404’s have received more than their share of love at CC. Then again, would a little more love hurt?
I would be lying if I said “It’s been ages since I saw one of these…” Instead, there are at least 2 more in town, both station wagons.
One I see rather often, parked in front of a Car Wash next to a very busy intersection. I’ve been meaning to shoot it for ages, but haven’t for fear of losing a whole afternoon… Salvadorians, once the guard is down, get very chatty. The 4-5 employees that work around the vehicle would probably talk me to death rather than tend their tedious jobs.
This one I found recently in a quiet residential neighborhood where I spent my teen years. Peugeots were not a rare sight back in the 70’s, and this model appeared fairly often in daily traffic. Their lines looked a bit dated and goofy to my childhood eyes. I didn’t mind them, didn’t love them either. So, will I go against my youth impressions?
Penned when US manufacturers were still an influence in Europe, there’s quite a bit of American styling in the car’s lines. Some Chevy influence up front, simulated fins, and a modest wraparound windshield. As I shot the car, I kept thinking “How French!” … forgetting the design was of Italian origin, via Pininfarina.
Never being in close contact to a 404 before, as I shot away and came to notice the elaborate sculpting on the car’s face, I couldn’t help but to feel my heart melt. Touches not noticeable from the distance: the slightly pointed headlight bezels, the deeply recessed grille, the lower lip that meets the bumper. Photos don’t do full justice to the car’s face.
Ok, little 5 year old me… I reject your views. I’m in love now.
Aside from the rather plain side view, the back also shows some peculiar details. The large triangular taillights, an acquired taste probably. Still, does anything else look like it? Then, variations that spice up normal proceedings: the twin bumper lines, and the upper lip over the tailgate.
Peugeots had a long trajectory in these lands, with their owners rather impressed with their sturdy nature. The model didn’t start to thin out on the ground until the mid-90’s. On FB, a sedan is for sale right now in San Salvador. Me? I’m almost sold… but will wait for a station wagon, the queen of my heart.
Let’s take one more look at this face. C’est un trés joli visage! Do you mind if I stare at you a little longer?
A lot more on the 404:
That car needs to be saved and restored!
I had a 403, few 404s including a wagon, a couple of 504s, my brother had a 504 wagon, and I have had a few 505s including a wagon. Once you adapt to a Peugeot (or really, almost any other French car), there’s really nothing else that comes close. Of course, more modern cars have more toys in them, are likely to hold up better in hard crashes, and all that. But these cars have souls…and new cars do not. In decent shape, this car is potentially a comfortable transcontinental hauler.
Those tail lights would have fit perfectly on a SAAB 95 wagon, but SAAB didn’t take kindly to such frippery and used a couple of round (probably off-the-shelf) units per side.
The tail lights on my ’68 Saab 95 were shared with the Sonett II and Sonett V4. I think they switched to the style you show with MY 1969.
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-saab-sonett-ii-v4-a-noisy-little-footnote-to-automotive-history/
I agree with the perfection of styling seen in this car. There is a cultural distinction being noticed. I am a fan of international style. My favorite everyday items are often designed in Italy, France, Germany as well as the USA. I am the guy in the kitchen, and get a chance to use many kitchen tools designed from other parts of the world. Consequently, I have discovered that Italian designed kitchen tools have a whimsical and fun design added into them. I also have terrific products that were designed in Japan, China as well as Europe. French design is often superb and considerate. German design is often functional over whimsy. My German washing machine is seriously designed to meet exacting technicalities. I fully strongly embrace my US heritage as well.
As to French cars, I admire their consideration of human/machine interaction and emotional needs. These cars have a Gallic soul that comes through in many thoughtful ways.
As you know, it’s my favorite previously owned car. That spot used to be held by my W124 300E, but over time my appreciation for certain qualities of the 404 wagon have overtaken it. Part of that is that one would fit well into my current lifestyle; more so than a Benz sedan. I would have taken the 404 on last year’s EXBRO trip to Nevada.
Note this : regular Peugeot 404 sedans used the strange 3 bolts` wheels the same used for Citroên 2CV & Ami 8 . Only Peugeot 404 station wagons used the more secure five bolts`wheels .
Not just the wheels: these wagons sat on a longer wheelbase and had a totally different rear axle and suspension from the sedans. They were designed to haul very heavy loads, which is why they were so popular in places like Africa, where they were grossly overloaded.
I did a detailed post on the classic Peugeot RWD wagons here:
https://www.curbsideclassic.com/automotive-histories/the-worlds-greatest-wagons-peugeot-203-403-404-504-505-an-illustrated-history/
Later sedans got more bolts, though still of that rather dumb French design. With it, the weight of the car rests on the damn bolts, not on a hub. With all the forces of bumps and cornering, if a bolt gets even slightly loose, it starts to misshape the hole, meaning it can never be properly tightened up thereafter. I had to throw out two of the wheels on my early 404 (three bolt) because of just that.
There’s probably some rationale for this peculiarly French idea – it’s on heaps of Renaults and Citroens too – but I’ve never been able to figure out what it might be.
I’m irresistibly drawn to these classic Farina front ends in all their versions, but this is perhaps the best. Plus it’s close to the perfect sized car to my mind, and highly practical.
Few cars manage to be this handsome and this beautiful. The combination of the elegant front & rear ends and the no-nonsense wagon profile does it for me. 🙂
I once took a road trip with a buddy in his 404 wagon, sometime around 1972. I still remember what a smooth rolling wonder that car was…and I was biased at that time towards Volvo wagons as the “ultimate”… but the 404 really surprised me. We roomed together in San Francisco and he sold it to be vehicle-free for a while (we were broke of course). He later got a skanky 1964 Mustang :-). I bounced through a bunch of vehicles in those days but always thought of the 404…and it would be a hard choice between one of those and the 1949 GMC longbed I had at that time. Both smooth riding sleepers that no one else wanted!
Yep;
Old and battered but never bowed .
It’d be sweet if someone restored or fully overhauled this beauty .
I still miss the graymarket 1967 404 break Pops bought new .
-Nate
I love the 404, and have owned a couple, but have never thought much of the looks. Sure, it’s much tighter than the Farina BMC cars, all of which had droopy fins or weeny wheels or cumbersome chromages or some skinnying tall grille to make them look like a wheeled parish spinster, but the FourOh isn’t exactly an oil painting itself (to me).
The wagon does look better than the sedan, though, as it nearly avoids the rather unwieldy narrowing-to-the-rear effect that the latter has: it’s much better balanced.
There’s a nice unrestored (and unrusted) wagon for sale here right now, $10KAUD. In the current wacko market, that seems almost a bargain for what is a genuine classic.
Well, classic to drive, anyway – whilst imagining it looked a bit better. YMMDV, of course.
(*Your Mileage Does Vary (From Mine))
When it smiles at you, you can’t help but smile back, can you?
Ready to run from Cairo to Alexandria with 6 passengers a and a rack full of luggage. Same can be said for Nairobi to Mombasa or Rabat to Casablanca. Before minivans existed this was the way one moved from city to city on the African continent. Always with a 4 on the tree so 2 passengers could sit up front with the driver.