What car is it?

[grisza]

Could you help me please identify this car? All I know it's the picture is from 1955 and the event is Rally Rome-Liege-Rome. I just would like to know what make and model this is?

3108

[Kielder]

Salmson 2300 Sport. The driver is Paul Guiraud.

[grisza]

Wow, that was quick reply. Thanks Kielder but are you sure it is Salmson 2300 Sport? I just checked photos on Google and the results are a bit different. I mean it somehow looks similar but not entirely. It has much bigger fenders (both front and back) and also the shape of radiator intake is different (more roundish I'd say). Was it a some kind of special modified works car maybe?

[Kielder]

To err is human. It's Peugeot 203 Special:

http://staticclub.caradisiac.com/private/1/sport-auto/dilon3/photo/576441576/27030131a3/dilon3-lrlguiraudlrl55-img.jpg

Here you have a great thread about LRL: Liege Rome Liege (http://www.forum-auto.com/sport-auto/histoire-du-sport-auto/sujet355035.htm)

Here is the answer to the doubt between 2300 and 203: 203 (http://www.forum-auto.com/sport-auto/histoire-du-sport-auto/sujet355035-910.htm#t15497469)

[grisza]

Thank you very much Kielder for your replies and those links. Again when comparing photos on Google I can hardly believe that this is 203. Especially when looking at the hood and grille - it differs very much from the standard version. And one more thing, I cannot find any other photos of this car - was is a very rare model (it's a cabriolet I guess) or something? Do you have any more information on it maybe?

[FAL]

There are other photos on the Forum Auto Liege thread linked above (a thread started there by Carles, also a member on here).
The Liege never ran to "FIA homologated" regulations, so anything went (not that what we call Appendix J - the FIA vehicle regs for Internationals - existed in the form we now know it in 1955)

Appears to be standard shape except for a new front end to look a bit like a then current Italian GT.

A great pity that thread, almost immediately it was started, got extended to include the post 1964 "Marathon" at the Nurburgring. That event was not the "Liege" and should not be associated with the original rally.

[Kielder]

Thank you very much Kielder for your replies and those links. Again when comparing photos on Google I can hardly believe that this is 203. Especially when looking at the hood and grille - it differs very much from the standard version. And one more thing, I cannot find any other photos of this car - was is a very rare model (it's a cabriolet I guess) or something? Do you have any more information on it maybe?

You're welcome :) . It's really a rare model, very different from the standard version. The car is based on a coupe and may have the Constantin supercharger. Its body was rebuilt and modificated by Paul Barbier, a Peugeot dealer. The front was remodified after an accident.

http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=12380&d=1297077069
http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=12394&d=1297114904

On this thread from a Australian forum you can find a lot of information: The Boring 203 Thread (http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86059)

[Kielder]

Thank you very much Kielder for your replies and those links. Again when comparing photos on Google I can hardly believe that this is 203. Especially when looking at the hood and grille - it differs very much from the standard version. And one more thing, I cannot find any other photos of this car - was is a very rare model (it's a cabriolet I guess) or something? Do you have any more information on it maybe?

You're welcome :) . It's really a rare model, very different from the standard version. The car is based on a coupe and may have the Constantin supercharger. Its body was rebuilt and modificated by Paul Barbier, a Peugeot dealer. After an accident, the front was remodified.

http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=12380&d=1297077069
http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=12394&d=1297114904

On this thread from a Australian forum you can find a lot of information: The Boring 203 Thread (http://www.aussiefrogs.com/forum/showthread.php?t=86059)

[grisza]

Many thanks for solving that mystery for me. So it was only one prototype build (modified) by Paul Barbier and driven by Paul Guiraud.

And as we speak on Peugeot 203, I noticed it had a quite successive record in rallying back in the mid 50's. But I'm not sure what model it was - a 4 door saloon, or coupe?

[D-Type]

In the Safari they were standard 4-door saloons in absolutely standard specification.

What was allowed would depend on the individual rally regulations. Some allowed only saloons, some, like the Alpine, the Tulip and the Liege allowed sports cars, and some went somewhere in between. Likewise whether cars could be modified and whether one-off prototypes were permitted also varied. With different classes for diferent categories - usually.

[grisza]

Thanks D-Type for this explanation. I even wasn't aware of different types of regulations for those rally events.

[Chissy555]

It looks like 3 or 4 different cars depending on what angle you look at it from

[ford power]

well its fairly unique looking :)

[pacotecars]

well its fairly unique looking :)

Does anyone know the color of this 203 prototype?. I'm modifying a peugeot 203 coupe 1:43 scale to make this car in the 1956 Monte Carlo rally version, and though I think it will be light gray, I'm not really sure. Thanks

[flatheader]

Never seen it. Thanks for the pic and info!

[D-Type]

Does anyone know the color of this 203 prototype?. I'm modifying a peugeot 203 coupe 1:43 scale to make this car in the 1956 Monte Carlo rally version, and though I think it will be light gray, I'm not really sure. Thanks
It looks as if it's two colours: the roof, door pillars and about 2 inches below the windows look a lighter colour than the bonnet, wings and boot. There's a visible line of delineation in some of the photos.
I can see where you're coming from with the light grey suggestion. As far as I can remember, in the mid-fifties all Peugeots, 203 and 40s, saloons, vans, pickups, were light grey. Rather like the Model T Ford: "Any colour you like so long as it's black".
But as this car has been rebodied it could be any colour. I would do the top half "Peugeot light grey" and the bottom either a darker grey or a mid blue. I doubt it would have been green, but don't know why, and other colours wouldn't look right with the grey.