed only for 12 CV. The first 601s of spring 1934 had the error of looking too much like the 301s and of being too narrow for a model which sees itself as luxurious. In fact, production did not exceed 4000 models in total until the Motor Show in 1935, where the 402 "Sochaux rocket" struck visitors with its real aerodynamic lines and its modern engine.

In the meantime, the 601 had slightly changed according to the in-house style marked by shy, if not primitive streamlining, characterised by some details without any real effectiveness such as the lowering of the headlights, the fender skirts or the lengthening of the rear while incorporating the boot. Though the 601 suffers from its similarity to its more modest sisters, it receives, while benefiting from its long body, pretty sports bodies (roadster, streamlined or aerodynamic coach, streamlined saloons, convertible coupé) which, lavishly treated, are unique to it. And independent body builders know how to make the most of its beautiful, long profile, not forgetting the Eclipse model by Georges Paulin built by Marcel Pourtout, with its electric roof which disappears into the boot of the first coupé-cabriolet in history. The car being exhibited, painted white with an interior in beige leather, is even rarer here, if not unique.

This car came about thanks to the Body Workshop of the brothers Meulemeester, Alsatians based in Clichy (Paris), and who later went to settle at St-Affrique in the departement of Aveyron in 1936. It was there that the chassis 601 D with a 307 cm wheelbase no. 712 006 was delivered in February of the same year for its first owner, Louis Aussel de Roquefort, who ordered a British style torpédo, a real four-seater tourer with low-cut doors and a folding windscreen.

Announced in an advertisement in the press, the car was bought in 1997 by a lover of the model who had been impressed by the family 601s in his childhood. The 601 Sports Torpédo benefited from a meticulous restoration which ended in 2005. In 2008, it was bought at auction.

Wallpapers : PEUGEOT 601 D Torpedo Grand Sport TM 1936