Peugeot 203 decouvrable 1954 Maroon 1:18 diecast metal

The Historic Peugeot 203 decouvrable 1954    diecast metal model 1:18 scale

PEUGEOT .. HISTORIC 1954 

Historic Peugeot 203 decouvrable 1954 1:18 scale                    die cast Metal

Here, as you can see, tonight, our Peugeot 203 decouvrable 1954  1:18 scale modele is parked in his le modèle de boîte spéciale.

Français spéciale vous comprenez, just like, as you can see, tonight, our Josephine, who is parked up on Uncle Jim's Presentation Mahogany Bureau.

Jim's bureau is really special, a brass plaque tells of his presentation to Jim, by machinists at Kilnholm Mill, Bacup, Rossendale, Lancashire, on 29th June 1936.

Our Peugeot 203 decouvrable 1954 is not a toy, he's a real life 1:18 scale model produced under licence by French Company, Solido SA.

He's French all right but he was made in China, of die cast metal with some plastic cast parts, so he's not suitable for children to play about with.     

length 25cm (9.75")  height 8.5cm (3.5")  width 9cm (3.5")

Peugeot 203 decouvrable 1954   1949 - 1956

Meanwhile, back in France, in 1943.  War had played havoc with Peugeot's producton.  The Sochaux plant was occupied and in July it was bombed. Other Peugeot plants were ransacked and the staff were dispersed.  In 1948, Peugeot began its reconstruction and recovery.  In October 1948 at the Paris Motor Show Peugeot unveiled the 203, its first totally new postwar car.  The 203 has a unique feature for a standardized production car, four cylinders with hemisperical Alpax cylinder heads and V inclined valve heads with spark plugs fitted in a central well.  Structurally this is the first time that Peugeot offered a monocoque shell.  In 1949, the decouvrable, famialiale and commerciale versions were introduced and in 1951, the 203 convertible.  By 1952 Peugeot had produced its one-millionth vehicle.  The 403 was introduced in 1955.       

Our Josephine isn't a toy either, she's a half life-size ornamental model of the Empress Josephine, produced by House Parts Inc., Atlanta, USA.

She was made in China, of imitation marble, at the end of the last century, so she's not suitable for children to play about with either.

Josephine de Beauharnais   June 23, 1763 - May 29, 1814

Josephine de Beauharnais was born Marie Josephe Rose Tascher de la Pagerie on a sugar plantation in the French Caribbean island of Martinique in 1763.  When her family encountered financial trouble it was arranged that Josephine's younger sister Catherine would travel to France to marry aristocrat Alexandre de Beauharnais.  Catherine died before she could make the trip and in 1779 Josephine was sent in her place.

Though the marriage between Josephine and Alexandre was an unhappy one, they had two children and stayed married 15 years until Josephine was imprisoned and Alexandre was beheaded in the Reign of Terror.

After the Terror ended Josephine was mistress to several leading political figures, including Paul Barras.  Josephine often spent more than she could afford-even  with aid from her aristocratic lovers- so when she started her relationship with Napoleon, Barras encouraged it to get Josephine off his hands.

Josephine went by the name of Rose until she met Napoleon, who began calling her by the name we know today.  They married in March of 1796.

While Napoleon was obsessed with Josephine, it is not clear how strongly that affection was returned.

Josephine was infertile, either due to the stress of imprisonment during the Terror, or due to injuries sustained when she fell from a balcony in 1799.  Because she could not produce an heir for Napoleon, she agreed to a divorce in 1810.  Napoleon and Josephine remained on good terms until her death in 1814.

Napoleon Bonaparte  August 15, 1769 - May 5, 1821

Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, was born on the Island of Corsica in 1769.  At the age of ten he was sent to military school in France.  In five years he displayed a great aptitude for mathematics, history, and geogaphy and an indifference to literary studies.  By 1793 he was lieutenant-colonel of artillery, credited with capturing Toulon with his strategic genius.

On October 4th, 1795, the National Guard, 30,000 strong, attempted to force its way into the Tuileries, but was routed and dispersed by a terrible cannonade directed by the young artillery officer.  Napoleon was immediately appointed to the command of the army of the interior.

About this time he met Josephine Beauharnais, whom he married in 1796.  The next year the famous treaty of Campo-formio was signed, by which Austria ceded the Netherlands, Lombardy, and some other smaller territories to France.  In December, 1797, Napoleon returned to Paris, where he was gloriously received.

An expedition against Egypt was resolved upon by the Directory, and on the 19th May, 1798, Napoleon sailed from Toulon.  He captured Alexandria and marched on to Cairo. On the 1st July, at the battle of the Pyramids, the French completely defeated the Mamelukes and became masters of Egypt.

Meanwhile,on the 2nd of August, 1798, the British Admiral Nelson destroyed the French fleet in Aboukir Bay, called the battle of the Nile, and cut off Napoleon from Europe.

In August Napoleon returned to France and became First Consul.

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The pictures show the 203 decouvrable 1954 version  diecast metal 1:18 scale model in his presentation box.  

The half life-size portrait bust of Josephine, on Jim's bureau, one late evening in March 2008.

Mr Towneley's Burnley Beach abode painted by George Barret in 1777.

Mr Towneley's famous Graeco-Roman Vase, purchased in 1778.

Mr Towneley photographed at his London home in 1783 by Johann Zoffany 1733-1810.

Portrait bust of Napoleon as 1st Consul in 1798 by Jean-August Barre 1811-1896.

Ming vase.  Made in China  circa 1640.

You are bidding or not on a new boxed 1:18 scale diecast metal model of the Peugeot 203 decouvrable 1954 version by Solido SA.  

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