posted at the Cohort by Corey Behrens
Which car from my early years would I most want to have again? That’s a tough one to answer. 1963 Corvair Monza four-speed? 1963 or 1964 VW Beetle? 1968 Dodge A100 van? 1968 Peugeot 404 sedan? 1968 MGB-GT? 1970 Peugeot 404 wagon? The ones that came after those are not even in the running, except maybe the ’86 300E.
From the title, obviously the 404 wagon is my pick. Now I have to justify it.
It’s actually pretty easy. If I’m going to have one of my old cars back, it’s got to be something I can and would use on a regular basis, as I’m just not one of those guys who takes out their precious toy on Sundays for a leisurely cruise. On Sunday I’m most likely headed for a hike, and getting there almost invariably involves rough Forest Service gravel roads. And on Monday I might likely be hauling a washing machine from one of my rentals to be fixed in my garage. And on Tuesday, I might be heading to Nevada, for a six-day overlanding trip…
Yes, if I’d had a 404 wagon, I’d have taken it on the recent EXBRO trip. And why not? It was no more difficult than the overlanding trip Dawid Botha took in his 404 wagon in the wilds of South Africa, posted here at CC a few years back.
In fact, the water crossings he made were longer and muddier than most of ours. His 404 did stall right where it is here in this picture, from moisture getting into the deeply-recessed spark plug housings. But a bit of drying off took care of that, and he and his wife were on their way. The scenery looks remarkably similar to Nevada.
So yes, if an xB can make it, a 404 certainly can, and it didn’t need to be lifted either, or have softer springs and shocks swapped in; it’s already got both of these features, and in spades. Or more like: If a 404 wagon can make it, hopefully a lifted xB can. Maybe.
I’ve covered the whole lineage of Peugeot RWD wagons in my homage to them here, but let me just hit a few key points: these wagons were not just like typical wagons, a sedan with a longer roof and rear cargo area. They are substantially different from the cowl back, with a longer wheelbase, stronger structure, taller roof, and a unique rear suspension.
Unlike the single long-travel coils supporting the worm drive rear axle on the sedans, the wagons, starting with the 404, had a unique setup with four coil springs and a heavier-duty rear axle, which was alloy, no less. The load capacity for the wagons was over 1200 lbs, or comparable to the typical half-ton American pickup of the times, yet the ride was superbly comfortable, full or empty. One had to experience that to believe it. Only an air or hydropneumatic suspension could equal it, but the all-steel Peugeot suspension was of course utterly reliable. It’s nigh-near impossible to bottom out, unless you’re carrying some insane loads.
As was (and still is) commonly the case in Africa, where Peugeots became the cars, wagons and pickups of choice, and were built there for long after the European RWD models had been replaced. Seeing old Peugeots overloaded like this (and worse) is a common sight there.
The front suspension on the 404 sedans and wagons was equally tough yet eminently comfortable, with exceptionally long-travel struts and Peugeot’s own unique design shock absorbers, which had five valves and were built to withstand the toughest conditions for some 100,000-150,000 miles or more. Not your run of the mill Monro-Matics.
In 1978, shortly after we got married, I sold my ’68 Dodge A100 van, which was very tired and had a serious oil-drinking habit. I got tired of changing the plugs constantly, even if that could be done without ever getting out of it. A friend of Stephanie’s sister had a ’68 404 sedan to sell, and I thought that sounded appealing, having been generally acquainted with the good rep Peugeots had.
It was a great car, and I loved it dearly. But it too had a lot of miles on it, and the nigh-near immortal (and expensive) Peugeot shocks were starting to get a bit soft. If it had been more youthful, I might well have picked it to come back to me again now. But it served faithfully as my daily driver for several years.
I started “saving” other 404 sedans from junkyards and folks who needed to get rid of them cheaply. I could fix most of the typical small issues easily, and either sold them on, or “leased” them to co-workers at the tv station. I had a total of six sedans over a two year period.
In the beginning of 1980, Stephanie got pregnant and saw the writing on the nursery wall: she would need to learn to drive. We lived in Santa Monica within walking distance of downtown, so it had been possible to avoid that so far, but no more. But it was going to have to be an automatic, as she simply did not want to deal with a manual in constant city driving. I opened the LA Times Saturday classifieds, and found a likely prospect: a 1970 404 automatic wagon, but with a dead engine.
It was out in the San Fernando Valley, and I took along a rental tow bumper hitch in case I decided to buy it. It was dark green, and although dusty from sitting out at the curb for a long time, I could tell it was a cream puff. It had fairly low miles (maybe 60k or so) and the body and interior were both in excellent condition.
The 504 replaced the 404 in the US in 1969, but since the 504 wagon only came out two years later, the 404 wagon hung around through 1970. But for that last year only, in the US it used the larger 1.8 L four from the 504. Unfortunately, the new 1.8 was somewhat prone to head gasket failures in its early years, and that’s what had happened to this one. And that had been some time ago. The head had been removed, and there was a deep puddle of rusted water in each of the cylinders. They obviously didn’t want to pay for the repair and just let it sit. I offered $75, which was accepted. I hooked it up to my tow bar behind my 404 sedan, and towed it over Mulholland Pass right to a certain little import-specific junkyard in Culver City, which had several 404s in residence, and left it there out front for the night.
I took a flyer on the little slant four in a sedan that called to me, paid my $40 for it, and hauled it out to the curb where the wagon sat, and used a rented engine lift to swap the units. The one I put in was a typical 404 1.6 L version. My luck held out, and it started right up and ran sweetly.
Obviously, with the extra weight of the wagon and the three-speed ZF automatic, it was not nearly as zippy as my sedan, with its four on the tree. But it always got the job done, in its own leisurely but unstoppable way.
I drove it home and cleaned it up.The paint glowed after a good polish and wax. The tan interior was in great shape, and of course the famous Peugeot front seats were eminently comfortable. And the rear cargo area floor was a piece of highly polished plywood with rubber cargo rub strips. Beautiful yet practical.
I took Stephanie to a large corporate parking lot near the Santa Monica Airport on a Sunday, and she got the hang of driving it quite quickly. The manual steering was a wee bit heavy for parking, but that was good exercise way to strengthen the arms.
This ad was obviously targeted to her, even if it was ten years later now. She may have only driven it 10 miles a day (or less), but it quickly became the weekend get-away mobile, for camping, hiking and skiing trips.
I found a factory wagon roof rack at another junk yard and grabbed it. The roof came from the factory with six bronze or brass female threaded inserts to attach the rack firmly. It covered most of the roof, and I never wanted for hauling space, even for extended vacations or whatever else needed hauling that wouldn’t fit inside.
With 76 hp and the automatic, it was leisurely, but always got us there, no matter what the road or conditions, including a mad dash through the Mojave desert at 3 AM in a deluge, fording washes several feet deep, with my mother and the two kids in the back seat. You see; I was overlanding the 404 wagon back then already.
The long grade up Hwy 395 to Mammoth wasn’t as bad as I had expected: full tilt boogie in second gear was some 42-45 mph, and it held that steady as a rock. The 404 wagon handled the deep snow we encountered in the Sierras on that trip with aplomb. I’m pretty sure I had chains but I don’t remember needing to put them on. Maybe so, in at least one really epic blizzard.
The 404 wagon and pickup had larger and wider drum brakes, with double-leading shoes, than the sedan, which had gotten front discs back in ’68. But I actually preferred the wagon’s drums over my sedan’s discs, hard as that may be to believe. They were the most linear brakes I’ve ever driven. No power assist (obviously) but ever so progressive and so easy to modulate just perfectly. And they never felt even the slightest bit overwhelmed.
With its long wheelbase and fairly narrow track, the 404 wagon preferred to go arrow straight, which it would do happily under the most challenging conditions for hours on end. That’s not to say it couldn’t be made to go around curves; it’s just that it had to be nudged to do so a bit more than average. The relationship of track to wheelbase affects a vehicle’s preference to rotate (or not). My Promaster is the same way, very much unlike the xB.
My efforts in making my xB more suitable for overlanding were really just to make it more 404-like, and I’ve referred to it as the xB404. Its softer springs and shocks, higher ground clearance and no anti-sway bar have gone a long way to making it more 404-like, although it’s hardly all the way there. There’s only so much one can do with a simple modest-travel strut front suspension and a twist beam rear axle, but the changes have taken it closer to 404 suspension heaven.
And as to the tall, narrow and boxy nature of the xB, it’s obvious where my heart lies. And my body sits.
This 1965 404 wagon that Corey Behrens shot in Heiloo, NL is the first of its kind to be found by anyone associated with CC, and as such, it’s a milestone. I could go on, but I realize that 404 wagons are not exactly everyone’s cup of absinthe.
So yes, if I could bring back one of my old cars, it would have to be the 404 wagon, preferably with the four-on-the-tree, but even the automatic would be ok with me. This is not a car to hurry; it’s the automotive tortoise, and you know how that worked out.
Related CC Reading:
The Worlds Greatest Wagons: Peugeot 203, 304, 404, 504, 505 PN
CC/Auto-Biography: 1969 Peugeot 404 sedan: The CC Holy Grail Found PN
CC Road Trip: Across Remote South Africa Via Back Roads In a Peugeot 404 Wagon Dawid Botha
Was “4th on the tree” an overdrive tacked onto the basic 3 speed? Maybe it’s a memory from thrashing my mate’s mum’s immaculate Triumph Renown. The 404 was renowned for the longevity of that short stroke engine with then rare hemisperical head, its offbeat inlet manifold and plenum chamber, ok for economy and cold climates, NBG tuning for speed. Adapting the 203 original for hillclimber transplant involved fitting inlet port extensions to 2 Weber DCOE or 4 Amals. 404 has timeless good looks
No. It was a conventional 4 speed with a 1:1 ratio in 4th gear. I think it had something like a 4.20:1 final drive. The column shifter was set up just like a conventional American 3 speed, with 4th being one more shift out and up. I am referencing my old 1963 sedan for this, so later models and/or wagons could’ve been different.
My first car was a 403 sedan; my father was impressed by it and bought a 403 wagon, followed by a 404 wagon. All three were very reliable and trouble free. The trans is a three speed with an overdrive 4th gear, hence the weird shift pattern.
It’s not a three speed and overdrive. It’s just an unusual pattern.
Never had a 404 to compare but owned a 504 manual estate with the additional row of seats in the back for many years from mid ’80s. we had 3 daughters from teenage down to 5 and splitting them between the 2 rear rows narrowed the opportunities for rows on long trips.
We used to drive every year from London to the West coast of Ireland for family holidays so the car was completely stuffed with all the luggage (no roof rack and having to pack for possibility of the 4 seasons in 1 day Irish weather) and 1 medium sized dog sitting in the spare seat on top of luggage and another on the luggage in the boot area. It was quite amazing how much could be stuffed into that car, the kids used to be siting on quite a lot as well thanks to the high headroom
Only mechanical problem I can remember in about 10 years was the windscreen wiper stalk breaking when in Ireland driving on the way home (and of course it was raining then), we used the string attached to the wiper arms and into the car, tied to a spanner at each end for grip comfort with my wife and I pulling alternatively, got us home and my mechanic friend just soldered it up, he believed in fixing rather than replacing, bless him….worked like that for a lot longer
Apart from a 1971 Citroen DS21 I owned in the ’90s I’ve never owned a more comfortable car for short or long trips.
.I remember that in the late 80s/early 90s there was a spate of these being stolen in the UK with the presumption that they were being shipped straight out to Africa (probably driven overland as well).
I just looked up the howmanyleft UK website to see that in 2020 there were 28 404s licenced with 10 on SORN and about 50 504s.
I’ve always had penchant for
“fording washes several feet deep”
The car thought you were seeing centimeters.
This is the car I learned to drive in. My father got a 404 Familale, which is a wagon with a third row of seats (family with 5 children). I always remember my fathers remark that it had fantastic brakes. Our car was a 1972 example, with power assisted brakes – not sure it had discs or drums at the front. His previous car was a humble Opel Rekord B wagon without power brakes.
I managed to learn to use the column change (4 speeds). I clearly remember one of the first drives with my father next to me, on a small country road. Concentrating on getting the perfect gear change, I nearly steered into the ditch. A quick correction from my father prevented us landing next to the road.
We had the car for four years. It was rusty when my father bought it although it was only four years old. It got new front wings just after buying. In the end the rear hatch could not be opened because the roof hinges had rotted, and the front wings again were rotted. It went to the scrapyard, only 8 years old.
I remember it as a very comfortable car. It served us well, I remember stuffing all the holiday gear into the car, up the roof rack and into the trailer. We always went fully loaded!
Pity the car got replaced just before me getting a drivers license, so I was never be able to drive it on my own. When it was due for replacement, my father almost bought an ex-army 404 sedan straight from an army auction. The 404 was seen as an old car then so these were cheap but rust free and always were maintained immaculately, being the cars for the army staff. But he did not want a black or dark blue car so no deal.
It’s the only car from my past I’d have again too. So much of one piece. Nothing exotic in suspension, or engine, beyond the hemi head, or much special (to me), in looks. In fact, the sedan rear end is positively vintage, being a huge torque tube that is fixed to the rigid axle and the whole swinging off a gigantic ball-joint arrangement at the end of the gearbox. The “trailing arms” just went from the axle ends inwards where they were welded rigidly to the tube, so you have a gigantic T and lots of unsprung weight for the springs and shocks to handle: it shouldn’t work, but it sure does. Only oddity is a slight sideways wiggle of the car at low speeds on uneven surfaces. The front is just ordinary Macphersons. Yet the comfort is ridiculous, and the rack steering still the best of any car I’ve driven (if a bit stiff to park). Designed around radial tyres, Jaguar used a lot of their thinking when bushing the seminal XJ, especially the tricks in fore/aft compliance needed for radial’s harshness. The column change post-68 is superb. It’s really quiet, largely from solidity, and has some tricks to help, such as the silencer on the INTAKE visible above, and a muffler of some sort as part of the exhaust manifold. They were built to last, with details like all the trim not being chrome, but stainless. They even handle beautifully, with less roll than the later 504/5’s, and understeer only through big effort. The engines last easily 150K miles, and are cheap to rebuild. Just liners, chain, bearings, rings and some valve grinding. They’re also a tad over-praised, being low-powered, a bit torqueless and a bit rowdy when (necessarily) revved. The electrics, too, are French, and more like french fries when getting on (complete with those awful round fuses). Final (considerable)fault of note is stupid vent designs that leak and rot the front floors out even in a dry country like Oz.
Still, there’s an argument to make that these prosaic-looking, rather slow little buses are perhaps the best mass-produced cars ever in their time. Inexpensive, pushrods, carbuettored, live axled and in most other ways no more complex than much more powerful US-style cars, to drive one at 70-75 mph, in supreme comfort, dead-sharp steering, superb seats, and a low buzz from underbonnet is simply a far, far nicer experience than any of those until many years later. It’s a car that always made me think “Why don’t other makes get all this basic stuff so right?”
There was a perfect wagon advertised here not long ago, for $13KAUD ($9600 USD) and even given the higher price of cars in Australia compared to the US, I thought “that’s far too much.”
Ofcourse it wasn’t. Try finding one as good, or even for sale at all. It sold immediately.
I like the two tone paint .
Peugeot seats and ride comfort have to be experienced to be believed .
-Nate
My father in law had a 1965 wagon. Door interiors, dashboard and other bits and pieces were different (I guess just older issue). Door locks were unusual in that they were activated by pulling them up. The shifting pattern was just like an American 3-speed with a fourth gear up and to the dash. He bought it in 1970 and had it through 1987, once overhauling the engine, seevral times the carburettor, and I think I remember it had a cooling issue because failure of the thermostat. He loved that wagon and insisted it was his best car ever, even after getting an A/C car. Heavy steering, heavy brakes. Very easy shifting. It was brought to Uruguay as a CKD kit. Front fenders, hood and tailgate were made of glass reinforced plastic, I don’t know if that was just the Uruguayan version to add some local value or if it was per design. He was a carpenter, and the car would support whatever big piece of furniture you threw at it, inside and over the top. Once a worker dropped some very heavy sofa on it and the car chugged on with that huge dent in the roof. Off white with a tan interior and all white dashboard and steering column and wheel. While owning it he got a brand new Ford Corcel wagon as a substitute, but never did manage to put as much weight on it and it was a two door, so he left it for Sundays. The 404 met its end due to tin worm, which began in the interior of the roof and the A pillars and by the time it was evident the car was in shambles. He traded it for a 6 year old 504. Another story, and that 504 was a great car. Ride, as it was side here, was amazing for a wagon.
Those fiberglass body parts were of local origin. They were steel otherwise.
Here is the interior shot. I assume it’s a 4 on the tree, but you all would know better than I.
Never driven or even ridden in a Peugeot, but I’m enjoying everyone’s stories, especially Dawid Botha’s adventure.
Yes it is, as the automatic was only available starting in 1967.
This one has had a bit of updating. The steering wheel is from a ’68 or later, and the seats are also from a later one. That’s not uncommon, although I prefer the older steering wheel design.
I wonder if the column and shifter rods have been changed too, perhaps because a 1967 or later engine and transmission were swapped in.
I always enjoy reading about these wonderful cars, and while I haven’t seen one since I was a kid, it just makes me more curious about them. I’d really like to take a 404 (especially a wagon) for a nice long trip to find out first hand what they’re all about. A Peugeot of any year is a rare sight in Canada, but a 404 would make for a great drive across our huge country.
404s are getting thin on the ground here though I did see a heavily loaded pickup version a while back and it was towing a trailer,
Ride comfort from Peugeots and Citroens is simply the best nothing else comes even close
I had a later wagon than Pauls, a 406 7 seat TDI great car and the last of the big Peugeot wagons my current car uses the 406 platform but with hydractive suspension not steel springs, it is remarkably competent on gravel roads and for a heavy car very tossable and easily caught when it goes sideways.
Oddly enough, I’ve only seen one 404 Break in my life. One cabriolet and no coupes. The rest have been sedans, and I had a black 1963 with a white dash and burgundy seats in velour and quality vinyl (Pug-Tex?). It didn’t have a ton of miles, looked to have been well maintained, but had a penchant for busting itself in spectacular fashion.
Engine consumed a fair amount of oil at 50k miles, and I found that the oil pressure light wasn’t working. Oil pressure was the only major function that didn’t have its own gauge, and it was a tiny light in the middle of the water temp gauge, which I fixed. It shone brightly, at your chest, but almost invisible at eye level. Mom (it started off as her car, but I got it when I started high school) missed it one day, and almost ran the engine out of oil. It kept on going, but was pretty ill after that point. That stout worm gear rear end? Ka-bang! Clutch pedal broke at the bracket on a subzero morning. Starter solenoid welded itself, but I got the battery disconnected before starter burned up. Wiper switch developed a dead short to ground in mid-travel, but you could get past it if you flicked the switch quickly enough. Door latches were flaky and doors flew open sometimes (it had some rust, but nowhere near terminal). The nifty thermostatically controlled fan worked great, but one day, the hand crank (yep, it had one underhood) came unclipped and fell into the fan, which bent and chopped a hole in the radiator. Brakes on one wheel started locking up any time I moved forward, so I had to drive home for about four miles in reverse. Lost brakes completely another time, but made stop by downshifting and using parking brake. One day, there was a huge BANG, and it lost compression on one cylinder. It was running on three and billowing vaporized oil out the road draft tube, which was awesome to make tailgaters back off, but I needed to park the car soon. Plans were made, but new pistons, wet liners, as well as the rest of a rebuild kit weren’t in my high school budget. The car sat and sat.
One thing that did really hook me was that amazing ride, with the ability to glue itself to corners on those skinny Michelin X radials, with TONS of body roll. It was hilarious! Bolted on wheelcovers on three lug 15 inch Michelin wheels completed the package. Also had a dual note horn: a “honnnnk” to be used in the city, and a “BLARRRRRRRRRRK” for the country. Very cool. Unfortunately, a prior owner seemed to have busted most of the seat springs on driver’s seat, so I didn’t get full French car comfort until the Renault came along. Still, through all of this, I would like to try out another 404… perhaps one that actually runs like they do for so many others.
Coupé Injection in Canada (in my garage) just for you. Very shortly to be on the road again…..
Interesting read. I’m surprised learn that the US had automatic wagons? Probably the only country that did, the 1.8 L engine is also unique to the US and South Africa.