The Peugeot Type 21 is an early motor vehicle produced between 1898 and 1901 by the

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

auto-maker

Peugeot Peugeot (, , ) is a French brand of automobiles owned by Stellantis. The family business that preceded the current Peugeot companies was founded in 1810, with a steel foundry that soon started making hand tools and kitchen equipment, and the ...

at their

Audincourt Audincourt () is a commune in the Doubs department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. History Audincourt belonged to the County of Montbéliard which became part of France in 1793, during the French Revolutionary Wars. ...

plant. Nine were produced. The vehicle was powered by a rear-mounted two-cylinder four-stroke engine, manufactured by Peugeot themselves. The two cylinders were configured in parallel rather than in the V-format used in the first Petrol driven Peugeot, and above the rear axle to which it was linked by a

chain-drive Chain drive is a way of Transmission (mechanics), transmitting mechanical power from one place to another. It is often used to convey power to the wheels of a vehicle, particularly bicycles and motorcycles. It is also used in a wide variety of ma ...

. A maximum output of between 5 and of power was delivered to the rear wheels via a

mechanism. The vehicle closely followed the format of the Peugeot Type 24 which appeared in the same year, but the wheelbase was extended from to , which supported a vehicle length of . The Type 21 featured a carriage format coupé body designed to accommodate up to four people. At that time a "coupé" automobile was broadly similar to a closed two-door carriage but without the horses. Whereas it would not be completely correct to refer it as a coupé, the design was indeed a "berline" body work as in horse drawn carriages. This marks the Type 21 to be the first motorized ICE brougham in the world. In the years to come, this design would evolve to become popular especially in the electrics and doctor coupés. In 1900 Peugeot added the little Type 31 and Type 30 to their range. The Type 30 could be seen as an open-topped version of the Type 21. However, whereas only 9 Peugeot Type 21s were produced, the Type 30 reached a production level of 84 during a model life of approximately two years which coincided with a period of rapid expansion for the French auto industry taken as a whole.

Sources and further reading

* Wolfgang Schmarbeck: ''Alle Peugeot Automobile 1890–1990''. Motorbuch-Verlag. Stuttgart 1990. {{Peugeot historic timeline Type 21 1890s cars 1900s cars Rear-engined vehicles Veteran vehicles Brass Era vehicles Cars introduced in 1898