1915 Peugeot type 153
Sitting in my shed is a restoration project which really deserves to have some serious effort expended on – a 1915 Peugeot type 153A. One of 330 made and only two survive. Its mate lives in the USA and half of my car is in it. Mine was the donor car when the other was restored in Auckland in the 1970s and I have what was left, which is basically a rolling chassis, although when I got it, things like the steering box, water pump, magneto and a few other major bits needed to be found, not to mention the myriad of detail bits which have given me hours of endless entertainment staring at the parts book trying to work out what I have (and haven’t) got.
Then, a couple of years ago there was a huge step forward. A ‘for sale’ ad on the Prewarcar website produced basically all of the big bits I was needing from a car in Denmark which had been destroyed in a museum fire. Then another bonus. Again on Prewarcar “Wanted to buy, Peugeot type 153 engine.” I replied to the ad; Yes, I have got a spare 153 engine, but it isn’t for sale until I know what mine is like. Fixed-head engines have a nasty habit of being cracked in places which are almost impossible to fix. If you have a spare block you hang on to it. Paul Mayhead in Worthing, on the south coast of England, not too far from Goodwood had bought one of a pair of complete rolling chassis recently imported from France. He was restoring his and also working on the other, converting it to a replica of a Peugeot Grand Prix car using a WW1 aero engine, as twin-cam Peugeot GP engines are almost extinct.
While the chassis are different to mine, which is a high ground clearance Colonial model, everything else is the same and since we made contact, a few of my spare bits have gone to England and a few of the parts not needed on the GP replica are now in my shed. The only biggish bits now needed are the steering wheel and horn button, which works the hand-throttle as well and there is a reasonable chance that these might soon be available from the GP project car.
Peugeot have an identical car to Paul’s in their museum at Sochaux and I paid them a visit after the end of the Classic Driver Le Mans tour. When I booked the Peugeot Eurolease van I also got Peugeot to arrange for me to see the car (they rotate the cars on display so I wanted to be sure it would be there) and when I got to the museum I was told “We have taken the car (actually it wears a small fire- engine body) out of storage and it is here in the museum for you to view.” I was wanting a close look at the clutch mechanism and thrust bearing. Left to my own devices I pulled the floor out to get to the clutch, took some photos, reassembled the floor, crawled in under and around it and made sure I took in as much detail as I could.
As I was going to Goodwood for the Festival of Speed this year and Paul only lived 30 minutes away I arranged to pay him a visit and see what he was up to with his car as well. It was well worth the effort as his car is almost ready to have the engine started but with no body yet I could get a great look at how everything fits together. Priceless! He had just finished installing the clutch and I was interested to hear what he had lined it with. It was leather and as I was asking the question he opened a drawer and pulled out a strip of leather cut to the correct shape. “I got a couple made. Take this one with you.” That helped!
Now I am back home my enthusiasm for the project is back on high. Time to get stuck in or I will be too old to drive it before it is finished.