We’ve had lots of 404 love here over the years, but it’s been a while. But this terrific shot of one with a matching yellow billboard was irresistible. It was was shot in Clamart, Ile-de-France, by Benoit.
And son ted just sent me some shots of one he spotted in Portland, in a different primary color.
This blue one in Portland is clearly owned by a Peugeotphile, as there’s a 505 in front of it. But as best as I can tell from this angle, the 505 is missing its front wheel, so the 404 is the daily driver. This one is sporting that lovely Automatique badge on its rear.
Yes, this is what I used to have as my daily driver. My ode to it is here. And I owned several others that I save from an untimely death and either sold or leased (yes) to workmates at the tv station in LA. And of course I found a nice bug automatique wagon for Stephanie. 404 love ran high for a few years.
It could still, if one happened to show up in my driveway.
Great photos; great fins.
The top, yellow one is a ringer for a Checker Marathon. No surprise — this was the primary taxi-cab that I saw all over South America in the 1980’s.
Some were diesel. All the drivers would “short shift” to save on gas.
There were many 404D in Buenos Aires and Montevideo as taxis in the mid 70s. As you say, short shift was so common that I thought that was the only way to drive a Diesel.
I remember Vietnamese taxi drivers doing that – to extremes, in Toyotas with probably a 1.6 litre, 4 cylinder gasoline engine.
They would put it in 5th at honestly about 24mph, then shift to 4th with a sigh when it started juddering so much my fillings fell out
Most diesel engines used in automotive duty deliver their max torque at relatively low RPM; usually in the neighborhood of 2000 RPM, give or take a couple of hundred. For the most part it doesn’t do much good to try and spin a Diesel engine much faster; you will generate a lot more noise than increased speed and put more stress on the engine.
Please don’t make such broad generalization regarding South America. Peugeot 404s were only used in they Southern part of this continent. They were never used as taxis in Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Perú, or Brasil. These countries didn’t even have diesel taxis. Colombia, for example, has an interesting story regarding taxis. For some years cars from the iron curtain, such as Dacia, Zastava, Polonez and even Russian Volgas were imported for taxi use, being exhanged for coffee.
Yes. You’re quite right. In Brazil, in the 60’s most of the taxis fleets consisted of VW’s Beetle (nicknamed Fusca around here) or TL or 4 door (Zé do Caixão) or Renault Dauphine and probably some Aero Willis too. As for the 70’s, most VW’s and Ford Corcel and a few Chevrolet Opala too. Peugeot only landed here in the 1990’s with the 106, 205 and 405 imports. That’s sad whe’ve never got the big sedans like the 505 made in Argentina.
I always liked the way the 404 looked. I was familiar with this car as a kid because the Citgo Gas Station gave out Lone Star 1/64 or so sized diecast replicas of a 404 with open sunroof, as well as other European cars – gas station premiums being a common practice before the 1973 oil embargo.
I remember being excited the first time I saw a real 404, a wagon in northern Wisconsin.
It would be another 20+ years before I remember seeing more 404s when I lived in Seattle in the early ‘90s.
I did have a lot of exposure to Peugeot though. My best friend in high school was a 1st gen American, his Dutch dad only drove Peugeots. Their driveway had two 504s; a sedan & diesel wagon. Later on his dad had another 504, a 505 turbo, and a 604, not a common car around Madison WI.
Peugeots were very popular in Holland, no nonsense great car in its era, good roadholding, roomy, reliable and economical. Enzo Ferrari drove them as his personal car next to a Mini Cooper and who’d argue with mr Ferrari about cars?
Good proportions on the 404 saloon. My father owned a 404 Familiale, the station wagon version with three seat rows. It was the car I learned to drive in. Pity it rusted so fast it needed new front wings and sills when only 4 years old and was sent to the scrapyard when 8 years old. In the end the rear door could not be opened because the hinges at the roof had rusted solid.
I remember it as a very smooth driving car. Loved the column gear change!
“This one is sporting that lovely Automatique badge on its rear.” The also very rare (here in Uruguay) “Injection” badge had the same sctipt. I wonder how they puy Automatique Injection badges?
As best as I remember, the automatique wasn’t available with the Injection.
Sadly, I live in Upstate NY. The land where it is strictly — Error 404: Not Found.
I’d have another one one last time, looking just like that blue one. But only if it was a late boosted-disc version with the best of seats and the almost-normal-pattern liquid column shift. And a 1.8 litre motor retro-fitted, the best version of that XN motor as it’s as smooth as the 1.6 but would provide that extra bit of torque the 404 always lacked.
It is not easy to convey how sweet these were to use. Not fast or speedy and for most – including me – a prosaic looker, I think folk assume them to be a bit ordinaire. But in most enthusiast respects that matter, they’re as good as the French have ever made.
There are two kinds of people: those who, if given the chance to own an old French car would choose a Citroen Goddess and those who would choose one of these. I am in the second group.
I love these cars. I took my first legal drive in the family’s ’65 404 Familiale, 4 on the tree, which we’d acquired four years earlier on arrival in Paris for the year. Of all of the cars of my childhood, that’s the one I wish I had.