Peugeot Type 9 3.75-hp Vis-à-vis

For sixty years this Peugeot has been walled up in a French castle, where it is discovered in 1980.

For sixty years this Peugeot Type 9 was bricked into the wall of a French castle, where it was discovered in 1980. It is one of only sixteen surviving examples of this type, and one of the very few still in roadworthy condition. Since 1981 the car has been used frequently in the annual London to Brighton Run. For many years it carried start number 1, as the oldest participating car. According to the factory data, on level roads the car can easily maintain a cruising speed of 18 to 20 km/h, and when fully loaded it can still climb a steep hill at 10 km/h. Like all first series Peugeots, this car has a rear mounted Daimler V twin engine with hot tube ignition, heated by a burner. The steering points straight down and consists only of a bracket with two handgrips. Remarkably, the engine coolant is stored in the chassis tubes, a construction that was applied again many decades later in Grand Prix racing cars.