  The
inspiration for the new Grand Prix Peugeots actually came from a race
that they lost. Racing as Lion-Peugeot they were soundly beaten by Paul
Zuccarelli's Hispano-Suiza at the 1910 Coupe de l'Auto. Both Peugeot drivers Boillot and Goux pleaded with Robert Peugeot to sign Zuccarelli to
replace motorcycle star, Cesare Giuppone who had recently died. Added to
this group was a young Swiss Draughtsman by the name of Ernest Henry to
put their ideas to paper. Thus the
team of drivers and erstwhile engineers formed a team that along the way
had picked up a new moniker, the charlatans and who would produce
the legendary "Racing Peugeots of 1912-1919". They were
allowed £4,000 per car to be built to the new regulations emanating from the A.C.F
that set a
maximum capacity of 4-cylinders with each not exceeding 110 x 200 mm.
bore and stroke, or about 7.6 litres. The advantage of this dynamic team,
led by Zuccarelli was their freedom from any "baggage". Since none had
much experience in designing production cars they started from a clean slate when designing the
first cars and took the latest ideas and melded them into a 4-valve per
cylinder, dual overhead camshaft engine with a hemi-spherical combustion
chamber and a central spark plug.
 The results were not long in coming with
Boillot winning the 1912 Grand Prix of France followed by victories at
the Coupe de la Sarthe and the Indianapolis 500 the following year.
Tragedy would strike the team when Zuccarelli carrying out test on a
stretch of the Route Nationale when he could not avoid a hay wagon that
had entered his path from a side-road. the wagon driven by a Frenchman
who reportedly was deaf and didn't hear the race car baring down upon
him. Later in an interview Boillot remarked: "The racing cars were
produced by a special staff, of which Ernest Henry, my late friend
Zuccarelli, my companion driver Goux, and myself are the leading
members. In Zuccarelli's sad and untimely death we not only lost a close
friend, but an engineer of considerable ability. There is only one sad
feature about my victory in the Grand Prix (Amiens) - it is that
Zuccarelli is not here to share in the honor with us. Zuccarelli and I
supplied the main idea for the car. Henry was responsible for the
drawings, and it is to him that we owe the beautiful lines of the cars."
 The team persevered with a
3-litre voiturette as well as a 5.6 litre Grand Prix car winning
numorous races and making 1913 their most successful year.. Many consider the 3-litre car Peugeot's masterpiece that
was producing for that time an astonishing 30 bhp/litre. Victories
continued in 1914 leading up that years Grand Prix. It is some how
fitting, almost Gallic that their brightest star, Boillot would have his
greatest race in defeat. Some have said that the Peugeot team were the
victims of over confidence, being unbeatable the year before they may
though it would have been enough just to show up for that is basically
what they did. Only just returning from their triumph at Indianapolis
the team had time to take part in a meager practice period that was
allowed at the last moment and only due to the French teams late
arrival. The Mercedes team on the other hand had scouted the course
weeks before and had arrived fully prepared. The results followed as the
Germans finished 1-2-3. The First World War brought racing to an end in
Europe but the rivalry continued in America where the two makes were
raced by Dario Resta and Ralph de Palma with the Peugeots able to score
a few more victories. The war claimed the life of the great Boillot and
with the earlier death of Zuccarelli the fire had gone out of the team
never to return. |
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