Peugeot 203 2 seater convertible, 1953 - Suzanne Van Havere

The Peugeot 203 2 seater convertible was presented at the Paris motor show of october 1951 as a sporty addition to the line of Peugeot's 203 berline,berline découvrable and break.
It was nicely designed on the base of the 203 with a long flowing booth line. Equipment of these models was more luxurious than on the berlines.Customers could choose from leather upholstery in 3 colors : black, blue or red as on this dark red car. This one dates from 1953 and may be recognised by its plain, non ribbed bumper bar normal radiator grille and black tires.As from 1954,the 203 cabriolet got the denomination of "Grand Luxe" and received rectangular built-in fog lamps in the grille,chromed rear wing stone guards and white sidewall tires all lacking on this 1953.Note also the semaphors and small position lamp behind the door.
As the berline , the cabriolet used Peugeot's excellent 4 cylinder overhead valve oversquare engine of 1290 cm 3 ( 75 mm bore X 73 mm stroke).It had V aligned valves with hemispherical combustion chambers and wet liners.Power output in 1953 was increased from 42 horsepower to 45 horsepower at 4500 rounds per minute.203's rode on a wheelbase of 2,58 m.Peugeots were largely entered in rallies and gained impressive records,like this one in the "Tour de Belgique".
The cabriolet version was expensive with a price of about 825.000 old french francs of the period compared to 660.000 francs for a berline. 2567 2 seater cabriolets were produced between 1952 and 1956, by which time it was replaced by the 403 cabriolet of inspector Colombo fame.