October advert.

The 403 made its debut 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 11 CV Citroën Traction, but at least one class above the small cars produced by the principal competitor manufacturers. The 403 came with an enlarged version of the Peugeot 203's 1290 cc petrol engine. Displacing 1,468 cc, the straight-four unit has pushrod-actuated valves, hemispherical combustion chambers and a crossflow cylinder head to produce 65 hp at 5,000 rpm. An unusual feature is the thermostatically controlled engine fan which cut out when the engine temperature fell to 75°C and reengage when the engine temperature increased to 84°C. Claimed advantages include an improvement in fuel consumption and reduction of fan noise. Another ingenious feature involve a small hot water based heating device for the carburetor linked to the cabin heater in such a manner that it operates only when the driver turn on the heater.

203 berline (Auto Świat)

203 cabriolet