Growing up behind a Peugeot garage and on holiday to France, it’s easy to understand where Sander May’s love for Peugeot comes from.
“The first six years of my life I lived behind the Peugeot garage in Breezand where my father worked. The love for the brand was early and when I was eighteen I got my first car from France. Friends bought a Honda or a Golf, I a Peugeot 203 pick-up. Rotten from front to back with a crack in the block … I put another engine in it and still drove quite a bit. That is how I gained a lot of experience.
I like to copy parts in small series. The 203 has an iron under the side windows that often decays after 50 years. At the request of a French merchant I made a series, but he could not afford it. Maybe we could trade? In his yard I found this 404 Coupé. He had been outside for years and there were no papers. I have known the car for a long time, as a boy I made a photo series on vacation of a copy that was parked at a French lake. Brilliant and elegant.
A lot had to be done about the Coupé, but it was certainly not a hopeless project. The engine could not be saved anymore, but the carriage was not too bad. I really enjoy repairing and restoring, so I decided to restore the Coupé with my father.
Everything is scarce and expensive compared to a normal 404. Screens are no longer available. Much sheet metal has been repaired instead of replaced. A nice grille costs 1100 euros, so I made on of two bad ones. The paint job was done by the professional. Nine years after the exchange, I had a beautiful, well-driving Coupé!
On the road you notice that it is all a bit older. You have wind noise at speed and the wipers have a lot of rain. But such an engine with injection runs very nicely, you can keep up well and just drive 130 with it. A nice driving car packed in those Coupé lines, fantastic right?
