Raymond Adamczyk, president of the Rétrochap club, spoke about the restoration of this 1936 vehicle, carried out by mechanical enthusiasts. And exhibited on the Espace Béraire esplanade on the occasion of National Vintage Vehicle Day.
On the occasion of its monthly gathering of old and exceptional vehicles, Sunday April 28, the Rétrochap club presented its brand new Peugeot 402 to the public on the Espace Béraire esplanade. An old car, 88 years old, completely restored from A to Z by a team of auto mechanic enthusiasts.
125 days of work
Alongside Valérie Barthe Cheneau, mayor of La Chapelle-Saint-Mesmin, and her deputies, representatives of the towns of Ingré, Chaingy and Cléry-Saint-André, and partners, the president of the Rétrochap club, Raymond Adamczyk, accompanied members of the Henault family, officially unveiled the completely renovated 1936 Peugeot.
“This Peugeot 402 was seen for the first time on November 24, 2015 in Chaingy at Marceau Hénault who invited us to come and see his vehicles, all housed in a large hangar. They had been stationary for a good thirty years! “, he explains:
We discovered around twenty vehicles that day, including C4, Frégate, Jaguar, Traction, Simca, Delahaye, DS, Ford. And so this Peugeot 402 model from 1936
“They were all asleep under tarpaulins. These cars were at risk of being scrapped. We then bought it on May 26, 2016 and presented it for the first time on the Béraire esplanade on May 29. With a first attempt at the restart on June 27. The club was working during this same period on the restoration of a 4 CV, we then made the wise decision to begin the restoration of the Peugeot immediately after this 4 CV project was completed.”
“Marcel Henault would have been proud to see
his restored vehicle”
Thus, the work began on April 29, 2019. It has just been completed, on April 22, after 125 days of work, or a volume of more than a thousand hours at the Baccon premises. On average, for each day, a team of 7 people worked on the site. In total, 34 people were involved in this project.
The Peugeot 402 will be revealed
“At certain times, we doubted our ability to successfully complete this project but we held on and were able to benefit from the help of Vivien Deschamps who joined our team. Vivien is a recognized national specialist,” underlines Raymond Adamczyk:
We managed to bring this vehicle from the shadows to the light! Thank you all, let’s be proud. Thank you to the family of the vehicle’s owner, Marcel Henault, for trusting Rétrochap. The latter, who died in February 2023, would have been very proud to see his vehicle restored
The day ended with dances from the 1930s performed by volunteers from the Son et Lumière association of Cléry-Saint-André and a reception offered by the municipality.
Booklet. The association has produced a booklet in which you can find the entire history of the evolution of the restoration, with photos of the 402 from its original state to its final appearance. And testimonials from members who contributed to this collective adventure.
