Baby Peugeot 5 HP motor car

Made:
1903 in Audincourt
maker:
Société Anonyme des Automobiles Peugeot

Baby Peugeot 5 H.P. motor car, 1903. This design, together with the Renault and De Dion-Bouton designs played an important part in the development of the smallest type of motor car. It has a single-cylinder, water-cooled engine which drives the rear wheels through a three speed gearbox, an inverted cone clutch, propeller shaft and differential gear on a live back axle. At the 1901 Paris Salon, Peugeot debuted a tiny shaft-driven 652 cc (40 cu in) 5 hp (3.7 kW) one-cylinder, dubbed Bébé (Baby), and shed its conservative image, becoming a style leader. After placing nineteenth in the 1902 Paris-Vienna rally with a 50 hp (37.3 kW) 11,322 cc (691 cu in) racer, and failing to finish with two similar cars, Peugeot quit racing. By 1903, Peugeot produced half of the cars built in France, and they offered the 5 hp (4 kW) Bébé, a 6.5 hp (4.8 kW) four-seater, and an 8 hp (6.0 kW) and 12 hp (8.9 kW) resembling contemporary Mercedes models.

Details

Category:
Road Transport
Object Number:
1938-595
type:
private cars
credit:
Mrs. Warner Collins.