Peugeot 404 Africa's Workhorse


Peugeot 404 is a car introduced to the world in 1960 by the French car manufacturer Peugeot. The car was manufactured in France from 1960 to 1975 and under license in many African countries and Latin America until 1991. The Peugeot 404 is uniquely an African car not because it was manufactured in Africa but for its superior resilience under harsh African road conditions and lack of conventional roads. The 404 is not associated with only francophone' Africa, it was and is still used throughout the continent.
In Ethiopia, the 404 is still being used as taxis and intercity suttle mainly in the eastern part of the country. When the rest of the countries taxis gradually switched to Soviet Ladas in the 1980s and '90s, the Peugeot 404 remained as the choice of taxi owners in the east due to its reliability in the dry and arid conditions of the eastern region of the country.
Since winning its first 5000 Km Safari rally in 1963, the Peugeot 404 has proved itself as Africa's workhorse by transporting millions of people and tons of good in harsh conditions which the French manufacturer had never envisioned, making it a true African Car of the century rather than just another French car.


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