PEUGEOT L500 R HYbrid pays tribute to the L45 and to Peugeot’s illustrious past in the USA, when the Lion claimed three victories in the 500-mile event at the Indianapolis speedway, the world’s second-oldest racetrack. The L45 (for 4.5 litres) took over from the L76, put together in 1912 by a team of intrepid young drivers known as the “Charlatans”, who produced a whole series of racers that would open a new age in racing engine design, through to 1919. The L76 was the first car in the world to use a four-cylinder engine with four valves per cylinder plus a dual overhead camshaft, and was the first modern racing car to reach 190 km/h. At the wheel of Peugeot’s first racers —L76, L57, L3 and L45— the Charlatans claimed success after success on the racetracks of the world. Drivers Georges Boillot, Jules Goux and Paolo Zuccarelli, and engineer Ernest Henry, enjoy enduring renown for bold innovation. The team’s early American exploits marked the start of a string of exceptional victories for PEUGEOT Sport in the USA: Ari Vatanen in 1988 and Robby Unser in 1989 won the mythical Pikes Peak hill race with PEUGEOT 405 T16, and Sébastien Loeb’s PEUGEOT 208 T16 Pikes Peak made a record-breaking run in 2013, completing the 20 km to reach the summit in 8’13”878.

There’s no let-up in the spirit of conquest at Peugeot; this was quite clear, for example, when Stéphane Peterhansel victoriously signed PEUGEOT comeback to the Dakar, after its four successive wins from 1987 to 1990.