----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Addison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Now you have done it Keith, start a Peugeot-phile raving and its hard to stop them, so here goes. > They were GREAT, those cars! They won all the front places in all the > tough African rallies every year - what were they, Paris-Dakar, East > African Safari (is that right?). Yes > Then they stopped making them, and the Toyotas took over. Not quite, the 504 picked up where the 404 left off, it too was a great rally car. In latter times the turbo 205s were a force to be recond with on the rally scene up to the advent of four wheel drive. More recently the 304 rally cars have been dominant in their class. All this to be expected from a manufacturer who has been in existance since 1810 and making cars, motorbikes,bicycles and motorboats since 1890. For a vehicle manufacturer that places its priorities on comfort, durability, dynamic safety and economy instead of power and straightline performance, Peugeot has had a pretty good record in rallys and races. Wins at Indianapolis in the first races held, Pikes Peak Hill Climb,Le Mans, and of course the East African Safaris. A Peugeot motorbike won the first motorcycle race held. The Offenhauser engine was based on the Peugeot Henry design from the Indianapolis winning car which had double overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, all this in the early 1900s. >The 404 was the best car I've ever had. A copy of "Which Car" 1996 (Australia) carried a photo of a Pug 404 with the following caption. "The best all-round four cylinder car seen in Australia and repeatedly named as the best car in the world by US experts. And they were right. Unbeleivable suspension, amazing strength, unburstable 1.6 engine, the most sublime four-speed column shift, stainless steel trim, standard heater, enormous brakes and the best seats in the business. All for the price of a Holden poverty pack". They probably missed a few things for the sake of brevity but one gets the general impression. Australians are a stubborn breed when it comes to cars. In the early days British and American cars dominated the market. Because of the poor condition of the roads and the long distances needed to be covered, it was thought that these heavier cars were up to the task. Australia's own, the Holden was basically built along the lines of American cars. About 20 or so years ago they began to be modeled after the German Opels. This change in philosophy produced a much better breed of car. In the 1950's Redex a marketer of upper cylinder lubricant additives, sponsored the first Redex Around Australia Trial. Interest was keen and there were plenty of enteries. Favorites were the local Holdens and American cars, in particular a Ford known as the grey ghost driven by local rally ace Gelignite Jack Murry. Jack was so named for his endearing habit of blowing up outback outhouses and for lobing a few sticks of gelignite around when things got a bit quiet. Also entered were a couple of light European cars, Peugeot 203's, their 1200cc four cylinder engines less than half the capacity of their competitors. Nobody gave them much of a chance. Imagine their surprise when the trial was won by a 203 with a couple more in the top ten. Power and bulk was no match for strength and endurance. My first car was of all things a Goliath 1100 deluxavagen. Well made little car but not suited to the Australian climate. Driving around in summer with the heater on full to keep the engine from boiling was not my idea of fun. This was replaced by a brand new Isuzu Bellett. A solid car but with abysmal brakes and handling (swing axles at the rear). Even when highly modified it still did not have much potential. Wiped it out in a rally and spent the next six months in a decidedly second hand Austin A30. Moved on to a Pug 203 with a heap of spare parts, had a lot of fun in that car and it too was substantially modified. Bought a few 403s mainly for spares, wasn't all that keen on them, seemed to be overweight 203s. Next came the 404. At last here was a car that did everything I asked of it, forgave all my mistakes and just kept going. This car I felt no need to modify. With its smallish engine and skinny wheels it could still run rings around the domestic product. Driven smoothly it was capable of incredibly quick journeys. Heading for Albury from Sydney via the Hume Highway late one night I tucked in behind a Holden V8. The owner had it geared for towing so max speed was only 130k ( what he intended to tow was a mystery, surely a V8 would have towed most things with a normal diff ratio). On the upside of hills he would dissapear in front of me. Down hill or where there were a few open corners I would pass him only to be caught up again on the next hill. This went on for about 50 miles until I stopped for fuel. The Holden followed me in with the driver wanting to look under the bonnet. He could not beleive what he saw especially when I told him the capacity. Moral of the story power might get someting moving but to keep it moving nothing beats good suspension and brakes. Peugeot had some strange ideas about inlet porting, camshaft profiles, cylinder pairing in exhaust manifolds etc but it all seemed to come together. Cruising along at 85 to 90k there was still more than half the throttle pedal travel left. At that speed there was plenty of power left for overtaking in top gear. Towed a small caravan across the Nullabor Plain. Half way across engine started blowing smoke out of dipstick hole. Arrived in Perth, headed for Pug dealership and purchased kit of cylinder liners, pistons, rings and gaskets, found a do-it-yourself workshop and had car back on the road in same day. Those wet liners make jobs like this a breeze. In the process managed to get the main bearings out of order but no worries the engine saw another 100,000 miles before I traded the car in (weep). >Do you know of anything made today that could compare, Paul? Keith I'm sure that there are some good cars made today but the design philosophy has shifted away from what I would consider desirable. In a word front-wheel drive. Even though the Goliath was fwd as was the Subaroo 4WD station wagon that replaced the Pug (bad move), I have never been able to come to grips with the technique required to drive these vehicles any where near their limit or with the satisfaction that I got from driving the 404. Mind you I'm not the only one. Peter Brock the "King" of the Mt Panorama Road Racing Circuit at Bathurst was unbeatable in his modified Holden Comodores but had a few embarassing crashes when trying to do the same in Super Tourer races driving a fwd Vectra. Likewise ex world champ Allan Jones demolished a Renault Lagoona trying to keep up with the pack. With Peugeot going fwd since the 405 I guess I would have to look elseware. In all fairness modern pugs handle well but they are not for me. Australian are able to choose from the greatest diversity of cars any where in the world. I'm sure that there are some good ones amongst them. Rear wheel drive and European certainly limits the choice. I'm afraid Mercedes and BMW are a bit outside my price range. No I'll stick with Peugeot and continue rebuilding my 1975 504. Regards Paul. Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Please do NOT send "unsubscribe" messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
