PHOTO: 10-year-old Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, driving his motorcar, a Peugeot BP1 Bebe, accompanied by driver Adolfe Kegresse in front of the White Tower, situated in the Alexander Park, near the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo in 1914

Among the fleet of more than 50 motorcars that were used only by Emperor Nicholas II and members of his family was a fully functional, gasoline-powered Peugeot BP1 Bebe. The Peugeot Bébé was a line of the smallest cars that Peugeot produced between 1901 and 1919.

In 1912, the famous French automaker Peugeot released the Peugeot Bebe, designed by Ettore Bugatti, complete with a four-cylinder engine with a displacement of 855 cm3 and power of 10 hp. The model was first presented to the public at the Paris Motor Show in 1912.

The Peugeot Bébé came to Russia in May 1913 at the IV International Automobile Exhibition in St. Petersburg, an event that was attended by the Tsar. Its price was 4000 francs (with bodywork). In 1913 one franc was worth 0.37 kopecks, thus the pricetag for this motorcar worked out to 1900 rubles including taxes.

PHOTO: Tsesarevich Alexei riding along the pathways of the Alexander Park in the back seat of his Peugeot Bebe, 1914

Alexei’s paternal grandmother Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, bought a Peugeot BP1 Bebe motorcar for Tsesarevich Alexei on his nameday[1] – 18th October.

Alexei received the car on Sunday, 18th (O.S. 5th) October, 1914, and on Thursday, 22nd (O.S. 9th) October, Emperor Nicholas II wrote in his diary: “I took a brisk walk with Maria and Anastasia todat. We saw Alexei in the park, riding in a small motorcar presented to him on 5th October”.

PHOTO: 10-year-old Tsesarevich Alexei Nikolaevich, accompanied by driver Adolphe Kegresse in his Peugeot BP1 Bebe, near the White Tower in the Alexander Park. In the back seat is Grand Duchess Anastasia. Standing next to the motorcar is the French tutor Pierre Gilliard. 1914.

PHOTO: Tsesarevich Alexei taking his aunt Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna for a spin around the Alexander Park in his Peugeot BP1 Bebe. Standing in the background are Alexei’s sisters Grand Duchesses Anastasia and Maria Nikolaevna. 1914.

Since all members of the Imperial Family were avid amateur photographers, each of them had their own camera. Thousands of their personal photographs have survived to the present day, including several photographs in which Tsesarevich Alexei is photographed behind the wheel of his Peugeot Bebe.

Despite the fact that the motorcar was very light (350 kg) and had a length of about two and a half meters, the 10 hp engine allowed it to reach speeds of up to 60 km per hour.

Of course, Alexei did not “drive” his motorcar very often. His parents could not risk the safety of their hemophiliac son, since any injury received in an accident could be fatal for him. Therefore, they assigned the Tsar’s personal chauffeur Adolfe Kegresse (1879-1943) to accompany Alexei while he was out driving. His drives were restricted to the tree-lined alleys of the Alexander Park at Tsarskoye Selo, and he was only permitted to drive in first gear. According to witnesses, Alexei drove “quite confidently”. He often took his sisters and tutors on short drives.

PHOTO: after the 1917 Revolution, the Alexander Palace became a museum. Tsesarevich Alexei’s Peugeot BP1 Bebe was put on display, bext the wooden slide in the Marble Hall [aka the Mountain Hall]

Following the February 1917 Revolution, Tsesarevich Alexei’s Peugeot Bébé stood ownerless for a very long time. After Emperor Nicholas II’s collection of more than 50 motorcars housed in the Imperial Garage’s at Tsarskoye Selo, St. Petersburg, Moscow, Livadia and Mogilev were “confiscated” by the Provisional Government, the Peugeot Bebe remained at Tsarskoye Selo, where it was placed on display in the Marble Hall [aka the Mountain Hall] of the Alexander Palace, and removed from the lists of the Provisional Government Motor Depot.

In photographs taken in the 1920s of the Marble Hall in the Alexander Palace, Alexei’s motorcar is clearly visible, sitting next to the wooden slide, constructed in 1833, at the behest of Emperor Nicholas I and his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

PHOTOS: after the 1917 Revolution, the Alexander Palace became a museum. Tsesarevich Alexei’s Peugeot BP1 Bebe was put on display, bext the wooden slide in the Marble Hall [aka the Mountain Hall]

There is no doubt that the Bolsheviks considered Tsesarevich Alexei’s Peugeot Bébé as nothing more than an extravagant “toy” and of no historical value. The motorcar stood in the Alexander Palace until 1929.

In 1930, Alexei’s Peugeot BP1 Bebe was transferred to the collection of the Leningrad Palace of Pioneers, also housed in the Alexander Palace. During the 1930s, pioneers who were members of the motoring club learned to drive in the Tsesarevich’s motorcar. In 1942 – during the Great Patriotic War – a bomb hit the Anichkov Palace [where the Peugeot Bébé jad been moved], and Tsesarevich Alexei’s motorcar was irretrievably lost.

NOTES:

[1] Russians celebrate name days separately from birthdays. Celebrations range from the gifting of cards and flowers to full-blown celebrations similar to birthday parties. Such a celebration begins with attendance at the divine services marking that day (in the Russian tradition, the All-Night Vigil and Divine Liturgy), and usually with a festive party thereafter. The Russian Imperial family followed a tradition of giving name-day gifts.

Before the October Revolution of 1917, Russians regarded name days as important as, or more important than, the celebration of birthdays, based on the rationale that one’s baptism is the event by which people become “born anew” in Christ.

© Paul Gilbert. 27 April 2024