- Peugeot Type 3
Infobox Automobile generation
name = Peugeot Type 3
manufacturer = S. A. des Automobiles Peugeot
parent_company =
aka =
production = 1891-1894 64 produced
assembly =
predecessor =Peugeot Type 2
successor =Peugeot Type 4
class =
body_style =Runabout
layout =RR layout
platform =
engine = 565 ccV-twin
2 hp @ 1000 rpm
transmission =
wheelbase = convert|1.63|m|in
length =
width =
height =
weight =
fuel_capacity =
related =
designer =Armand Peugeot The Peugeot Type 3 was a very early French automobile, and was
Peugeot 's first model to be sold to the public and made in meaningful quantities. It was Peugeot's second internal combustion-engined car.Background
The earliest Peugeot model from 1889 had been steam-powered tricycles built under collaboration with
Léon Serpollet . In 1890, Armand Peugeot met with contemporary trailblazers of car technology,Gottlieb Daimler andEmile Levassor , and became convinced that reliable, practical, and lightweight vehicles would have to be powered by petrol and have four wheels. The Type 2 was the first such model. Peugeot's one-time partner Serpollet would persevere with steam technology with continued success under the marqueGardner-Serpollet until his death in1907 .Performance
The engine was a German design by Daimler, but was licensed for production in France by Panhard et Levassor and then sold to Peugeot. It was a 15° V-twin and produced 2 bhp, sufficient for a top speed of approximately convert|18|km/h|mi/h.
In its inaugural year of
1891 , Armand Peugeot decided to show the robustness of his car by taking it alongside theParis-Brest-Paris cycle race. This demonstration car ultimately survived a total of convert|14710|km|mi without major malfunctions, something of a miraculous achievement with contemporary mechanics, and later became the first Peugeot sold to the public. A somewhat lightened Type 3 was entered into an1895 race fromParis toBordeaux and back, winning and maintaining an average speed of convert|21.5|km/h|mi/h. This story was related byChris Goffey in a Top Gear episode from1989 , when showing early examples of Peugeot durability.References
* [http://peugeot.mainspot.net/models1.shtml Peugeot Car Models from 1889-1909]
* [http://www.peugeot.com/en/history/a-century-of-models/1890-1900/1891--type-3-quadricycle.aspx Company History of the Type 3]
* [http://www.histomobile.com/1/Peugeot/1891/Type_3_.htm?lan=1 Histomobile]
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