There’s a decades-old one-liner that goes “French engineering is as desirable as English cuisine.” The joke’s humor comes from the traditionally poor reputation of both. But while France’s manufacturing sector did suffer a few proverbial black eyes during the last half of the 20th century, few can argue the continued excellence of that nation’s aerospace industry and the quality and effectiveness of large-scale, high-tech products such as France’s high-speed TGV trains. France has also had its share of automotive geniuses, such as Panhard and de Dion.
The concept car shown above is one of my favorite French cars. I recall reading an article about the “Peugette,” as it was called, back when it was developed as a concept car for Peugeot by Pininfarina. It was designed to be a fun, inexpensive sports runabout version of Peugeot’s 104 economy hatchback. For a concept car, unusual attention was given to manufacturing costs, which were to be contained through the use of symmetrical body panels (both front-to-rear and right-to-left). The real efficiency of this strategy was never put to the test, but the concept lent the finished product a quirky, boxy look that many hated and some loved. (I was in the latter group.)
The car had only 66 horsepower on tap, so the driving experience was not spectacular, but reviewers reported that the handling of the light, toss-able car kept the car fun, as long as the meager motor was kept on the boil.
The first examples of the Peugette had a conventional cockpit with full windshield, but a year later, in 1977, the über-cool low windscreen and hard tonneau that make this car so eye-catching appeared.
The Peugette never did make it to production; but the racy, low-screen Peugette was a real, drivable car, and proof that Peugeot “got” exactly what I am looking for in vehicular fun. And, as a couple of future posts will demonstrate, they still “get it.” Stay tuned…
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