Peugeot Type 54

Armand Peugeot was one of the key players at the dawn of the European motor industry. Recognizing the potential for using the company’s bicycle manufacturing expertise to make horseless carriages, his first attempts were with steam- powered vehicles but in 1889 he signed a three-way deal which allowed him to use Daimler engines, manufactured by Panhard & Levassor, to build his first petrol-driven automobiles. By 1896, Peugeot had developed its own engines and by the early 1900s was marketing a range of popular models to the extent that in 1903, it accounted for half the entire French car output.

Peugeot always had a strong presence in the market for small, affordable cars, which probably helped it survive the difficult operating environment of the 1920s and immediate WWII period. In 1976, it took over Citroen and in 1978, acquired the ailing Chrysler Europe brand. Today it is part of the Stellantis group which includes, Fiat, and US Chrysler.

About this vehicle

This is an early example of the two-seat, single cylinder, Type 54. It was one of the first Peugeots to use a front-mounted engine, combined with shaft-drive and a steering wheel (rather than a tiller) and was its most popular model at the time, with 250 being produced in 1903.

Previously owned by a doctor in Basingstoke, it was bought by Richard Shuttleworth in 1929 from a scrap dealer in Andover for £3 10s and he used his sports Alvis to tow it back to Old Warden in the pouring rain.

Its first London-Brighton run was in 1929, but it has repeated the feat numerous times since. In 2022, it emerged from a two-year full restoration by the Shuttleworth volunteer engineers and is a popular sight at our vehicle parades.

Specification