It’s a shame that Peugeot is not on our shores (and Citroën, for that matter), but this nifty photograph, posted by Dick Johnson on the www.diecast.org forum, shows not only a cool 204 in what is identified as Peugeot headquarters, but an oh-so-Mod ’60s desk! The desk is cool, the clock over the entrance is cool, and so are the cars. The receptionist looks quite nice too. Please note there are at least two DSs out front, plus a Renault 4 and a Dauphine.
image: the-mimir.tumblr.com
And just for Paul, here is another shot, with a lovely 404 sedan and 204 Cabriolet in the background. Donc très bien! Was there a more modern and looking-ahead era than the Jet Age? You expect James Bond to walk in and confront Auric Goldfinger, who would be buying a dozen 404 Cabriolets. Or buying Peugeot.
I really would like to go back in time to Paris and check out all the auto agencies–and acquire an impressive amount of Peugeot, Citroën and Renault brochures.
The original posting on diecast.org can be found here.
This made my morning, Tom. Reminds me so much of my trip to Europe in the summer of ’69. European design was so modern and sleek; very unlike Towson. It’s funny that you posted this, because I just ran across a similar vintage picture of the main Renault showroom in Paris, which I was thinking of posting. But your pics are better.
It could be a new CC feature: Showrooms of Yesterday!
I think that’s really a great idea. Like this Porsche showroom from 1955 designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
Magnifique! As you said, every detail is modern and well executed, and they showcase the cars and company impressively. If conservative Peugeot presented this kind of corporate image to the public, I would like to see what Citroen did!
I do not know whether this kind of setting still exists in the automobile business in Europe, but it seems that the last remnants of it are disappearing from the U.S. The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Max Hoffman showroom on Park Avenue in Manhattan, once the center of Porsche and Mercedes sales in the U.S. and then a flagship Mercedes dealership for over 50 years, was gutted and erased earlier this year. A glamorous urban automobile showroom designed by a world famous architect is hard to imagine now.
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20130411/CARNEWS01/130419964
I was in Paris last week and walked by this window. Guess what is in the window now? A vintage 204 convertible! I wish I had seen this article, I would have gone in and checked out what it looks like now.
I have always loved the mod modern look myself. It’s so futuristic that even the Mid Century Modern era looked tame in comparison.
I like how it carried in various forms through the 70’s, think vintage Kartell and you get the picture, more or less.
Nice set of photos.
That photo you posted Paul, the chair looks like it might be an Eames shell chair.
What’s odd is that the furniture was much more futuristic than the cars. Might have better fit Citroen or Panhard.
I also wonder how practical those desks were to use on a daily basis. For example, did folks get a backache by 2 pm and learn the hard way to avoid leaning much on the edge of the table?
I was also wondering how often they replaced receptionists due to back problems….
404 the best Peugeot ever.my dad still drives a 70 black 404 which he bought new,over 800 000 km on clock&still stock motor(no rebuilt)how many cars from 60s&70s can last that long on one motor.probably none.great quality that we do not find anymore.
I had several 404s. Here’s my homage to them: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1969-peugeot-404-the-cc-holy-grail-found/
Where is the wire for the telephone? Is it built into the desk and somehow plugs into the floor? Very nice.
I just took Miss Daisy, our ’67 404 out of the heated garage in my house.
After being there as a sleeping place for our cats for 15 years.
(the cats always get in through the sunroof)
Put some gas in, a battery and she started, immediately.
After 5 minutes she was purring like she always did
Needs a new Hydrovac and fix the brakes.
But that’s all folks.
Had the intention to sell her, but a 404’s ambiance is so special.
The seats
The smell of a 404
The whole ambiance of the car.
speaking of Peugeots,there is a 1989 505 station wagon on craigslist with almost 300 k miles on meter,perhaps they are not as junk as we think they are after all.
I’d suggest, ask any African guy.
404, 504 and 505’s all RWD Peugeots are still popular in Africa.
For a reason.
They are bullitproof cars.
Which the locals can fix.
Africans will buy any Volvo, Mercedes or Renault truck as long as there are no or little electronics involved.
I had to be in Paris last year for business.
Took the car.
But it has changed a lot, in the old days you could park your car anywhere on the Champs Elysees, even in the middel which was reserved for Taxi’s
Today the same discouragement we Dutch “pride” ourselves in with our socialist -pardon social democrat- city councils.
Where there were 6 lanes there are now two or three, traffic is suffocated just for the glorification of public transport, pollution, environment and other left wing hobbies.
I remember vividly you’d park in Paris by using your BUMPERS
Peugeot’s were stainless steel, so you could slightly move the car in the back and in the front to get out or to get in.
Nobody bothered and Renault even invented its plastic bumper for the Renault 5 for Parisian traffic.
Like the front indicators on Citroen’s AMI 8, they were spring suspended so the glass would survive Parisian parking.