The car
The Peugeot 403 is a large family car that was produced from 1955 to 1966 with around 1,014,111 units produced in all models. The 403 was produced as 4 door sedan, 5 door estate, 2 door convertible, 2 door pickup and 3 door van. Initially offered with a 1468cc 4 cylinder petrol engine (an enlarged version of the Peugeot 203's 1290cc unit) the 1290cc petrol engine as used in the 203 and an 1816cc diesel 4 cylinder were offered later
This was the first Renault car styled by Pininfarina and established a collaboration with the designer that would last over 50 years. The early production cars had a lion bonnet ornament which is the logo of Peugeot, this was replaced in 1959 due to safety concerns with shield shaped grille emblems. The indicators were at first semaphore-style trafficators in the c-pillar which were later replaced with flashing indicators built into the rear light cluster and placed below the headlights to conform to new standards.
The wheelbase was lengthened by 24cm for the estate version, this model was offered as a normal estate (commerciale) or with an extra row of seats so it became a 7/8 seater (familiale).
The 2 door cabriolet (made famous by the TV detective Columbo) was produced from 1958 to 1961 with around 500 built.
The kit
This is a 2014 boxing of the Heller kit that was first released around 1979, it comes in a doughnut type box with tabs that don't do a very good job of keeping lid closed. There are 3 sprues (2 blue and one clear) plus the bodyshell for a total of 29 parts.
The kit represents a very early Peugeot 403 with the hood ornament and trafficators. External detail is both raised and engraved as it would be on the real car. Interior detail consists of the usual seats, dashboard, steering column and wheel which is adequate for this scale.
Decal sheet has plates for front and rear stating Peugeot 403 or the unusual option of proper looking number plates for a french registered vehicle.
Paint callouts are for Humbrol enamel/acrylic
