The team’s European success earned them an invitation to Indy in 1913. Jules Goux drove the No. 16 to a 13-minute victory; Paolo Zuccarelli’s No. 45 dropped out early with engine problems.The race was almost Peugeot’s and Equipe Boillot’s complete undoing. Realizing how difficult the event would be, Boillot had wisely elected to build four L76s for the car-killing event. The prevailing conditions were so brutal that three of their four entries were lost before the end of the first day. Photography Courtesy Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Zuccarelli’s Peugeot made only seven of the first 10 laps, never running higher than 13th overall. Rene Thomas—the team’s fourth driver, who would later figure larger in Les Charlatans’ fortunes—went out with a burned rod bearing early on the first day. Goux was easily running third overall behind the two leading Fiats by the third lap, when a fuel line ruptured and he lost an irreplaceable hour repairing it in the countryside—only to be later disqualified for not refueling in the pits as officially specified. Even today, only those who have competed in a French event like Le Mans can begin to understand the origins of the incredibly complex FIA rules and sometimes anal officiousness of the French organizers.

Team leader Georges Boillot and his inseparable riding mechanic, Charles Prevost, lost time in the beginning laps with minor fixable annoyances but still somehow managed to stay with two of the fastest thundering Fiats. Through the exhausting two-day battle, Boillot finally managed to pass and win overall by what was then considered a “slim margin” of 12 minutes.



Photograph Courtesy Indianapolis Motor Speedway

This completely unexpected victory by the radically new Peugeot racer against the highly favored Fiats was an unprecedented public success for Peugeot. It immediately raised the manufacturer’s European status and, with it, the highly questioned credibility of the previously ridiculed Charlatans. Rene Thomas said later, “If Boillot had not won, it would have been the finish of our entire team.” The Peugeot’s victory proved a turning point in racing history, as it signaled the end of slow-revving, dinosaur-sized aircraft engines for racing.

When the representative for Indy’s Carl Fisher arrived in France, he found Les Charlatans’ incredible win at the Dieppe GP had made Peugeot the toast of the continent. He made a point to meet as soon as possible with the leaders of the two best teams in France: Peugeot’s Equipe Boillot and Ernst Ballot. He also met with teams from Germany and Italy. Eventually, a total of six drivers would sign.

A generous offer of support to bring the two leading French teams to Indianapolis was made. The added incentive of $20,000 for the winner (almost half a million dollars in today’s money) made the decision fairly easy, as the costs to design and build two very special new Peugeot racers for the American 500-miler were then considerably defrayed.

The rules for the 1913 Indianapolis 500 were based on an engine size limit of 450 cubic inches. That dimension had become popularly accepted for American racing engines because it matched the displacement of production versions by Duesenberg and several others of local origin.

The new Peugeots for Indianapolis were carefully refined yet slightly smaller-engined versions of Les Charlatans’ L76 Dieppe GP winner. Time and finances limited Peugeot’s entry to two cars.

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