Many years ago, Peugeot had a well-earned reputation for building strong, durable, reliable cars. They were – with some exceptions, such as the 304, 404 and 504 coupés and cabriolets – fairly staid, middle-market cars that appealed to the family motorist. The saloon versions of the 304, 404 and 504 were built and bought in their hundreds and thousands, used as family transport, taxis, and rally-winning contenders. And let’s not forget the 205, especially the pocket-rocket GTi, which had, and still has, a cult following among fans of hot hatches.
Since then, Peugeot, along with its fellow Gallic manufacturers Citroën and Renault, has unfortunately been a byword for poorly built, unreliable, dull cars – see Dave Leadbetter’s piece a couple of years ago – with no apparent sign of improvement. However, for this week’s Prime Find, we shall go back to better times for Peugeot, and to the 404 saloon.
The 404 was a variation on a design that Pininfarina came up with that started in 1958 with the BMC Farina range including the Morris Oxford and Austin A55 Cambridge, Wolseley 16/60, MG Magnette, Riley 4/68 and their immediate successors, and found its way across the Channel in the remarkably similar shape of the Peugeot 404 as well as the FIAT 1800. In profile you’d be hard put to spot the differences between any of the aforementioned. Grilles, details and interiors were obviously different, but the basic body shape is pretty much the same – conventional upright three-box, modest fins at the back, high roof line with big glasshouse. I’m not sure whether this was laziness on the part of Pininfarina or whether the design house was cleverly extracting maximum revenue from one standard design.
Some of the Farina variations
On the face of it, then, the 404 was and is a fairly ordinary car, albeit one with an outstanding rallying history, having won the tough East African Safari Rally no fewer than four times, in 1963, ‘66’, ’67 and ’68. That last victory was particularly notable as only 6 of the 91 cars that started the rally made it to the end. 404’s were also popular as taxi-cabs, racking up many thousands of miles, adding to the model’s reputation for ruggedness and longevity.
It sold in considerable numbers – Peugeot built 1,847,568 examples in France between 1960 and 1975, and the car was also manufactured in various African countries until 1991 as well as Argentina, Canada and Chile. Altogether, 2,885,374 units were built worldwide, making the 404 a substantial success.
The 404 was initially made available as a saloon and estate, with the very desirable coupé and cabriolet – also by Pininfarina – following in 1963. Power came from a 1618cc, four-cylinder producing 72bhp, which was enough to propel the car to a maximum speed of 89mph,
Over the next fifteen years (21 if you include overseas production, but by this time investment was being made in such an ageing model) the 404 was subject to numerous upgrades; for example, the fuel injected 404 Super Luxe introduced in 1963 added another 12bhp and 6mph to the top speed, and the same year saw the launch of the very elegant coupé.
The injected 404 was given still more power in 1965, with output now up to 95bhp, enough to take the Peugeot past the 100mph mark. 1967 saw the final body type launched, a pick–up, which proved to be very popular in North and West Africa. Coupé and cabriolet production ended in 1969, with only 17,223 examples built, so it’s no surprise that these are the rarest as well as most expensive 404’s today.
Even though Peugeot launched the 504 in 1969, they continued building the older model for several years, even in France, with home market production eventually petering out in 1975, but it continued for several years in several overseas markets until the late ‘70’s.
In road tests at the time, Motor Sport’s Bill Boddy, writing in September 1961, thought the 404 “outstandingly quiet” and deemed it a “smart but unobtrusive family saloon” but – despite its conservative styling, one of “great individuality”, and he liked the fuel-injected version he tested four years later even more, calling it “A family car for enthusiasts”.
In the USA, Car and Driver tested an automatic version of the 404 in March 1967 and concluded that this made “a nice car even nicer”, heaping high praise on the ZF auto box, the 404’s performance and wishing only that it had more power and considered it “a car more Americans should try”. Road & Track added to the press’s enthusiasm for the car by proclaiming the 404 to be the “quietest car in the world in terms of wind and road noise.
Motor magazine sounded a contrary note, saying of the 404 Familale in 1965 and again in 1970 that it was of limited appeal and criticised the styling as “square-cut”, a comment they applied to the saloon in 1968 as well, adding that the design was “dated”, but they did praise the build quality.
So we have a car that back in the day drew praise from the motoring press (Motor magazine excepted!),and was a major success in world rallying and in terms of sales, so it’s not hard to see why it’s considered a genuine classic today, and our Prime Find this week looks like a fine example of this Gallic family saloon.
It’s for sale through a dealer in The Netherlands, with an asking price of €16,950, so not cheap – one of two at that price with the same dealer. It’s a standard early car, built in 1963 so comes with the 72bhp engine which is enough to push this French saloon to a top speed of 89mph.
It’s finished in a delicate pale blue, with contrasting hues of blue and grey in the interior. The dash has a simple single binnacle, and everything looks to be in very good order – the car has been restored, although the advert does not state when this was done.
According to the dealer, the car has always been “lovingly maintained” by a “true enthusiast” and is said to be in “very good optical and technical condition”, something the plentiful photographs – we’ve borrowed a few -would seem to back up, although of course as usual, we recommend arranging an inspection if this 404 is of interest – you can see the full advert here.
I have to say, I like it, and with fewer than 50 404’s of all types on the road in the UK, it’s not a car you’ll come across often here, though I’m sure they’re a more common sight on French and indeed African roads, so if this Gallic classic tickles your fancy, check it out.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same. Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk