Old French Peugeot 404 Refuses To Retire In Africa
The Peugeot 404 is among the oldest vehicles still rushing around the streets of Africa. Visit virtually any African country and you are bound to see them in many remote parts and even cities and in spite of the manufacturers having stopped production decades ago, the humble jalopy has just refused to go away.
It was the darling of taxi drivers in the 1970's and the proud owners boasted about its comfort and durability not to mention its modest consumption of fuel and it's stability.
That was then but even today, the cars are still seen gracing the streets of Nairobi and other major towns in the country with ease and moderate speed as they trudge on in a world that has seen great strides made in automotive engineering.
Leading vehicle manufacturers have revolutionized the way we drive cars today bringing in stuff like anti-lock braking systems and power steering but this does not seem to have cowed the 404 which can be seen struggling with the modern models but is not showing any signs of leaving the city streets and rural roads any time soon. In fact it is clearly still holding its' own against modern automobiles mostly from Japan that rule the roads these days.
Apparently most of them are white and light blue in color though on rear occasions you could see a maroon or red one but they all have one thing in common – they are very well maintained and hardly break down. It is amazing how these workhorses were built, and their durability and reliability is one of the reasons why many owners of these ancient Peugeot 404 autos will just not let go.
The big question many other motorists ask themselves is where on earth do the owners of these vehicles get the spare parts yet they have not been in production for more than three decades? One thing is for sure, Peugeot stopped selling the parts for this vehicle, years ago.
Surprisingly, the owners seem to have improvised a lot and usually replace faulty parts with those of the newer 504 model and though all parts don’t always fit, the owners are forced to replace some entire units of the vehicles and install them with those of other Peugeot models. They are just determined to do whatever it takes to keep their cars running and on the road and it seems that they have largely succeeded against the odds.
For instance, the gear lever of the 404 could be irreplaceable and those of new models are not compatible so it could require that the entire transmission be replaced with a complete gear box unit of the newer 504 model.
But there are also alert entrepreneurs who specialize in manufacturing parts that are no longer in production, although the problem is that they usually charge dearly for them. Sadly in most cases these fake parts will hardly be as durable as the real thing, but at least they keep the beloved 404 running without causing too much trouble. There is no doubt that had car manufacturers continued building cars the way the 404 was built, many parts dealers and businesses would have closed shop by now. Sadly the modern car manufacturing company makes a sizeable amount of its' revenues from parts that are forever being replaced. This is the view of car owners based in the harsh African environment where roads hardly exist and even city roads are in bad repair and are bound to have plenty of potholes and ruts.
Interestingly, the main problem with the old Peugeot 404 seems to be with its' doors. Most of them that are still operational do not have all the four doors working with one or two of them having jammed the locks over the years and replacing the entire door locks seems not to be a priority of the owners.
Those that are in very good condition are still being used as taxis in many African cities and towns and a quick visit to the outskirts will amaze the keen observer because of the number of old vehicles that are still in use.
It is obvious that these vehicles are more expensive to maintain than new ones and other second hand cars that are still in production, but it seems the 404 owners have simply fallen in love with them and do not wish to discard the "ancient" cars, which could easily get a well-deserved place in the museums of automobiles.
