Sadar, an unexpected Peugeot treasure
I never tire of saying that Uruguay is a real paradise for classic car enthusiasts. You can stumble across one almost anywhere. I found yet another example of the country’s passion for motoring heritage quite by chance. This afternoon, while heading towards Montevideo’s port area to hire a car, I happened to pass a Peugeot dealership whose façade advertised an automobile museum inside. And this was just a few streets away from the Automobile Club of Uruguay’s own museum!
Surprising as the discovery was, the sign was no mere publicity stunt. Sadar, Peugeot’s importer in Uruguay since 1953, has a collection of around a dozen of the marque’s cars on display to the public, all in excellent condition.
A 1913 Peugeot Baby greets visitors at the entrance. It shares the limelight with the extraordinary Peugeot 202 Darl’Mat, which set several long-distance speed records in 1947 and to which we have already devoted a separate article on this blog.
The collection is complemented by all sorts of Peugeot miniatures, memorabilia and motoring artefacts. Among them is an Austin J40 pedal car, complete with its metal bodywork, which looks as though it has just rolled off the production line. It would not look out of place among the little pedal cars taking part in the gatherings at the Goodwood Revival. There is also a beautiful Citroën 5 CV, featuring exquisitely finished wooden, aluminium and leather details.
The imposing presence of the Peugeot 402 does not overshadow the other cars on display. A Peugeot 203 with its sliding roof takes us back to 1950s Paris. Two other models that enjoyed considerable popularity in Argentina, where they were manufactured, are also represented: the Peugeot 403, in both saloon and pick-up form, and the Peugeot 404. The latter is also present in the shape of an elegant French-built convertible.
The newest car in the collection is a Peugeot 406 Coupé, one of Pininfarina’s finest designs, which can still be bought in Europe today for relatively affordable prices.
Finally, no collection would be complete without the Peugeot 205, one of the most iconic models in the marque’s history. It is represented by three very different versions: a GTI 1.9, a CTI convertible and, last but certainly not least, a 205 Turbo 16, the undisputed star of the rally stages in the mid-1980s.
The example on display wears Peugeot Talbot Sport’s official livery. It appears to be prototype number 4, built in 1983. The name J. P. Nicolas, one of the drivers involved in the car’s development and Peugeot’s competition programme, can be seen on the doors. This detail lends further weight to the theory that the car was one of the early development vehicles used in the creation of a machine that would go on to win the World Rally Championship twice.
Once again, Uruguay gives us more than enough reasons to make it an essential destination for motoring enthusiasts. And if there is one thing I have learnt from my visits, it is that there are always more surprises waiting to be discovered.
