Top 10: Cars from the Peugeot museum
More than 200 years of Peugeot heritage is preserved in the Aventure Peugeot Museum in Sochaux, France. The reason the company’s heritage predates the introduction of the car as we know it by around three quarters of a century is because Peugeot has been one of the big industrial powerhouses of France. Kitchen utensils, salt and pepper grinders, sewing machines, dishwashers and bicycles share floor space with motorised transport, and is well worth a visit. Here are some of the vehicle highlights.
Mon, 22 Feb 2016
Peugeot 404
If the 404 has a familiar appearance – perhaps bringing to mind the Austin Cambridge and Morris Oxford of the 1950s – it could be because they were penned by the same styling house, Pininfarina. Built in Sochaux, as well as plants in Africa and South America. Almost 3 million were built between 1960 and 1988.
JimC-SA on 29 February 2016
I am ex UK, leaving in 1970, and now resident in South Africa.
In the 1970s I drove both a 404 sedan and a 508 estate car for business reasons, in the service and support of heavy vehicles and heavy trailers. Both vehicles were rugged and comfortable, and the 504 especially got a hammering in carrying heavy loads in connection with my job.
I now have a 2006, 407 hdi automatic, 2 litre diesel, which I bought as a retirement car.
It is a nice car to drive but has been a total disappointment from the point of reliability, and with only 108 000 kms on the clock, has cost me two EGR valves, broken aircon feed pipes, and recently replacement of the ECU, air mass flow valve, and a few sensors, to fix a non-starting problem, and of course replacement of the cambelt.
The car was at the franchised dealer for three months before they were able to finally fix the starting problem in January of this year.
In addition to the apparent poor quality of the current Peugeot range, the lack of skills and support from the dealer network and Peugeot SA, does not give confidence to owning a Peugeot in this day and age, especially so in South Africa.
Lord Brasic on 29 February 2016
The 404 405 406 and the 504 505 and 205 305, after that forget owning a Peugeot, I have has all of the one I have listed and they were grest cars, I have tried a couple of newer ones and they just don't have the bulid quality of the older ones. I have fond memories of a 404 pick I used to sell peat from the back of. It was slow and noisey but never broke down. I used a 7 seater 505 petrol estate as a taxi and again it never broke even after 435000 miles of hard use.
Its just a shame that the powers that be and the public don't realise that these older cars are kinder to the enviroment becasue they just last alot longer and use fewer replacement parts.
If Peugeot bought out a brand new 504 or 505 as it used to be, tough and reliable, I will buy one, being in my early 50's I know it would be a car that would see me out.
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