Finding new vintage bicycle catalogues is a joyous occasion, especially when they feature a bike in my collection.  I really love vintage Peugeot bicycles – they are particularly enjoyable due to their emphasis on rider comfort, as you can see depicted in the drawing above.

1947 Peugeot 650b as restored

1947 Peugeot as a box of parts

I restored this 1940’s Peugeot without knowing its date of manufacture.  The bike came to me with many missing parts, including a missing wheelset and fenders.

One of the things that made me want to restore this incomplete collection of parts into a complete bicycle was the presence of the two original keys to the fork lock – very unusual, given that many other parts were missing.

This 1947 Peugeot Mixte is built with high end Vitus Rubis tubing, with an H75623 serial number. A while back a Canadian cyclist contacted me with a Peugeot Serial Number spreadsheet which indicated that this bike was a rare 1947 model.  I reviewed his analysis and agreed with his conclusion.

1947 PRD Peugeot Mixte

1947 Peugeot PHL 55 Mixte

But that was before I had any 1947 Peugeot catalogues.  Now, with the the 1947 catalogue newly available, I believe that the bike is indeed a 1947 model. – the PHL 55 model depicted above, and not the other mixte offered in 1947 – the PRD model.

Many thanks to the BikeBoomPeugeot site for sharing this catalog – this site is a wonderful resource for Peugeot enthusiasts.  The 1947 catalog features many interesting bicycles from the post WWII era after France was liberated and bicycle production in France was once again underway.

1947 Peugeot chain guard