Peugeot D3 and D4

Last updated
Peugeot D3
Peugeot D4
Peugeot, Belgian licence registration OBP-557 p1.JPG
Overview
Manufacturer Chenard-Walcker (1946–1950)
Peugeot (1950–1965)
Production1947–1950 (Chenard-Walcker)
1950–1965 (Peugeot)
approx 76,000 produced
Body and chassis
Class panel van
Layout FF layout
Powertrain
Engine 4 cylinders in line, petrol
1,290 cc (D3)
1,468 cc (D4)
diesel 1,816 cc
Dimensions
Length4,430 mm (174.4 in)
Width1,840 mm (72.4 in)
Height2,110 mm (83.1 in)
Chronology
Successor Peugeot J7

The Peugeot D3 and its successor, the Peugeot D4 were forward control panel vans sold by Peugeot from October 1950 till 1965. The van originated as a front wheel drive light van produced by Chenard-Walcker, whose business Peugeot had acquired by 1950. [1]

The van, based on a wartime design, [2] was relaunched, soon after the Liberation, in June 1946 as the Chenard-Walcker CPV. In this form it was powered by a two-cylinder water-cooled two-stroke engine of just 1,021 cc. Power output of 26 hp was claimed. Accepting that even by the standards of the time, this level of power was insufficient, in 1947 the manufacturers switched to using the 1,133 cc engine of the Peugeot 202, and claimed power increased to 30 hp.

The original two-cylinder engine had the merit of being very compact, and in order to accommodate the four-cylinder unit from Peugeot the nose of the van had to be extended, which compromised the clean frontal design of the original van and gave rise to frequent use of the «Nez de cochon» (“pig nose”) soubriquet.

Providing the van’s engine to Chenard-Walcker at a time when the business was short of cash left Peugeot as a major creditor, and therefore at the front of the line of any potential purchasers of the business as it became apparent that Chenard-Walcker could not survive independently. Peugeot’s acquisition of the business led to the van’s rebranding as a Peugeot, although it was January 1951 before the Chenard et Walcker CP3 (as their CPV had by now become) was formally discontinued.

Power was also increased late in 1950 when the engine from the (by now no longer produced) Peugeot 202 was replaced by the 1,290 cc engine of the recently introduced Peugeot 203. The D3 was redesignated as the D3A. Already the engine change enabled Peugeot to advertise the van’s power output as 32 hp, and during the next few years the vehicle benefited from further enhancements as the engine was developed both for the van and for what was at the time the company’s only passenger car. Power was increased to 40 hp in 1952, marked by the renaming of the van as the D3B. In February 1953, for drivers who did not like to work alone, a passenger seat was fitted.

In 1955 Peugeot added a second model to their passenger car range, and the van acquired the 1,468 cc engine of the newly launched Peugeot 403 which even in the detuned state used for the commercial vehicle application provided 45 hp of power. Thus enhanced, in August 1955 the Peugeot D3 was replaced by the Peugeot D4. The new van was virtually indistinguishable from the old one from the outside, unless the customer had paid extra for the side-door which could now be specified for the load area. Also new on the D4 were two “baguette-style” over-riders on the front bumper [3] which enabled keen eyed observers to differentiate the two versions (until 1960, when the over-riders disappeared).

In October 1959 the D4 (like the 403) became available with a diesel engine, which was a major innovation at the time. In 1960 the power from the petrol engine was increased to 55 hp and the van was redesignated D4B. 1960 also saw a rearrangement of the exterior lights with the fitting of flashing direction indicators front and back. Further changes during the final five years were minor in nature, one of the more noteworthy being a small reduction, in 1963, of the number of bars on the front grill.

A range of body types existed including those of a basic panel van, a minibus, and ambulance and horse-box. A relatively popular horse-box conversion was undertaken by the Théault business at Avranches. Customers for the little minibus version included various French police forces [4] and the French post office which used the vans for transporting postmen. [5]

The D4B was withdrawn in 1965 to be replaced by the Peugeot J7

Celebrity connections

A D4 in police livery featured memorably in the original Pink Panther film when Inspector Clouseau was driven away in one after being caught in possession of the eponymous diamond.

Sources and further reading

  1. Claude Rouxel, Jacques Dorizon, Marc Clouet et François Vauvillier, Chenard et Walcker - Far, l'empire disparu de Gennevilliers, éditions Histoire et Collections.
  2. "Automobilia". Toutes les Voitures Françaises 1940 - 46 (Les années sans salon). Vol. 26. Paris: Histoire & collections. 2003. p. 21.
  3. Dominique Milleron, La Peugeot 403 de mon père, éditions E.T.A.I.
  4. Dominique Pagneux, Voitures de Police, Préfecture de police de Paris, éditions E.P.A.
  5. Yves Lecouturier et Pierre-Stéphane Proust, La Poste automobile et les véhicules des P.T.T. 1897-1970, l'Union Marcophile.
This entry includes information from the equivalent entry in the French wikipedia.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot</span> French automotive brand founded in 1896

Peugeot is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, and it is regarded as the oldest car company in the world. On 20 November 1858, Émile Peugeot applied for the lion trademark. Armand Peugeot (1849–1915) built the company's first car steam tricycle. They joined forces with Léon Serpollet in 1886; this was followed in 1890 by an internal combustion car with a Panhard-Daimler engine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot 205</span> Motor vehicle

The Peugeot 205 is a supermini (B-segment) car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1983 to 1999.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Panhard</span> Former French motor vehicle manufacturer, now part of Arquus

Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense, was formed by the acquisition of Panhard by Auverland in 2005, and then by Renault in 2012. In 2018 Renault Trucks Defense, ACMAT and Panhard combined under a single brand, Arquus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Delage</span> 1905-1953 French automotive brand manufacturer

Delage is a French luxury automobile and racecar company founded in 1905 by Louis Delâge in Levallois-Perret near Paris; it was acquired by Delahaye in 1935 and ceased operation in 1953.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot 403</span> French car produced from 1955-1966

The Peugeot 403 is a mid-size car manufactured and marketed by Peugeot between May 1955 and October 1966. A total of 1,214,121 of all types, including commercial models, were produced, making it the first Peugeot to exceed one million in sales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot 203</span> Motor vehicle

The Peugeot 203 is a small family car which was produced by the French car manufacturer Peugeot between 1948 and 1960.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot 305</span> Motor vehicle

The Peugeot 305 is a medium-sized car produced by the French automaker Peugeot from 1977 to 1989. It was offered as a four-door saloon, five-door estate, and as a three-door van derivative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renault Estafette</span> Motor vehicle

The Renault Estafette is a light commercial front-wheel drive van, first introduced in 1959 and made by the French automaker Renault between 1959 and 1980, initially using the water-cooled Renault Ventoux engine, then later the Cléon-Fonte engine in a range of body styles. It was replaced by the Renault Trafic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renault Juvaquatre</span> Motor vehicle

The Renault Juvaquatre is a small family car / compact car automobile produced by the French manufacturer Renault between 1937 and 1960, although production stopped or slowed to a trickle during the war years. The Juvaquatre was produced as a sedan/saloon until 1948 when the plant switched its full attention to the new Renault 4CV. During the second half of 1952 the plant restarted production of the Juvaquatre sedans/saloons for a period of approximately five months.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot 304</span> Motor vehicle

The Peugeot 304 is a small family car manufactured and marketed by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1969 to 1980.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Automobiles Hotchkiss</span> Former French automobile marque

Automobiles Hotchkiss manufactured luxury cars in Saint-Denis, Paris between 1903 and 1955 and trucks between 1936 and 1970. It was a subsidiary of the French company Hotchkiss et Cie. The badge for the marque showed a pair of crossed cannons, evoking the company's history as an arms manufacturer. Hotchkiss also briefly built cars under the Hotchkiss Grégoire brand after the war. Hotchkiss went through a number of mergers and takeovers after the war and the brand disappeared in the 1970s; its successor companies went on to eventually form the partially state-owned Thales Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chenard-Walcker</span> Automobile manufacturer

Chenard-Walcker, also known as Chenard & Walcker, was a French automobile and commercial vehicle manufacturer from 1898 to 1946. Chenard-Walcker then designed and manufactured trucks marketed via Peugeot sales channels until the 1970s. The factory was at first in Asnières-sur-Seine moving to Gennevilliers in 1906. The make is remembered as the winner of the first Le Mans 24 Hours Race in 1923.

Rovin was a French auto-maker established in the Paris region, and most active from 1946 until 1959, although after 1953 production slowed to a trickle. The firm was established, initially as a motor-cycle business, in 1921 by the racing driver and motorcycle constructor, Raoul Pegulu, Marquis of Rovin. The car was developed by Raoul but in 1946 production became the responsibility of his brother, Robert who continued to run the business after Raoul's death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot 201</span> Motor vehicle

The Peugeot 201 is a car produced by Peugeot between 1929 and 1937.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot 402</span> Motor vehicle

The Peugeot 402 is a large family car produced by Peugeot in Sochaux, France, from 1935 to 1942. It was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 1935, replacing the Peugeot 401.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peugeot DMA</span> Motor vehicle

The Peugeot DMA was a light truck built by Peugeot between 1941 and 1948. It was the first commercial vehicle from Peugeot to employ a forward control cab, whereby the driver sat right at the front of the vehicle. The configuration maximised load deck length and gave the driver a good view of the road, but it meant that the driver shared his cab with the engine: Peugeot's light truck, being a rear wheel drive vehicle, was unable to offer a large low flat load area as the front-wheel drive Citroën TUB light van.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Renault 1 000 kg</span> Motor vehicle

The Renault 1 000 Kg is a light van, initially of a one ton capacity, introduced by the manufacturer in 1947. A 1,400 Kg version followed in 1949, and the Renault 1,400 Kg soon became the more popular choice. A name change in 1959 saw the vans branded as the Renault Voltigeur and the Renault Goélette, but in retrospect the Renault 1,000 Kg name is frequently preferred.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salmson S4</span> Motor vehicle

The Salmson S4 is a mid-size executive-level car introduced as the Salmson S4 C by Société des Moteurs Salmson in Autumn 1932. It was the manufacturer's principal and often sole model for the next twenty years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sénéchal (automobile)</span>

Sénéchal was a French automobile manufacturer between 1921 and 1929.