Another new world record was just set in the auction industry this past weekend. A 1914 Peugeot L45 Grand Prix Racer was sold for $7.26-million, making it the most valuable Peugeot ever sold at auction. The car was sold at Bonhams’ Bothwell Collection sale held in Los Angeles last Saturday (November 11).
The 1914 Peugeot L45 Grand Prix Two-Seater sported a 4,491 cc 112 hp inline 4-cylinder engine with gear-driven dual overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, paired with a single Miller barrel throttle updraft carburettor (original Peugeot unit included) that delivered 112 bhp at 2,800rpm.
Three Peugeot L45s competed at the 1916 Indianapolis Sweepstakes which had been reduced to 300 miles distance. One, ostensibly entered by the “Peugeot Auto Racing Co.”, was driven by star Dario Resta. Another entry was from the “Indianapolis Speedway Team Co.” for Johnny Aitken, Jules Goux’s 1913 Indianapolis coach, along with the Premier replicas racing as Peugeots. The third Peugeot was a private entry by driver Ralph Mulford.
Since the 1940s, many believed that the auctioned Peugeot L45 was the one that Dario Resta drove to victory at the 1916 Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. But instead of carrying the L45 engine which was standard in earlier iterations of the race, the car, in fact, raced with a 3.0-liter that year. Not until a full century later, was it finally discovered that this Peugeot was piloted by third-place finisher Ralph Mulford.
Besides this Peugeot L45, a 1908 Mercedes-Simplex 65HP Raceabout and a 1908 Benz 105HP Prinz-Heinrich Raceabout were also sold for just over a million and $1.87 million respectively in the event.
