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The one that got away - not really a "build" but more like an intended one


Mike T

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In 1985 I sold my first very rusty Peugeot 404 Coupé Injection and bought this car.  It was carbureted but that was fixed in 1987 when it got KF2 power.  The car was imported to BC from California by the original owners in the 1970s and was showing the first significant signs of rust when I bought it at 273,000 miles.

It was a daily driver for a poor graduate student so spending much on it was not on and I didn't have a winter beater.  This car saw salt and lots of it.  Some attempts I made to attenuate the rust were partially successful - at least delaying the inevitable.

We had some good times with that car.  Drove as far east as Ontario and well into Oregon, plus all over BC and Alberta.  In 1988 I yumped it over a huge dike that crosses a road in the Fraser River valley once at 80 MPH, and it flew through the air like a champ and even landed well.  Our first born daughter came home in that car in 1989.

I even bought new floors for it from Reiner in Germany in 1988.

But then in 1989 I found another Canadian 404 Coupé - the one I eventually restored - and it quickly became evident the last 6 months of the 404 sedan's life that it was running out of time.  Changing a flat tire one day, the corner jacked up, the doors would not open.  So it ended up in a scrapyard in Waneta BC near Trail.  The floors were used in the 404C.

The sedan had over 400,000 miles when scrapped.4326224-01.thumb.jpg.ec41310916dfe8dca11016b1e4fe311b.jpg

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That’s awesome Mike - In 89’ I was 17 with a v6 swapped 504 in North Battleford Saskatchewan...  

I’ve only ever been in one 404, but it was a short ride so was never able to build any impressions of it.  
 

That 504 though is a part of me - Even had it when I met my now wife.  :)

 

Rabin

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Wow that’s awesome Mike, i'm much younger and i'm still making memories with cars, 1989 is the year that i was born. 400 000 miles= 648 000 km that is no joke especially for a petrol engine, i'm sure new cars won't reach noway near that and the roads today are much better then back then. I love hearing stories like this.

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  • 9 months later...

Taking a look at your pictures, Mike, it strikes me that the 404 sedan has really good proportions.  Everything seems right, in relation to the rest of the car.  I'll admit that at one time I thought they looked dated, but my tastes have changed over time.  I do prefer the lines of the 404C, but I would never say no to a sedan either.  One of each would sure look nice in any garage.

Although I've never owned a 404, and my only experience with them was when Jamie Kitman's 404 Familiale was in my care for a few months on its way to him, the 404 is largely responsible for me getting into Peugeots in the first place.

When my dad was overseas in Nigeria during the civil war in the late 1960s, one of the jobs he did was operating a motor pool of heavy trucks as part of the relief efforts for all the displaced people.  His shop also maintained a few other vehicles that were not part of that fleet, and one of these was the 404 sedan of a doctor whom my father called a friend.  This doctor would drive the 404 at high speeds over the appalling roads in that country, and the only things my dad ever had to do to that car were to change the oil and hammer the tie rods straight because they'd become bent as a result of this treatment.  He was so impressed with the durability of the Peugeot that he bought one when he returned to Canada.  He owned two 304s in succession, followed by a 604 that became my first car and my introduction to the marque.  In a sense, I owe my involvement with Peugeot to some doctor in Nigeria who I never met and whose name I don't know.

By the way, that same doctor was very nearly killed for his car by two deserters from the Nigerian army who stopped him one day.  He knocked one of them over with the door when that man came alongside, and struck and killed the second one, who was standing in the middle of the road firing at him.  The car survived with some bullet holes.  This was a common thing in those days, and very nearly happened to my dad as well.  He has some interesting stories from that time.

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