Rusty But Trusty

Update: This car ended at $1675 with 17 bids on May 15, 2009, although the winner is pretty new to eBay with only 2 feedbacks.

Original Post: These cars have always been fascinating to me, both because of their style (design by Pininfarina) and because they have such a reputation for durability, to the extent they’re still in use in many African countries. Even at the time this car was built, they were advertised as “The World’s Toughest Car”. Peugeot 404s were built through the late 1980s, so parts should not be so hard to get.



Painted in French-government-issue blue (bleu fonctionnaire if I recall correctly), this 404 is one of those cars in which you’d have to have the stereotypical pack of Gitanes on the dash, even if you don’t smoke. At 114,000 miles it’s showing a bit of wear here and there, but the overall presentation is still good for an affordable classic. The driver’s floor pan has been replaced, and the passenger side looks like it may need a bit of patching in the future.




The 1.6 liter, 5-main-bearing engine puts out 80hp, which is respectable for a European family car of its time. You won’t be blowing anyone off the road, but you can probably cruise fairly comfortably at 70-80 mph. According to the seller, it runs well.



The interior looks reasonably clean, with good gauges, decent upholstery in the back, and safety belts all around. However, the front seats are covered with budget seat covers, and the driver’s seat looks as if it might need some repairs. The driver’s door panel is also worn, and there appears to be an old sock where the shift knob used to be. I’d replace that first to make learning to drive with a column shifter as easy as possible! There’s no way to see if this is one of the cars with the 3rd-row seat, which would be a cool extra.



Lastly, the rear design is actually pretty clean – a small, low chrome bumper and license plate frame both leave space for a really low lift-over.

Tags: 404, break, familiale, peugeot, under $2000

This entry was posted on May 13, 2009 at 10:00 am and is filed under Feature. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.