Tomorrow is the start of the Tour de France – the greatest cycle race in the world. Usually, there are some stages held outside the borders of France, and this year the first three stages are in the UK, starting in Leeds, in Yorkshire, visiting the historic city of York and the industrial city of Sheffield, as well as the spectacular moorland of Yorkshire and some of the area’s others sights, before travelling from Cambridge to Buckingham Palace on Monday 7 July. As one wag said, the Tour de Yorkshire is finishing in Paris this year.
The cycle race itself is preceded by a promotional procession, known as the caravanne, in which vehicles of all types to promote the tour’s various sponsors, in what is sometimes a gaudy and even tacky manner, but as it is ahead of the race itself gathers a lot of attention. Think giant town carnival parade, with a huge twist of French-ness.
In 2009, Vittel mineral water used this Peugeot 404 Cabriolet.
The 404 saloon and station wagon have been covered well on CC before, but the Cabriolet has not been seen as frequently. My personal view is that it is one of Pininfarina’s best ever cars, and should have a higher profile.
However, as Paul Niedermayer noted in his review, the looks of the Coupe on which the Cabriolet is based are not that great from certain angles, and although less formal than the saloon are certainly not as well balanced. The rear side window shape with the kick up in the window line do not ease the flow from front to rear, and if you were unkind you might describe it as the front of an Austin Cambridge merged with a Lancia. The Cabriolet carries this off a lot more successfully – may be Pininfarina actually based the Coupe on the Cabriolet?
The Cabriolet was produced from 1961; thouogh I am not clear on the age of this example, but from the larger front indicator and side light combination and the foglights in the grille, I suspect it is a post 1966 car, with Kugelfischer fuel injection. The combination of low volumes, the complex fuel injection and the durable quality of the engineering in the car kept the price high, around Jaguar E Type levels in the US and UK.
The car had a 96bhp 4 cylinder engine, with a four speed gearbox with a column shift driving the rear wheels. Performance was good for its day, reaching over 100mph and a 0-60 of around 12 secs. So, this was no slouch and had the performance to match the visual appeal.
If this year’s caravanne is as a good, we’re in for a great three days. I’ll let you know – I’ve been chosen as one of the volunteer Tourmakers to help the race organisation work with the public and to manage some of the race route marshalling.
Should be a good few days!
Have a good one Roger,thanks again for a great read.The only Peugeot I remember as a kid was driven by TV detective Columbo.No wonder I never saw one if it cost as much as an E type!
If memory serves me correctly, Colombo drove a Hillman. Love Peugeots since Dad’s 70 304 wagon. Great read, thanks!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbo_(TV_series)#Car
Would it not be cool if the cyclists pedaled through the Chunnel?
You can’t even drive through, it’s a train only. The best they could do is ride onto the auto-rail cars and then wait for the train to get to the other side and ride back off again.
There is a middle tunnel which runs the entire length, between the two tunnels..It is used for specially designed emergency vehicles.
Top gear Magazine dove a Chevy Volt aka Vauxhall Ampera through it, all the way to France.
The vehicles are Mercedes!!
http://www.eurotunnelgroup.com/uploadedImages/assets-uk/Media/MediaItem/Fixed-Link-Eurotunnel/Tunnel-5-m.jpg
Maybe they could have a peloton-powered train!
Chris Froome, the 2013 winner, recently rode through the Eurotunnel.
Source and more: http://www.autoblog.nl/image-gallery?file=Jaguar/0_Divers/Chris_Froome_Eurotunnel/
Wonderful; one of my favorite Peugeots.
I came close to buying a 404 Cabriolet, when I heard about a guy called Ernest Light in Azusa, CA. who had collected a huge number of 404s, and would sell parts, to sincere 404 owners only. I needed something and we drove out to see him. His garage and parts of his house had been turned into a carefully-organized parts department. And he took us to a storage lot where there were rows and rows of 404s…enough to make a Peugeotphile’s heart race. Of course, they were suffering from sun-rot, and some were pretty rough.
And there was a Cabrio in the lot, in not too bad of shape. I tried hard to get him to sell it to me, and for a minute, I thought he would. This guy was about 80, and he had to realize his collection had an iffy future. But then his emotions got the better of him, and he wouldn’t let it go. This was in 1979 or 1980. That lot of his would make 404 lovers cry, if they could see it now, or have access to it.
Probably would have been a great investment too! Although that wouldn’t be your reason as I can see these are good looking cars.
I never knew too much about them..But from the photos the Coupe is real sweet..Very pretty car..I prefer this over the cabro
I think Paul misspelled Azusa CA, next to where I grew up. Optimistic civic slogan: “Everything from A to Z in the USA.”
If you go up Azusa Avenue from I-210 towards the San Gabriel mountains into the canyon, it becomes an interesting drive for motoring enthusiasts. Assuming, of course, the locals aren’t holidaying there en masse.
In general, that mountain range, along with coastal Hwy 1, is the best excuse to own a sports car in So Cal.
Yes I did. And yes, I spent quite a bit of time up on the Angeles Crest, driving, hiking, skiing, etc.. Quick getaway from LA.
and here on Eugene’s craigslist there was a clean one in Idaho(4door,stick)for a long time for 2k usd&nobody wants it,so sad.
Like everything else, the Tour has changed. The last Frenchman to win was Bernard Hinault in 1985 – and for the past several years all the official cars have been Skoda’s.
Still a magical event however, and the only sporting event (other than Olympic hockey) that can get me out of bed at 5:30 in the morning. Vive Le Tour!
Mon cher Roger,
Brings back memories of white 404’s , rear doors removed and guys like Eddy Merckx winning the tour.
I guess I was a petrolhead back then, Always watched in black and white TV, coz dad also had 404’s
Somehow Skoda’s do not belong in the tour de l’Angleterre, maybe coz when I was a kid , Peugeot were the one and only…
And on the morning of the first stage, 107km to go, and there’s a three man breakaway 4 minutes ahead of the peloton. And Jens Voight is in the breakaway!
To those who’ve never heard the name, he’s 42 years old, the oldest man in the peloton, well beloved for the 25 or so years he’s been racing, and, according to cycling lore, “Chuck Norris keeps a poster of Jens Voight on his bedroom wall.”
Yes, Le Tour IS July to me. And its important enough in the US that tomorrow’s Formula 1 race has been moved to CNBC, because NBC Sports primary coverage will be Le Tour for the next three weeks. Thank you, Lance Armstrong.
To add to your tribute, Jens Voight is a true larger than life character. I’m seldom keen on the concept of ‘heroes’, but in his case it fits. His painful-to-watch 2009 crash
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7p1-gCNldUc (scroll to :50)
and nonchalant hospital interview afterwards
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G9iuGZaiJs&feature=kp
sum him up pretty well. Love the Chuck Norris reference!
European cars sure find have a personality back in those days!