1938 Peugeot 402 Darlmat Pourtout Roadster

The Peugeot 402 Darl'mat Special Sport Roadster, designed by George Paulin for coachbuilder Marcel Pourtout, is among the most beautiful prewar streamlined automobiles from the late Art Deco era. Darl'mats successfully raced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1937 and 1938. This car was raced in Britain and Europe for ten years by its first owner, Baroness Dorndorf, who raced under her maiden name, Dorothy Patten. In 1939, she finished 4th in the Rallye Paris to Saint-Raphael Feminin, a road rally in France exclusively for female participants. She also took part in 'The Fastest Sports Car Race' at Brooklands. In total, she drove the car over 12,000 miles in competition. After several additional owners, the roadster has recently been restored for its appearance at the 2021 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elgance.

Emile Darl'mat was born in 1892. He spent four years in an apprenticeship with aviation pioneer Clément Ader, later traveling to the United States where he worked as a chauffeur. He later returned to Paris to establish a small garage selling and repairing automobiles. Years later, he became a licensed Panhard and Peugeot dealer and, by the early 1930s, he sold only Peugeots.

Wanting to offer a unique product, Darl'mat experimented with the cars he had on offer. With the help of Marcel Pourtout and Georges Paulin, a car was produced and put on display at the Salon de l'Automobile in 1927. Further collaboration between Darl'mat and Paulin, resulted in an aerodynamic body on the Peugeot 301 chassis which made its debut at the World's Fair in Chicago. Another concept on the Peugeot 302 series that made its debut years later was the Eclipse retracting roof system designed by Paulin.

Darl'mat's creativity and innovations were noticed by the Peugeot brand. By the mid-1930s, Darl'mat was given the access and resources he needed to create his own Peugeot sports car. With the help of Peugeot's director of mechanical studies, Alfred Geauque, and his longtime collaborators Paulin and Pourtout, Darl'mat created the Special Sport.

The Special Sport was built by Pourtout and sold by the Darl'Mat Peugeot dealership in Paris. The Darl'Mat prototype was shown at the Paris Motor Show in 1936, and Darl'Mat roadsters participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1937 and 1938. In total, 104 examples of the Special Sport Roadsters were built by Pourtout between January 1937 and June 1938. In modern times, approximately 30 examples still exist.

This particular example has had four caretakers from new. Its first owner was Dorothy Patten and Rainer von Dorndorf. Dorothy Patten purchased the car in 1938 and took it to the track with her husband-to-be, Baron Rainer von Dorndorf. The first races it participated in were in Paris and Montlhéry. It was brought to England in May of 1939 where it took part in 'The Fastest Sports Car Race' at Brooklands. The car would remain active in racing competitions until 1948. The von Dorndorfs kept the car until 1957 when it passed to Lt. R.J.B. Williams in Chatham. Lt. Williams kept the car for about three years before it was sold to its next long-term owner, Peter Rose of Brighton. Mr. Rose kept the car for 49 years, using it regularly. In 2009, it was sold to its current owner, who commissioned a complete restoration. IN 2016, the work was completed and it was shown on the Peugeot stand at the Rétromobile show in Paris.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2017