The 403 made its debut in saloon body
style on 20 April 1955 at the Trocadéro Palace in Paris. The engine
size gave the car a tax horsepower of 8 CV (8 hp), which placed it a
class below the soon-to-be-replaced 11 CV Citroën Traction, but at
least one class above the small cars produced by the principal
competitor manufacturers.
When it was first shown, and until after 1958, the leading edge of
car's nose carried an angular, forward-leaning chrome lion bonnet
ornament – the lion image being Peugeot's trade mark. That was
removed for 1959, due to safety concerns, and the logo was
incorporated into a shield-shaped grill emblem.[4]
Subsequently the semaphore-style trafficators on the C-pillars were
replaced with flashing indicators within the light cluster. The
front lights were modified to conform to new standards and in 1957
parallel windscreen wipers were substituted for the original "cross
hands" ones featured at launch. |
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