Jay Leno delves into his 1960 Panhard PL17 with John Peterson

A video was released on Oct. 4 on YouTube with Jay Leno talking about the charm, advanced engineering and oddities of the Panhard PL17.   He enlisted the help of John Peterson, president of Les Amis de Panhard et D-B USA (Panhard USA Club).

John got the call from Jay Leno to come down from Reno NV to his wonderful shop in SoCal at the end of August.  John had a great time and came across really well on camera.  Check out the video here:

John says; “As of 20 minutes ago, (Oct. 8) it has been seen 134,700 times!  You better believe most of these people have never even heard of a Panhard.  And like most things on the internet there are some pretty awful remarks that people make just being mean.  But I am amazed at all the wonderfully polite and complementary comments that people are writing about seeing a Panhard for the first time.  It’s very pleasing to see people happy to see something different than a Porsche or a Lambo or other cars that are trend-setters.  Our little car is being enjoyed by a lot more people than I would have ever guessed.”

  Jay Leno chatting with John.

Bravo John!  It’s great so some recognition giving to an automobile so revered by Citroën that they ultimately bought the company.  In 1955 Citroën acquired a minority 25% interest in Panhard, and ten years later, in 1965, Panhard’s automobile division was finally absorbed by Citroën.  Panhard ceased production of the PL 17 in the same year while the 24 model carried on for two more years.

For more information on Panhards and the Club contact John Peterson at johna2cv602@gmail.com or call: 775-762-1481.