Pinnacle
A 1937 Peugeot Darl'Mat roadster, the sports car Paris Peugeot dealer Émile Darl'Mat developed on a Peugeot chassis and tuned 2-liter engine, with an aluminum body designed by Georges Paulin and built by the coachbuilder Pourtout. This car was delivered new on October 29, 1937 to a Mr. Kacher of Valence, France. What happened to him is unknown. The car resurfaced twenty years later in the custody of the Paris police, and in 1957 it was sold at police auction, where Alain A. Cerf bought it — not as a collectible, but simply because it was a used car he could afford. It was later restored with its original character intact and became the first automobile in the collection that grew into the Tampa Bay Automobile Museum's roughly 100 cars.
Favorite Feature
The windshield, which raises and lowers on a hand crank mounted under the dashboard on the passenger side — a small piece of 1930s French engineering that visitors never expect. Runner-up: the Cotal electro-mechanical four-speed, shifted electrically rather than by linkage.
Best memory
The 1957 police auction in Paris. Alain Cerf wasn't there to buy a piece of history — he couldn't afford a new car, and this was a twenty-year-old used one going cheap at a municipal sale. Nobody in that yard was thinking about Le Mans finishes or Pourtout coachwork. He drove home with a Darl'Mat roadster because it was what he could pay for, and that single practical decision became the first car in a collection that now numbers about a hundred and fills a museum. Asked today what it's worth, the answer in the family is the same: priceless.
Events attended
Multiple events and award winner including Pebble Beach and Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance
Modifications
- None — restored to original 1937 specification
- Body, trim, and mechanical work preserving original character
- Twin-carbureted 1,991 cc four-cylinder retained as built
- Cotal electro-mechanical four-speed transmission retained as built
Pinellas Park, FL