Peugeot 403 public domain image by French Wikipedia user Jean-Paul.
Last updated: August 16, 2009
Notice I don't say known and loved. As a teen and young adult I enjoyed tinkering with my transportation and really didn't care what other people though about vehicles. Now I just don't have the time to play with them.... well, except for the motorcycle.
I don't know why my father liked French automobiles. It might have had something to do with dropping bombs all over German-occupied France during WWII. At any rate, when I came of driving age, our family had a couple of French cars in addition to the obligatory American big-iron station wagon. We did have a combined Peugeot/Renault dealer in town until the late 1970's. The French cars sure were different. As Car Talk's Tom and Ray say, when it comes to engineering "The French follow no one, and no one follows the French!".
Peugeot stopped making cars for the U.S. market in 1991. There was a rumor in 2007 that they were considering reentering the U.S. market. Renault stopped selling cars in the U.S. in the late 1980's.
This is the car on which I learned to drive. Mildly tuned 1600cc 4 cylinder engine, 4-speed manual on the column, start button separate from the ignition switch, worm gear differential, rear wheel drive. The seats folded down to make beds, and it had a sunroof. The 403 was quiet. Very quiet. So quiet and vibration-free that at idle you could barely tell that the engine was running. Of course, we may have just been deafened and shaken too much by the previous Plymouth station wagon......
Peugeot 403 public domain image by French Wikipedia user Jean-Paul.
The R8's rear-mounted engine was only 956cc, much smaller than the Peugot 403's engine, but the car was so much lighter that it accelerated faster. On road trips, the R8 exceeded 45 miles per gallon. The combination of rear engine and rear wheel drive did contribute to a bit of oversteer......
Renault R8. Public domain image by Wikipedia author Welkinridge.
The R8 became my daily drive for high school, a two week no-parents "college hunting" trip, and all kinds of adventures. Like climbing Mount Washington, and trips to the sports car races out at Lime Rock. As a certified teenage gearhead, I dreamed of getting the Gordini version of the R8.
Gordini R8 in traditional blue and white livery. GNU Free Documentation License photo by Wikipedia user Ericd.
One one occaision, the bolt holding the air cleaner broke off where it screwed into the carb. The threaded portion worked its way out, fell into the carb throat, and jammed the plate open. Wide open. (At the time I didn't know that was the reason.....) The R8 took off like a rocket. Hitting the gas pedal did nothing. Luckily, this was on a highway with little traffic.
Eventually, I regained throttle control, and continued to a restaurant. After the meal, I started the car and "BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!". Something was definitely wrong, like a dropped valve, or thrown rod. Towed the car home. Took the cylinder head off. Valves were all there, but one of the combustion chambers had partial screw threads embedded in it. And sure enough, the corresponding piston had the little piece of the bolt "welded" onto it. Chiseled it off, smoothed the thread peaks off the piston and head, and put it back together. Ran like a top afterward.
Like the R8, but the R10 had a mighty 10% larger 1108cc engine, and longer nose.
The first car I bought as a poor sailor.... complete with two engines, a 36HP and 40HP, with the "spare" engine on the floor between the front and rear seats, and the middle seats taken out. That should have been a warning. Eventually, I learned to rebuild the engines, swap them out by myself, and generally appreciate the flexibility that having a spare engine aboard at all times brought.
One thing these didn't have was good engine heat. It's a long way from the rear-mounted engine up to the windshield and driver's toes. The car was philosophically in tune with the early 70's gas crisis and 55 MPH speed limit. It got very good gas mileage and would only wind up to 55 mph free air, though one could (at the risk of a subsequent valve job) go as fast as 65 MPH by drafting semis. Don't ask how I know...
1966 VW Type 2. GNU Free Documentation image by Wikipedia author Eric Meltzer.
I dumped the '65 van after going back to college, but relapsed in the early 80's, and bought a '68 van when I was stationed on the island of Guam. It made a great snorkeling and scuba wagon. At least we didn't need heat there......
It had a Ford straight 6 engine, automatic transmission, and cockpit instruments but the body was made by somebody else. Right hand steering wheel, with a big mail tray on the left side. A tray where Chester the wonder dog (pictured alongside) would sit and freak out other drivers who thought that he was driving. Like most USPS surplus vehicles, it was well worn.
1970 Ford-based USPS truck, with Chester the wonder dog. Public domain photo by me.
It wasn't aerodynamic, and got 12 mpg in town or on the highway. It was handy for hauling the dog and stuff around.....
While all the cars on my list may have been less popular than "normal" cars, I in no way consider them candiates for the list of 50 worst cars