Marque Time: Following a manufacturing history that started with the production of water mills, razors for hairdressers, and then bicycles, the first "automobile" was a steam-powered tricycle presented at the Universal Exhibition in Paris.
An actual automobile company was set up in 1896 by Armand Peugeot, who subsequently merged with his brother Andre's bicycle company, but they later split up again. In the years following the car company's 1931 success in the Monte Carlo rally, with their 201, they became very popular particularly for their "streamlined" 601 series, which was advertised by a "pin-up" girl caressing her car and saying: "I love my Peugeot." The brand began a sales campaign for the emerging African independence markets in 1958 and has remained very strong on that continent since, not least because of the legendary 404 model's 1-3-4 result in the 1961 East African Safari Rally. Peugeot merged with Citroën in 1976, and Talbot in 1979 to form what is now the PSA Group. In 1994 the brand made automotive advertising notoriety by picturing the 106 amid a montage of kama-sutra images. Two years later the model was France's second-best selling car.
DATE OF BIRTH: 1890 NATIONALITY: French
BEST CAR: The 504, which only ceased production in southern Africa in the past two years
WORST CAR: The 505, which was a bloated and poor-performing copy-in-style of the very successful 405
WEIRDEST CAR: The VLV electric, produced in 1941. It had one front headlight, two front wheels and one rear wheel.