Lion-Peugeot Types VD and V4D
Encyclopedia
The Lion-Peugeot Type VD was a motor car produced near Valentigney
by the French
auto-maker Lion-Peugeot
in 1913. It was developed from the slightly smaller Lion-Peugeot Type V4C3
of the previous year. Approximately 800 Lion-Peugeot Type VDs were produced.
For 1914 the Lion-Peugeot Type VD was replaced by the Lion-Peugeot Type V4D. The two cars differed very little from one another. Approximately 700 Lion-Peugeot Type V4Ds were produced
The Types VD and V4D were propelled using a four cylinder 1,888 cm³ four stroke engine, mounted ahead of the driver. A maximum 10 hp of power was delivered to the rear wheels.
The cars also became known as Lion-Peugeot 10 hp models. This was a reference to their fiscal horse power
, applying a system of car classification for taxation purposes recently established in France. Tax horsepower then, and for several decades to come, was defined purely as a function of the combined surface area of the engine’s cylinders, this being far easier to assess consistently and accurately than the actual power produced by an engine. In 1913 fiscal horse-power still tended to equate approximately to actual horse-power, although the two would diverge subsequently, as engines became more efficient at extracting power from a given sum of cylinder diameters. Eventually, in the second half of the twentieth century, more complex (and less internationally consistent) definitions of fiscal horse power would replace those defined only by cylinder diameters.
The Types VD and V4D featured a 2,500 mm wheel base. The 3,500 mm (approximately) overall length provided space for between two and five people depending on the body specified. The wide range of different body types offered followed a pattern that by now would have been familiar to many Lion-Peugeot buyers. It included a Torpedo
, a Limousine
, a “central steering” model and a small delivery van.
"Automobiles Peugeot" company, established a car manufacturing business at Beaulieu near Vallentigny. Ten years earlier the automobile pioneer Armand Peugeot had split away from the family business after a long-standing disagreement over how intensively the company should diversify into larger scale automobile production. An agreement had at that time been entered into between Armand’s “Automobiles Peugeot” company and the residual Peugeot business that the residual business should concentrate on its established metal tools and components businesses along with its successful bicycle manufacturing activities, while Armand would have Peugeot branded powered vehicles to himself. During the ensuing ten years Armand’s automobile business had grown rapidly, although it appears that the residual Peugeot business had probably not entirely avoided producing powered vehicles. In any event, under a new agreement signed in 1905, the residual Peugeot business made Armand an annual payment in return for which Armand consented to the residual business itself producing motor cars under the “Lion-Peugeot” name. The arrangement continued until 1910 after which (the death of Robert Peugeot’s father Eugène having apparently removed a major impediment to the idea) the Lion-Peugeot business and the Peugeot automobiles business were merged into a single company. Nevertheless, some smaller models continued to be branded as “Lion-Peugeots” until 1916.
Valentigney
Valentigney is a commune in the Doubs department in the Franche-Comté region in eastern France.Valentigney is best known as the place where Peugeot began operations; several members of the Peugeot family still live in the area....
by the French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
auto-maker Lion-Peugeot
Lion-Peugeot
Lion-Peugeot is a formerly independent French auto-maker. It is the name under which in 1906 Robert Peugeot and his two brothers, independently of the established Peugeot car business, began to produce automobiles at Beaulieu near Valentigney....
in 1913. It was developed from the slightly smaller Lion-Peugeot Type V4C3
Lion-Peugeot Type V4C3
The Lion-Peugeot Type V4C3 was a motor car produced near Valentigney by the French auto-maker Lion-Peugeot between 1912 and 1913. It was the manufacturer’s first car with a four-cylinder engine. 653 were produced....
of the previous year. Approximately 800 Lion-Peugeot Type VDs were produced.
For 1914 the Lion-Peugeot Type VD was replaced by the Lion-Peugeot Type V4D. The two cars differed very little from one another. Approximately 700 Lion-Peugeot Type V4Ds were produced
The Types VD and V4D were propelled using a four cylinder 1,888 cm³ four stroke engine, mounted ahead of the driver. A maximum 10 hp of power was delivered to the rear wheels.
The cars also became known as Lion-Peugeot 10 hp models. This was a reference to their fiscal horse power
Tax horsepower
The tax horsepower or taxable horsepower was an early system by which taxation rates for automobiles were reckoned in some European countries, such as Britain, Belgium, Germany, France, and Italy; some US states like Illinois charged license plate purchase and renewal fees for passenger...
, applying a system of car classification for taxation purposes recently established in France. Tax horsepower then, and for several decades to come, was defined purely as a function of the combined surface area of the engine’s cylinders, this being far easier to assess consistently and accurately than the actual power produced by an engine. In 1913 fiscal horse-power still tended to equate approximately to actual horse-power, although the two would diverge subsequently, as engines became more efficient at extracting power from a given sum of cylinder diameters. Eventually, in the second half of the twentieth century, more complex (and less internationally consistent) definitions of fiscal horse power would replace those defined only by cylinder diameters.
The Types VD and V4D featured a 2,500 mm wheel base. The 3,500 mm (approximately) overall length provided space for between two and five people depending on the body specified. The wide range of different body types offered followed a pattern that by now would have been familiar to many Lion-Peugeot buyers. It included a Torpedo
Torpedo (car)
The torpedo body style was a type of automobile body used from the early twentieth century until the mid-1930s, and which fell quickly into disuse by the Second World War....
, a Limousine
Limousine
A limousine is a luxury sedan or saloon car, especially one with a lengthened wheelbase or driven by a chauffeur. The chassis of a limousine may have been extended by the manufacturer or by an independent coachbuilder. These are called "stretch" limousines and are traditionally black or white....
, a “central steering” model and a small delivery van.
Lion-Peugeot and Peugeot: the difference
“Lion-Peugeot” is the name under which in 1906 Robert Peugeot and his two brothers, independently of their cousin Armand’sArmand Peugeot
Armand Peugeot was a French industrialist, pioneer of the automobile industry and the founder of the French firm Peugeot.-Family:...
"Automobiles Peugeot" company, established a car manufacturing business at Beaulieu near Vallentigny. Ten years earlier the automobile pioneer Armand Peugeot had split away from the family business after a long-standing disagreement over how intensively the company should diversify into larger scale automobile production. An agreement had at that time been entered into between Armand’s “Automobiles Peugeot” company and the residual Peugeot business that the residual business should concentrate on its established metal tools and components businesses along with its successful bicycle manufacturing activities, while Armand would have Peugeot branded powered vehicles to himself. During the ensuing ten years Armand’s automobile business had grown rapidly, although it appears that the residual Peugeot business had probably not entirely avoided producing powered vehicles. In any event, under a new agreement signed in 1905, the residual Peugeot business made Armand an annual payment in return for which Armand consented to the residual business itself producing motor cars under the “Lion-Peugeot” name. The arrangement continued until 1910 after which (the death of Robert Peugeot’s father Eugène having apparently removed a major impediment to the idea) the Lion-Peugeot business and the Peugeot automobiles business were merged into a single company. Nevertheless, some smaller models continued to be branded as “Lion-Peugeots” until 1916.
Sources and further reading
- Harald H. Linz, Halwart Schrader: Die große Automobil-Enzyklopädie, BLV, München 1986, ISBN 3-405-12974-5
- Wolfgang Schmarbeck: Alle Peugeot Automobile 1890–1990, Motorbuch-Verlag. Stuttgart 1990. ISBN 3-613-01351-7