Peugeot Type 31 5-hp Duc

A car with a truly Dutch, even Hague-based history. It was in The Hague that businessmen Jacob Verweij and Barend Lugard established the first Peugeot representation in the Netherlands in 1898.

Verweij & Lugard proved to be a successful partnership. By 1900 more than one hundred cars had been registered, of which fourteen were Peugeots. One of the cars imported by Verweij & Lugard was this Peugeot two-seater, a Type 31 twin-cylinder. In June 1900 the car was delivered to Jonkheer Storm de Grave from Voorburg. Although the model was in production for over three years, from 1899 to 1902, only seven examples were built. The car ran on a mix of petrol and alcohol that, at the time, could be purchased at the local chemist’s. This Peugeot was already considered a classic in 1928 and was displayed at the AutoRAI (the Amsterdam Motor Show) as a historic eye-catcher. By that time Verweij & Lugard were no longer the Peugeot distributors; as true entrepreneurs they were constantly searching for new opportunities and around 1910 they became involved in the up-and-coming aviation industry. Among others they founded the future airbase at Soesterberg.