Woah, this 1938 402 is definitely not your dad’s old Peugeot

In the market for a new-to-you car? Can’t go wrong with a reliable old Peugeot, right? Except this one isn’t anything like you remember. The 402 Darl’mat Special Coupe by Pourtout is up for sale in an RM Sotheby’s auction in California in August, and it’s likely to be expensive. 

The car is one of six coupes that were built by French dealer Emile Darl’mat on the Peugeot 402 Legere platform, overhauling the original with an even more special coupe body. To make it even rarer, it’s believed that there are only three examples that have survived. 

Frenchman Emile Darl’mat open his own garage in Paris after World War One, using his skills to add performance to cars as they passed through his workshop. By the Thirties he was focused solely on selling Peugeots, eventually catching the eye of company executives who asked him to build some bespoke racecars. 

In 1938 he was handed the latest lightweight version of the 402 chassis, which was produced by Darl’mat in open and closed cockpit formats in conjunction with the coachbuilders at Pourtout. A roadster version of the car finished fifth at that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours, and it’s estimated that 105 examples of different 402 variants were built in total by Darl’mat.

This delightful looking coupe was given to race team director Alfred Giauque by Darl’mat, and eventually exported to America around 1970, where it has passed between various collectors. The current owner has had the car for 20 years, but is presumably selling the Peugeot to fund his purchase of a mint MkIII Vauxhall Cavalier. 

There’s no estimate on the 402, but a number of other cars in the sale are expected to reach a healthy amount over $1m. Don’t like the beautiful pre-war Peugeot? There’s a 1935 Mercedes 500 K cabrio available, a 1991 Jaguar XJR-15 or even a 1958 Maserati 450S with an $11m estimate on it. Low mileage, lady owner since new. What a bargain.

Images: RM Sotheby's