It is unclear to me whether the Prestige shop ever built PX-10's. 1974 was about the time of the introduction of the PY-10. Chuck's repro Peugeot catalog collection does not list a custom order PX-10, but the mid to late 70's catalogs do list a custom order PY-10, I believe designated the PY-10CP or something like that. I believe Chuck owns one such custom built PY-10's and I'm sure there are a number of others still in existance.
Now I presume that prior to 1974, there were probably selected builders at Peugeot who built the frames for the Peugeot factory team and perhaps a few other teams. And probably the team mechanics built up the bikes. It would be a bit hard to believe that the bikes for Merckx and Simpson were just pulled at random off the production line. And it is entirely possible that one could have custom ordered a PX-10 in the 60's, at least if one had good connections within Peugeot. But whether there was a separate shop buliding only team and custom frames prior to 1974, I just don't know.
Regards,
Jerry Moos Big Spring, TX
John Hurley <JHurley@jdabrams.com> wrote: List, In view of the current interest over the PX-10 on eBay, this would perhaps be a good time to raise the following subject. Referring again to my dog-eared copy of The Custom Bicycle by Kolin and de la Rosa, Chapter 13 of which is devoted to Cycles Peugeot, it is clear that in addition to Peugeot's mass-production facilities there was a small division called the Prestige frame shop created in 1974 to build custom bikes. It only recently occurred to me to wonder whether any examples of these bikes still exist. If so, it would be nice to see some pictures and hear some particulars about their history and quality. Were these frames marked or numbered differently in order to identify them as Prestige models? Were they in fact markedly superior in finish? The book says they were hand brazed and assembled by a small group of select craftsmen, so one would think the quality would be better than the norm. Instead of automated painting via conveyor belt through an electrostatic room, these were completely hand-sprayed. Such a bike would presumably be more valuable than the stock model, assuming it was kept in good condition, and assuming the frame geometry did not get too crazy.
John Hurley
Austin, Texas, USA