I finally made the move and bought a classic Peugeot. It's a 1956 203
Commerciale. The car was first licenced on July 27th 1956 in
Limoges/France. I've got all the oil-change documents since new - an
oil change was done every 2 or 3 years which meant 2000 to 3500 km
only. The car had 37000 when it was imported to Germany by the
previous owner in 2000 (from the first owner's nephew), it's now at
57800 after he drove it from 2001 to 2005 (to Italy and France
twice). It was licenced from 1956 to 1990 then off the road till 2000
when restoration - nothing real major- began. I've got the photo
documentation of this - most of it was done in the Czech Republic
(cheaper than in Germany and good quality as well). The paint job was
not as great as it looks on the photos, 3 small areas have been
repainted recently (scratched by a bicycle of the owner's son), no
rust whatsoever!!
The car is all!!! Original, except the paint of course. Even the
seats and the floor mats etc., there is the original tool-set and a
set of spare light-bulbs of the 1950s as well.
It passed the TÜV (technical inspection) and I picked it up on Monday
in Lörzweiler near Mainz/(on the Rhine). I will have to be back there
later this month or in Septmeber to pick up the larger spare-parts
with a trailer - it's the unrestored roof-rack and a spare rear-axle
of which one bearing of the differential is ruined due to the main-
-shaft having lost a balancing weight (repaired last summer),
maybe the bearing can be replaced, if not the interior can be used
(worm gear etc.). There is a trailer-hitch, too and I get lots of
rubber seals with the car, some veggy-oil for the axle, other bits
and pieces, the original owner's handbook, several copies of
documents, some of them in French :-(. Some of the papers are already
here, I'm still sorting them a bit. I think I'll ebay a bit in the
future to get some more documentation.
The chassis number is 203C51634340. If you have any special info on
the car let me know. Most technical parts are easily available
through Retro-Saar in the Saarland, body parts are rare.
I drove the car to Karlstadt this Monday, got it licenced on Tuesday
(MSP PG 56 H). On the way from Lörzweiler to Karlstadt/Main via the A
3 I got into a nice big traffic-jam, it took me an hour between
Offenbach and Hanau (for 20 km) - only stop and go traffic; more stop
than go. The 203 did not overheat! There were 2 Golfs, 2 Astras and a
Mercedes E-Class giving smoke-signals on the hard shoulder, but the
203 simply ran. Up the Spessart-mountains I could maintain a steady
80 to 85 kmh, in the plain 95 to 100 is perfect for travelling, that
way I can pass the trucks (limit 80, usually doing about 90). For a
short stretch I raced ;-)) it to 105. I'd guess the top speed if I
try hard is around 115kmh.
I will post 2 Photos on the list tonight.
So far it seems the car is as good as it looked!
More in the future.
Reiner Plass
56 203 Commerciale
00 306 C 2.0 Aut.
00 406 2.0 Aut.
00 BMW 523iA
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Received on Wed Jul 27 09:58:35 2005
