A Triumph of French Genius Over French Engineering
by Doc Searls Wednesday, October 25, 2017

On a Facebook thread I was reminded that I drove a '66 Peugeot 404 wagon from '69 to '74.  So I thought I'd share a very late review of the thing.

Positives: enormous room in back, comfortable seats, great ground clearance and the ability to go pretty much anywhere, when it ran.

Negatives: screw-on hubcaps, ease-of-rust, dashboard vents that collected water from outside and dumped it on your feet soon as the car started to move, a distributor cap that kept cracking, failing window cranks, spark plugs hidden inside the valve cover at the base end of easily cracked bakelite sleeves, a pointless resonator tank thing above the exhaust manifold that fell apart easily, impossible to start on cold winter days unless one (no kidding) heated the engine compartment for a few minutes with a blowtorch.

I sold it for almost nothing after driving it from New Jersey to North Carolina. During that trip the resonator on the exhaust manifold fell apart, meaning actual explosions in the engine blasted unmuffled into the car, along with exhaust as well. The noise also echoed off the pavement and up through holes in the floor that got larger through the trip as rusty pieces seemed to fall off on every bump.

I would be amazed if any of these cars are still on the road anywhere.