A few weeks ago, I visited the factory museum of the Peugeot brand, at the cradle of Peugeot in the south-east of France. It is located in Socheaux, not far away from the French national car museum, which makes it an ideal additional programme for visitors to Mulhouse. The Museum offers enough experience for a good half a day easily, but those who wish to spend an entire day, there is a two-hour factory visit available on reservation (a Brasserie makes sure that visitors do not need to leave for lunch break). In preparation, it’s worth taking a look at the Museum’s website.
The Aventure Peugeot Museum is operational for quite some time (30 years, to be exact), and following the intensified media coverage of the 30th anniversary of the Museum, I definitely included it on my bucket list. The Museum opened its doors to the public in July 1988, and displays pretty much everything that carried the name Peugeot, not just the collections of automobiles and concept cars but, also race cars, bikes, tools and household goods.
The collection unveils a wide variety of products from laminated articles, saw blades through the first Grand-Bi bicycles, to corsets, coffee grinders and sewing machines. A specimen of the official registration of the Lion’s brand and it’s visual identity of 1848 is also presented, as well as its evolution to the present days.
The first set of cars from the 1891 to 1904 period is encapsulated in a stylish Art Nouveau decoration. It marks the era of Pioneers and houses the oldest cars in the world, including the Vis-a-Vis of 1891, the first petrol engine car manufactured by the Peugeot Frères. The next section switched to an Art Deco styling, marking a new epoch as it houses cars from the 1905-1918 period honouring the beginning of the industrial production.
The 1919 to 1935 is a transition period which will lead to the adoption of the mass production small cars, including the Quadrilette 161. The excess of the Roaring Twenties was illustrated by the Landaulet 184, a real carriage car. The three digit model name started with the 201 from the 1930’s, whose total production figures surpassed 140,000.
The segment covering the 1936 to 1949 period emphasizes the arrival of car bodies all in steel with sleek and aerodynamic style with the Eclipse models, the development of coupés that were convertible into cabriolet, such as the 401, 601 & 402, these are the stylish precursors of the current coupés-cabriolets.
The museum is not on par with the latest cutting-edge lighting of the best museums (like the Italian National Museum or the Mercedes Museum), but the feeling and style is really mesmerising. The cars are really impressive, both in their perfectly restored condition, and their variety. I really liked the 30’s and 40’s cars with their distinctive styling and the selection, with rare and experimental models (like the one that ran on coal during the fuel shortage of the war period).
And this still just a warmup for two even more memorable sections, but I will come to those a bit later.
Behind the coupé-cabriolets, there is a section on bicycles and motorcycles, that covers over 100 years of production, from the 1882 Grand Bi to the 1987 ST Scooter. This segment also illustrates the brand’s adventures in cycling and motorcycling sport with notably the 515 motorcycle that holds a record of 1935 with 118km/h for 24h at Montlhery, and the bike of Bernard Thevenet with which he won the Tour de France in 1977.
The commercial vehicle exhibition also covers a century (from 1894 to 1990). Each vehicle is dedicated to a specific use from freight and people carrier to emergency services, and military, but also special purpose vehicles like the bullet-proof glass cabin used by his Holiness John Paul II during his visit.
The post-war period brings on a shift in production scale with accessible models, produced from the 1950s. The Museum highlights the “Thirty Glorious years”, the era of the 203, and the most recent period from 1980 to 1990 with the more familiar cars like the 205.
But there are many interesting models, to be honest I was not very familiar with, like the red coupé developed to maintain presence in the US market, or the 403 cabriolet that was also cherished by Inspector Columbo.
Now I am saving the best for last, as my favourite sections cover concept cars and the racing activities. The latter showcases two successful endurance racing cars, the 905 and 908, both of them won at the Le Mans 24 Hours race in 1992, 1993 and 2009. The 905 is often cited as the best-looking modern endurance car of all time, and having seen it in action at the Spa Classic 2018 and at the center stage in Autoworld’s Belgians at Le Mans exhibition, I can confirm it (well, its not so hard to beat the current LMP1s that is for sure). Both Le Mans prototypes are accompanied by its engine (a V10 petrol and a V12 HDI respectively), showcased next to the race car.
Peugeot was also very active in rallying, and visitors can see the legendary 205 Turbo 16, double World Rally Champion in 1985 and 1986 (with a powertrain showcased next to it), and the 206 WRC that brought Marcus Grönholm two championship titles. Off-road racing is represented by the 405 T16 Pikes Peak and 2008 DKR cars (the 405’s desert brother won the 1989-90 Paris-Dakar race and the latter taking the victory in the past three years). Peugeot also tested itself in Formula-1, and the 1997 Jordan 197 keeps memory of their cooperation.
Peugeot’s racing record is certainly impressive, but perhaps the most distinctive segment shows a small selection of concept cars. About a dozen cars represent a small fraction of the body of work, Peugeot has been notoriously unveiling beautiful/daring/crazy concept cars to draw the attention to themselves in international car shows. There were quite a few concept cars missing, like the Moonster or the 4002, the showcased ones did steal the show. There were some that I already forgot, like the 907 concept from 2004, that seems like an Italian gran turismo with a Lion badge. The technology is certainly up to the challenge: under the bonnet, two PSA 3.0-litre V6 engines are bolted together to form a 500bhp V12. The monocoque body is made of carbon fiber, and a sequential-shift transmission sends the power to the rear wheels.
The Peugeot Quasar was the brands first modern concept car, designed by Paul Bracq (one of the first real star designers) and Gérard Welter (the mastermind behind Peugeot’s design for many decades) on the technical basis of the Group B spec 205 T16 rally car. I don’t think I need to explain more.
The EX1 Concept is an electric roadster that reminds me of a giant black insect crawling on the wall. It definitely does not resemble any conventional car, and the technology certainly underpins that aspiration. It has two engines that provide 250 kW (340 hp) and 480 Nm of torque. The Concept was presented at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, to commemorate Peugeot’s 200th anniversary.
I think the pictures above will give a fairly good overview of the Aventure Peugeot Museum, apart from the warehouse (that was not accessible) and the factory visit (lack of time). I decided to spend the rest of the day admiring the Schlumpf Collection at the Cité de l’Automobile – the largest car museum in France, but perhaps also in the world.
FOR AN OVERVIEW OF ALL THE CAR MUSEUMS I EVER VISITED, CHECK OUT THE INTERACTIVE MAP:
