Somehow I stumbled into this last night. If you’re not familiar with the legendary indestructibility of the 404 wagons and pickups in Africa, then head here. And after this video played, another 404 pickup video cued up, on how to amuse oneself while driving down a country road in one.
Yikes!
The sad reality is, much better, roadworthy cars were crushed during Cash For Clunkers. 🙁
Cash for Coo Coo Causes may have been a better name. A lot of the victims were not clunkers.
How is the driveline still functioning?
Heck, the driveline is probably the only thing holding it together
That’s more fishtailing than drifting.
The 404 I had up in Anchorage looked not QUITE this bad after it got rear-ended hard by a Chevrolet, but it definitely looked like a cat in heat! The driveline continued to function (to answer mFred’s question) because the drive shaft has one U-joint at the front but is essentially one bolted-together piece with the rear axle, and there’s a lot of sheet metal that can be slammed around without disconnecting the essential machinery. In our case, aside from the looks, the only real driving problem was that when underway the gearbox worked in just one plane: either R-1 or 2-3. At a standstill you could wrestle it sideways from one to the other, but not on the move. We mostly drove it (the week or so we still had it) in 2-3, since it started okay in second and third was direct drive.
The insurance totaled it, and we learned that a bank had bought it. Several months later we saw it downtown, butt still in the air, but sheet metal chopped up enough to allow a narrow pickup bed to be inserted – it was some old Matanuska Valley farmer’s work truck!
Was the 404 pickup cab a unit body? I know American and Japanese pickups are normally cab+box on frame, but pickups are not normally based on passenger cars. And the 404 is French…
My first 504, bought used in Ithaca, NY, road salt capital of America, very soon developed big holes in the front subframe stubs where they attached to the body. It felt weird on fast corners, the front and the rest of the car taking slightly different paths. Anyway if I had kept driving it and let it fail, I think its front end would have had just that angle with the body.
I can’t vouch personally for Peugeot cars, but I have a white, c.1975 Peugeot ten-speed touring bike bought second-hand in 1980, that’s still in occasional use 40 years on.
I’m surprised to learn that Peugeot has made all manner of things since its origins in the 1700’s. Does anyone have a Peugeot corset??
Peugeot-branded motorcycles are currently raced in the entry MotoGP class, Moto3, at the world championship level.
“Oh, excuse me sir, and another thing…I always thought the 404, was a car, like my 403.
Never knew Peugeot made them as a pickup truck, what’re the odds?”
Well-played, sir, well-played.
I think I’d like a 404 Bakkie Pug .
.
-Nate