I don’t know exactly what it is about simple, austere vehicles, but they always manage to get my attention. Luxury is nice and all, but when it comes to what actually appeals to me, give me some bare, painted metal and a bit of pressboard covered in stapled-on vinyl. I’m not sure if it’s some inherent deficit of self-worth or what, but it’s definitely A Thing in my psyche. That’s why this little Peugeot 104 caught my attention, I think – it’s a really basic, austere machine, but I think it pulls off its determined minimalism with some genuine charm. Let’s look at this thing.
The 104 was introduced in 1972 as Peugeot’s entry-level supermini. The same body, with a Citroën air-cooled flat-twin, became the LN/LNA and then the Visa, too. In Peugeot form, it had a 954cc inline-four that made a decent-enough 44 horsepower. Weirdly, even though the car looks like a hatchback, it’s actually a four-door sedan with a trunk, which makes effectively no sense at all.
The 104 was designed by Paolo Martin, of Pininfarina, and that same dude also designed the Rolls-Royce Camargue, which, along with the 104, gives a really nice, wide breadth of car designs, pretty much about as close to opposite extremes as you can get.
Okay, let’s look at some 104 details; first, yank that spare tire out of the way and let’s look at this little sub-1-liter engine:
You know what I like about this engine? Look how accessible that oil filter is! See it there, lower leftish corner, just Northeast of the air cleaner? Damn, that’s easy to get to! Love it. This engine also had its transmission in its sump, like the engine in a classic Mini.
Here’s proof that it’s not actually a hatchback, even though it should be. Just a funny little trunk back there, capable of holding four of those butterscotch-colored suitcases, or at least so the picture implies. Not all four are in, so it’s possible it’ll hold three and then has a special feature where it can just drive away from some of your luggage, if needed, leaving it abandoned in that green void.
It’s not a good feature, of course. I actually think you can cram all four in there, so I wouldn’t worry about leaving one behind.
Wow, this dash is aggressively basic! Look at that: it’s mostly shelf and black vinyl and plastic. Peugeot at least gives you a little golden lion head to contemplate there in the center of the wheel. And, even better, look at what I think are the climate controls:
What’s going on here? Two thumb roller knob things, labeled as being able to go up and down, and then there’s indicators on the knobs themselves re-iterating the up-and-down verticality of it all. There’s also a switch that can select red or blue? Maybe green? Probably blue. And then there’s another switch that can go from plus to minus, positive to negative.
I’m guessing red/blue is for fresh air/heat? And plus/minus? Uh, I’m really not sure? It’s just one or the other so it hardly seems like a temperature control? This has to be the most cryptic HVAC control setup I’ve ever seen!
Also, it really looks like a toy in this overhead shot, doesn’t it? Why do I like this thing so much? Also, wanna bet there’s only three lugs under those hubcaps?
The non-hatchback verisons are actually quite rare ! I grew up in France in the 90’s when these were still around and the first generation with small headlights like the one pictured were already quite rare let alone the “sedan” versions. They got a hatchback in 77.
My cousin had one of the later ones with the hatchback. I liked it a lot, it felt much sportier than my father’s Citroen Visa which was very basic with its flat-twin and also more “classy” inside vs the weird festival that was the Visa’s interior which I was too young to appreciate the genius of.
“a bit of pressboard covered in stapled-on vinyl”? My Fiat 850 Sport Coupe was a super basic car, but being a Fiat, masqueraded as something much fancier. (If you squinted at it, it managed to appear a bit like an early Ferrari, which was why I made a sticker for the back window that read “when I grow up, I want to be a Ferrari”).
It had genuine wood veneer on the dashboard, not fake plastic woodgrain, but the dash itself was moulded from fibre then painted black, so it was literally paper-mache trimmed with real wood!
“And, even better, look at what I think are the climate controls”
Climate controls. Windows. A (presumably) non leaky roof. Rollover protection. Full doors. Interior door latch releases. Seat belts. Collapsible steering column.
This thing is positively DECADENT compared to my old TR3.
As a teen I stopped one of these rolling into traffic (owner had left handbrake off). It took almost no effort to hold it as it was so light. My kid sister was freaking out, I think she imagined it would crush me or something.
This is French, right? So the red-blue switch is for choosing red wine or blue cheese. And the +/- switch is for whether you want to add or subtract that fourth suitcase.
That’s a clever idea, but unfortunately incorrect. It implies that you have to have either blue cheese or red wine, which the French would never allow, as you must have both.
And a white baugette too.
In the UK we’re quite well practised at preparing vehicle’s to drive in France. You need your GB sticker (since brexit it’s UK), the little stickers for your headlights to block the beams from shining left into the eyes of oncoming LHD traffic, an emergency triangle, blue cheese and wine, and a hi-vis vest. There’s debate of whether you actually need to also bring a breathalyser, but the consensus is that the Gendarmes will probably let you off if you’re a tourist..
The breathalyzer isn’t mandatory anymore as that law was a shitshow
It’s cheaper and just as accurate to assume a French driver’s blood alcohol is over the limit after 1:30pm.
Well, it’s a budget car, so compromises must be made. If you want wine AND cheese you need to move up the Peugeot line.
No need to worry about leaving something behind. Not in that particular case. But path from green void is blurry and require some time, while going to fulfilled with stars shiny space.
The 104 apparently represents the origin point to which modern sedan design has returned – no separate deck form, tiny weird little mostly-vertical truck opening. See e.g. Honda Accord, Hyundai Elantra, etc.
Climate controls are fresh air / hot air on the left, two-speed blower fan control on the left, and air output direction control (windshield-level or floor-level) thumbwheels for each side in the middle.
Cryptic controls like this were common on 60s and 70s European cars; the controls on my Fiat Spider baffled me for years and years. Then I got my 911, had them explained to me when I picked them up, and immediately realized it was functionally the same as my Fiat.
Something I’ve always been curious about is why French cars of that era often had yellow-hued headlights.
I’ve read that yellow light penetrates atmospheric water than other colors higher up in the spectrum, especially the nearly ultraviolet HIDs that came decades later.
France required headlamps to be “selective yellow” from 1937 until 1993. They are meant to reduce glare in fog, rain, and snow.
Thumbwheel up for defrost, down for toasty toes?
I’m guessing those thumb wheels open and close vents. Probably one for an upper vent and the other for a lower vent.
Thumbs up for this response.
The blue one in the lede pic has absolutely had enough of your nonsense. It is adorable.
It doesn’t look angry like modern cars do, but rather has a stern parental “OK, enough fighting with your sibling” look.
No sense, you say? Take a look at the market success of and fond enthusiast regard for the ’78 and ’79 Buick and Olds A-body fastbacks, or Britain’s acclaimed* Austin Allegro and various permutations of Princess. Just take a look and tell me that… well, okay, maybe you have a point.
*But not the Triumph Acclaim – that came later, around the time the Princess was granted a hatchback to make up for demotion to a mere Ambassador
Oh, yeah, minimalist cars indeed do have an appeal even greater than luxury cars; glad to learn about the Peugeot 104. If I ever win the lottery there’d be signs, such as a 104 in my garage, ha.
“The 104 was designed by Paolo Martin, of Pininfarina, and that same dude also designed the Rolls-Royce Camargue, which, along with the 104, gives a really nice, wide breadth of car designs, pretty much about as close to opposite extremes as you can get.”
And then there’s Gabriel Voisin, a French aviation pioneer, who didn’t relish the idea of his airplanes being used in military applications so he turned to creating utterly opulent luxury automobiles in the 1920s and 30s and then turning to creating minimalist economy cars in the 40s and 50s.
Here’s a 1935 Avions Voisin Type C25 Aérodyne:
https://hagerty.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-Amelia-BOS-SFD-2-scaled-1.jpg
With a pretty astonoshing interior:
https://hagerty.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-Amelia-BOS-SFD-50-scaled-1.jpg
And a decidedly not minimalist dashboard:
https://hagerty.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/2023-Amelia-BOS-SFD-32-scaled-1.jpg
And then here’s a circa 1956 Biscúter (Spanish) or Biscooter (French) where the inspiration for the nomenclature is fairly obvious, that is, how it’s almost analogous to two scooters:
https://www.lanemotormuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/auton-bisc100-1956-1web.jpg
Talk about minimalism:
https://www.lanemotormuseum.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/auton-bisc100-1956-3web.jpg
My mum had one of these, in pretty much the same blue color over beige velour, in late 70s/early 80s. She was a single mother raising 2 kids in London, so cheap was key, and we got it used. Her dad was a Francophile and owned a couple of Peugeots (including a cream-colored 304 that was so comfy) so that might have influenced her choice. I quite liked the shape of the 104 but otherwise have basically no memory of it. The headlights aren’t quite as squinty as some other Peugeots of the period, so it looks more generic at the front.
Our prior car had been an Austin 1300 (BMC ADO16), which had also been styled by Pininfarina, coincidentally (I’m sure that was not a purchase criteria in either case, but as a budding car designer I thought it was cool). Issignois (off of the Mini) did the engineering, and Alex Moulton did the hydrolastic suspension system in it.
PSA eventually came to its senses: I stumbled across a 104 while in Marseille a few months ago and it was a hatchback. That was the limit of its opulence, though.
And yes: three-lug wheels, confirmed.
Jeez, that thing makes a Mk1 Fiesta look luxurious. It’s only 5 years older… I hope that misery-box was at least ultra cheap?
I know we love our forbidden fruit around here, but it has become increasingly clear to me that the automotive landscape for the vast majority of Europeans in the 70’s was really, really grim. As much as we like to hate on the US malaise era cars, at least they were reasonably capable and comfortable things on the whole.
Nice and simple, cold/hot; less/more air; up/down for each side.
Missing my E30 a/c controls, only car I have ever seen where you can blast air at all 3 zones and regulate each individually (windshield/frontal/foot)
Early 70s? And French? I’m guessing that the number of ashtrays is far greater than the number of cupholders (which is probably almost zero or less). So long as that toy trunk can gobble up a fair number of baguettes and berets, I think we’re golden. C’est la vie!
The controls seem straightforward to me. Hot red, cold, blue, fan plus – higher, minus – lower. Nice clean simple and no giant tablet stuck to the dash.
The 104 refers to its maximum speed in kph, I’m guessing?
Those heater controls make about as much sense as the ones on my Vanagon. I have to keep a diagram/legend in the glove box. I see there are after-market decals now you can buy and stick on your dash to decipher it.
I do like the very simple dash on that 104!
Look at the copy next to that bottom image. It will fit four French, German or Dutch people, but five Italians! Maybe that’s in Sicily, where the fifth person is in the trunk, if you catch my drift…
Great catch!
My first thought was, that this might have to do with local differences in the seatbelt laws. But in the early 70s there often were no seatbelts for the rear seats at all. So I doubt that the 104 had four seatbelts, which would have limited the number of occupants to that number in Germany. Any ideas?
France was one of the first to make seatbelts in the back compulsory 1980.
The Netherlands only in 1990.
French cars sold in countries where they were not needed , most times didn’t have them
Is it a stereotype about Italians being smaller? Are Italians less territorial about personal space? I really want to know!
I remember these running around back home. Never really liked them. I had a Citroen Visa for a while, which was far more quirky. Come to think of it, I may be the only person in NC that once owned a Citroen Visa.
I don’t know…Torch also lives in NC.
A standard Visa might be a bit ordinary what with its left-hand drive and all, but Torch might deign to drive a Visa Décapotable, which I have to admit would be a tempting car for the school run if it’s surface streets all the way.