(first posted 1/13/2013) In the Peugeot 504 CC I showed you a few overloaded pickups in Africa. CC reader csi.ch spotted this one in his native Switzerland–but he thinks it’s very likely heading off for a tough non-retirement in Africa. In his words: Out of Africa or Bound for Africa? This trusty old Peugeot 504 truck visited my neighborhood during the summer. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was headed for one of the car export lots in the area…
Pickup trucks are a rare sight in Switzerland. Plus, with a bed in this shape, (there’s) no chance of passing the vehicle inspection. Fortunately for the owner, this truck is registered in France. It has seen some pretty heavy use, given how the steel is sagging between the braces.
The 504 Pickup has a different dash than the sedan and wagon. And it has the column shifter, which leaves room for the third passenger–or sixth, as the case soon may be in Africa.
The two most dominant pickups in Africa are the 504 and the Toyota Hilux. This one may be heading to Africa to reinforce the shrinking fleet of 504s, but it’s too late to change the Toyota tide.
It’s an attractive little car-truck.
Car export lots? I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a car export lot….
I agree, it’s a decent-looking pickup whose visible wear seems confined to the inside of the box. It makes me wonder if they could have been competitive with similar Datsuns and Toyotas here in the US if Peugeot had been interested.
Here is a link to a car export lot (destination Africa; w current offers): http://www.google.de/imgres?imgurl=http://www.automobile-allouch.de/assets/images/autoplatz_autoexport_allouch.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.automobile-allouch.de/html/impressum.html&h=364&w=550&sz=236&tbnid=5Avx_wjLUulO1M:&tbnh=90&tbnw=136&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dautomobile%2Ballouch%26tbm%3Disch%26tbo%3Du&zoom=1&q=automobile+allouch&usg=__f26C1SBMHT0L36r2D9_5eBLWhdU=&docid=gnVd7CZfEBXo0M&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PyPzUO-eK8bbtAajtYCgAw&sqi=2&ved=0CFoQ9QEwCA&dur=70
They are fairly common in Switzerland. Probably the combined effect of a tough vehicle inspection scheme (full inspection of every car aged 10 years+) and the relative proximity of some of the poorest countries in the world. From Geneva, it’s only a 4.5-hour drive to the port of Marseilles from where the cars are shipped to North Africa.
One of my friends funded his law studies that way. Being Algerian-born probably helped in buying up the right cars to sell in his home country/continent…
Having been born in Africa and having lived in several countries I find the phrase “relative proximity of some of the poorest countries in the world” tasteless and uber condescending. Have lived in California and Texas USA and the poverty I saw there was beyond belief. In California I was living in Stanford just next to the wealthiest zip codes in the USA a stones throw away from the poverty in East Palo Alto, the druggies in San Francisco and the crime across the bay in Oakland. Take a walk in Sunnyside in Houston my friend and see real poverty. If the Swiss are so rich, then why would they sell their vehicles to “poor countries”? Also do a read on black money which Switzerland is world famous for.
as 504 sedans&wagons ended up developing a bad image in usa i highly doubt that pick ups could compete even with isuzu or mazda.competing with datsun&toyota is most likely out of the question.but for many developing countries with limited choices was whole different story.
The reality is these Peugeot pickup were a lot tougher than Isuzus and Datsuns that why they thrive and are reveered in Africa, these are first choice in many places there is no limit ex JDM vehicles go out by the ship load
Reminds me of these
Forgot to mention this when you did your 504CC , but folk didn’t really notice the sagging butt on the saloon because they were mesmerised by the huge one-piece irregular-shaped headlights. Before the 504 headlights were always round or maybe small and rectangular, but the 504 broke new ground – except you didn’t get the proper lights in the US.
I’ve never seen a 504 with single 7″ headlights before, the ones sold in Australia had the dual 5-1/4″ type. I think the ‘normal’ lights were too susceptible to smashing lenses and too expensive to replace.
Re the inspection passing comment, surely once the surface rust was removed & the bed repainted it would be okay? Plus replacing the missing rear window of course.
That’s what I was thinking about the bed too, or that Switzerland must have very tough vehicle inspections. I know that most places in the US (it varies by state) they would be fine with you punching a 2′ diameter hole in the bed, or ripping the bed off completely on a BOF truck.
Switzerland’s vehicle inspection is extremely tough. Any rust hole is a sure fail. Brakes, suspension, alignment must be perfect, emissions must be within original specs, oil leaks are a big no-no, ditto for engine swaps…
I’m not a 504 export by any stretch but the earlier 504s sold in Australia (and I understand the sedan’s were always assembled here too) all had the French type “proper” head lights. They also had the thick seats with the head rests that could retract into the back rest when not required. In other words they had more French content.
From around 1975/6/7, there was greater Australian content and these features were lost. The seats then used were these cheap looking tombstone seats similar to those used in Australian assembled Renaults at the time as they were all assembled at the same plant.
I’m a purist and don’t like the look of the quad round headlight 504s at all. I read the original rectangular/trapezoidal units are hard to get now.
I know it’s sacrilege, but I actually prefer the US headlights (!)
Wish this 504 was bound for my driveway…
Or my driveway.
Here in Texas the auto export lot (trucks and vans mostly) us US 59. Constant stream of japanese pickups and minivans headed to points south.
I got a catalog for the 504 pickup back in the 80s and ever since I wanted build a custom 504 pickup with the quad round lights from a US spec 504 (since factory 504 pickups had either a single round light like this or the big oblong light on the deluxe models) , bucket seats and a floor shift.
Cool little truck. I never knew about these before Paul’s 504 CC.
In fantasy land I would daily drive a diesel Dangel 504, manual trans, wagon or truck, I
can be flexible.
I did not know these existed.
It’s quite a handsome truck, and presumably tough-as-nails.
If this truck rides as comfortably as the 504 car does; send me one!
When I was a kid, my brother had a ’58 Ford pickup that had the same sagging sheetmetal between the braces in the bed.
I always wondered what you’d have to load in it to make that happen.
It’s often smaller, heavy items… loaded quickly and carelessly… that cause this kind of damage. Examples are stuff like rocks, masonry units, scrap iron, and firewood. The metal gets dented and stretched a tiny bit every time someone drops a cement block onto the bed floor from above instead of setting it down carefully, and the damage accumulates over the years.
I’ve hauled a fair amount of stuff, heavy and awkward and otherwise in the last 22 years that I’ve owned my truck, and the bed floor/sides have only accumulated a few dings, scuffs, and scrapes over that time.
That makes sense. His truck was an ex-Frisco railway vehicle so there’s no telling what got chucked into the bed.
Back in the ’90s in London I owned a 504 estate (secondhand then) with the 3rd row of seats which was a superb vehicle for taking my family with 3 daughters and 2 dogs on holiday to Ireland or Europe, There was still a large boot area even with the 3rd row. It was one of the most comfortable cars i ever owned, second only to the original DS Citroens. Had to take a lot of security measures for leaving it on street as so many of them were stolen in UK back then, with the word on the street that all of them were destined for Africa, which i’m sure was true.
Africa is where NZs Peugeot fleet ended up so Im told somebody hunted down most of the used 504s years ago and sent them away so kind of rare cars here now but anything from that era is rare now 6 monthly inspections are tough and when the tsunami of used jap imports began people couldnt be bothered repairing old cars not when a shiny used jappa with all the extras was only payments away yep some of them were garbage with wound back speedos and zero spare parts available so the cycle began again. Only powertrains are harvested and exported now the rest goes in the shredder.