Rare 1938 Peugeot 402 Darl'mat Special Sport Coupe - (Estimate: $800,000 – $900,000)
    
Believed to Be One of as Few as Six Coupes Built on the 402-Series Légère (Lightweight) Chassis

The Product of Peugeot's Successful Endurance Racing Program

Shown at the 2004 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®

An Exotic, Supercharged Masterpiece Eligible for the World’s Leading Concours d’Elegance

A Stunning Example of One of the Most Influential Automotive Designs of the 1930s

The rare Peugeot Darl’mat Special Sport Coupe embodies the finest attributes of French Art Deco styling while boasting bonafide competition pedigree and technical expertise. In 1937, three Darl’mat Special roadsters were entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, achieving impressive 7th, 8th, and 10th place finishes and consequently signaling Peugeot’s return to motor sports prominence.

To build on this success, Peugeot supplied Darl’mat with the 402 Légère (lightweight) chassis for the 1938 model year. Notably, just six coupes are believed to have been produced on the 402-series chassis, making them the rarest of all Darl’mat variants. This example, chassis 705536, is among these rare coupes, and was originally gifted by Emile Darl’mat to Alfred Giauque, Peugeot’s Director of Mechanical Studies and the leader of its Le Mans team, as a Christmas present. After surviving WWII, 705536 passed to several Parisian owners before joining the collection of Dr. William O’Brien in Reno, Nevada. In 2002, the car was acquired by its previous owner, who commissioned a restoration encompassing both cosmetic and mechanical work.

The coupe made its post-restoration debut at the 2004 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®, and was later exhibited at the Phoenix Art Museum’s celebrated Curves of Steel exhibition in 2007.