Back to back: Citroën or Peugeot Roadster?

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Oh yes, we could easily compare the two Mercedeses (a 1928 630K model and a 1934 380K), since they in the same 6-figure price league, here. Or a 1912 Berliet 15HP and a 1913 FIAT 12/15 HP, not so much for the cars themselves as for they are also estimated very similarly. All from Bonhams’ Autoworld Autumn Sale on the sixth of this month. But let’s do it slightly differently.

Say that you’d be in the market for a mid- to late-1930s French roadster and had the choice between a genuine but slightly modified Citroën Traction Avant Cabriolet of 1937 or a not quite so genuine but never the less beautiful Peugeot 402 Darl'Mat of 1938. They are considered to sell at just about similar prices but that’s where the similarities end. What would be the one of your choice?

To take a slightly closer look and start with the Citroën, we can say the car started life as a 7C Cabriolet. Not much seems to be known about its early history, but we do know it was restored by Carrosserie Bagate Paulin in St Girons in its native France in the early 2000s. During this restoration, the car was uprated with 1.9-litre 11CV engine. When the restoration was finished the car made it over to Belgium and received a good deal of tender loving care from its new owner, who managed to get it starred in a Belgium television series. When he passed away in 2015, his daughter kept it for another few years but has now decided to sell the car.

Over to the Peugeot. A 1938 402, as we said, although it is perhaps not quite what it appears to be. Just 105 of the dramatically shaped and Pourtout bodied Darl’Mat roadsters were built originally between 1936 and 1939 – this is not one of them. In fact, it is a replica based on a 1938 402 Légère (‘Lightweight’). It must be the most faithful one you can think of, though. As a matter of fact, the current owner of this example had been restoring an original Darl’Mat when he came across this Légère and realised that its chassis was identical to the one of the roadster. The roadster’s body was copied and fitted to the restored 402 chassis. Apart from that, some rare tuning parts were fitted: high-compression head, twin Solex carburettors and Memini intake manifold. Desirable, no doubt.

But which to choose from these two modified roadsters..?

Words by Jeroen Booij. Pictures courtesy of Bonhams Motor Cars.

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