The production of this elegant car took place from 1938 to 1942 and 1945 to 1948, with 104,126 units being produced in various versions.
The vehicle was acquired in Viseu, on mainland Portugal, from a scrap dealer in 2002. After the purchase, it underwent a minor restoration, already in the possession of Rui Cirilo.
The Peugeot 202 is a supermini developed and designed by the French automaker Peugeot. Production of the car ran from 1938 to 1942, and after a brief production run of 20 units in early 1945, it was restarted in mid-1946. It was commercialized until 1949, at which point it was replaced by the 203.
This vehicle was formally launched on March 2, 1938, at a dinner and presentation for the specialized press in the elegant Bois de Boulogne, Paris district. The previous autumn, at the 1937 Paris Motor Show, Peugeot held a massive "referendum" among booth visitors to find out what customers expected of the new car then under development. It's unclear whether there would still be time to incorporate any of the public's input into the launched car, but the enquiry certainly generated positive pre-launch publicity for the 202.
The steel-bodied 202 was instantly recognizable as a Peugeot by the way the headlights were placed, as on the older 302, together in a protected place behind the front grille. Most customers chose the 4-door saloon version which, in 1948, included a sliding steel panel sunroof included in the price. However, the trunk was small and could only be accessed from inside the car, with no closure on the outside. The two-seat "décapotable" 2-door cabriolet had a separate trunk lid but cost approximately 30% more than the saloon. Priced very close to the saloon, there was a structurally similar 4-door, 4-seat "berline découvrable", which featured a fully folding bonnet: this type of bodywork would become difficult to supply using the monocoque body structure which became popular and would be a feature of the Peugeot 203. Both the Peugeot 202 and Peugeot 203 had front ‘suicide’ doors.
Between 1947 and 1949, the manufacturer produced 3,015 wooden hatchback conversions. This model cost 55% more than the saloon and anticipated Peugeot's future policy by using a slightly longer chassis than that used in other 202 versions. The extensive use of wood took the company back to a technology it had abandoned in 1931, when production of the Type 190 ended and, according to the manufacturer, was above all a response to the scarcity of steel sheets in post-war France.
There were only 2 models available in this class in France, offering such a wide range of body types; the other was the still popular but soon to be replaced Simca 8.
Datasheet Year: 1946 Brand: Peugeot Model: 202 cabriolet 4 doors Country: France License plate: SP-11-39 Engine: ... Gearbox: ...