Peking to Paris

D

Dean Surfcoast

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Tadpole
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HI all, this is post number one, I'm planning to join the P2P endurance rally sometime in the next 8yrs.
Wanted to buy : pre 1976 build 504.
Also would love to speak with anyone with any experience in preparation for endurance rallying with a 504 in regard to worthwhile modifications.
Once the car is prepared, I will need to compete in some local era rallies to be able to register for Peking to Paris.
Thanks in advance
 
You need to contact ThanosK on this forum - he has exactly the knowledge and experience you are looking for - well worth reading his posts on here first.

Oh by the way, he lives in Greece :).

Cheers
Alec
 
There is, somewhere on this forum , a detailed outline of the factory preparations for a rally 504. Perhaps someone will recall where it is in the Peugeot forum.
 
I have been building and rallying 504s for 35 years , competing in two Round Australia Trials , Red Center and many Classic Outback Trials , etc .
Would be happy to talk 504 with you and pass on the aquired knowledge of many miles on dirt in 504s .
 
neil s said:
There is, somewhere on this forum , a detailed outline of the factory preparations for a rally 504. Perhaps someone will recall where it is in the Peugeot forum.
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neil s said:
There is, somewhere on this forum , a detailed outline of the factory preparations for a rally 504. Perhaps someone will recall where it is in the Peugeot forum.
Click to expand...
Thanks Neil, I'll see if I can find it. D
 
Why a 504? Nothing wrong I guess (don't know anything about them) but I wonder how to choose a car for such an adventure. I mean if it were my money, I would probably check what is the most common car in all the countries along the route and get that. If Russia is part of it, I would probably get a Lada (Niva if allowed, 1200 if not).
 
schlitzaugen said:
Why a 504? Nothing wrong I guess (don't know anything about them) but I wonder how to choose a car for such an adventure. I mean if it were my money, I would probably check what is the most common car in all the countries along the route and get that. If Russia is part of it, I would probably get a Lada (Niva if allowed, 1200 if not).
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Route also goes through China, Mongolia etc. so if looking for parts/tech help there you might find the Lada bare

Ladas good, tough cars once sorted, probabl;y don’t have the driver preservation/comfort factor of 504

504 very successful long distance rally car under old type rallying ( i.e. not modern F1 on dirt )because unkillable, simple technology - fixable anywhere, excellent suspension for rough road fast driving and high driver preservation/comfort factor( so fewer stuff-ups)

Thanos’ well prepared 504 did very well in recent P2P.

I have fantasies about doing it too, but may have trouble with raising the >200K it costs. Were I to do it it would be in 404 or 504, although I am an addict, so biased.

Best Wishes

Andrew
 
There's a lot of Russian cars in Mongolia and China, Niva one of them.

The 1200 was made in the seventies, when China didn't really have its own cars either so I suspect you'd find some. Not that the Chinese bought too many cars in the seventies. Especially Russian.

That said, I think an old GAZ 69 would be the choice. I think the Chinese copied them for the army and Mongolian nomads bought them as cheap workhorses.

More than 200K?! What for?

I dream of doing an Australia-Europe tour at some point but I don't think you need that much dosh. Heck, with a clapped out R12 I think you'd go all the way for less than 20k. Must be wagon.
 
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schlitzaugen said:
There's a lot of Russian cars in Mongolia and China, Niva one of them.

The 1200 was made in the seventies, when China didn't really have its own cars either so I suspect you'd find some. Not that the Chinese bought too many cars in the seventies. Especially Russian.

That said, I think an old GAZ 69 would be the choice. I think the Chinese copied them for the army and Mongolian nomads bought them as cheap workhorses.

More than 200K?! What for?

I dream of doing an Australia-Europe tour at some point but I don't think you need that much dosh. Heck, with a clapped out R12 I think you'd go all the way for less than 20k. Must be wagon.
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Around 1964 two young Australians drove an R4 to France. I remember they were in first for five hours in the Himalaya foothills and they were offered a fortune for the car by a Maharajah. So an R12 should have no trouble.
The Niva is still one of the best sellers in Central Asia. There is a historic Swiss entry of one in the Paris to Dakar that has attracted factory sponsorship.
The London to Sydney rallies would hold lessons for long range rally preparation. I note that the Safari cars were completely stripped and all the electrical connectors replaced.
 
My dotty great Aunt did it in an R4 in the 60’s - decided that she’d like to visit the rellies in South Africa and Oz. Bought powder blue R4 in Paris ( to get the tax break ) and headed off.

Left her travelling companion in mid Sahara “because he got too friendly” , I assume that his bleached bones are still there. Got all the way through Africa to SA, then sipped to PErth and crossed Oz, living for years with the R4 in Melbourne.

The funny thing is that she couldn’t read a map to save her life - have strong childhood memories of finding her on a few occasions in the middle of nowhere with upside down map and looking confused.

You can get away with being dotty if your car is good enough

Andrew
 
Andrew Watkins said:
My dotty great Aunt did it in an R4 in the 60’s - decided that she’d like to visit the rellies in South Africa and Oz. Bought powder blue R4 in Paris ( to get the tax break ) and headed off.

Left her travelling companion in mid Sahara “because he got too friendly” , I assume that his bleached bones are still there. Got all the way through Africa to SA, then sipped to PErth and crossed Oz, living for years with the R4 in Melbourne.

The funny thing is that she couldn’t read a map to save her life - have strong childhood memories of finding her on a few occasions in the middle of nowhere with upside down map and looking confused.

You can get away with being dotty if your car is good enough

Andrew
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This is reminiscent of the time in about 1975 when my father took my sister and I for a voyage to White Cliffs NSW in the middle of summer. Travelling due north from Melbourne, the route is desolate. Dad's vehicle of choice was his only vehicle, the not maintained 404 station wagon he used in his work as a self employed plumber with traces traces of cement, sand, hemp and the odd plumbing fitting rolling around here and there.

Preparation for the trip consisted of petrol, water in the radiator and renewing the strip of sticky fibreglass tape that was wrapped around the split top radiator hose. This had to be done every few months. Amazingly, the car got there and back although it wasn't very pleasant motoring along in the middle of summer in the outback with the heater on. Apart from other deficiencies, the car engine ran a bit hot so the heater helped counter this. Dad was a WW2 commando, and PTSD aside, kind of lived on the edge a bit.
 
Nothing wrong with that.

My son still remembers the time we rummaged through dumpsters in Munich for a piece of wire to hold the alternator on, then left a section of the exhaust on a freeway in the Netherlands and then had to drive the car in third revved at WOT because the gearstick broke and the throttle stepper motor died just before we crossed the last EU border to get home. Car borrowed off one of my friends.

I remember one of the customs officers impressed by the racket asking, wow, what engine do you have in there. It was 12 at midnight Christmas day and I was too tired to make any jokes after driving all day so I just said a crappy one. I think he took it as a joke.
 
Andrew Watkins said:
My dotty great Aunt did it in an R4 in the 60’s - decided that she’d like to visit the rellies in South Africa and Oz. Bought powder blue R4 in Paris ( to get the tax break ) and headed off.

Left her travelling companion in mid Sahara “because he got too friendly” , I assume that his bleached bones are still there. Got all the way through Africa to SA, then sipped to PErth and crossed Oz, living for years with the R4 in Melbourne.

The funny thing is that she couldn’t read a map to save her life - have strong childhood memories of finding her on a few occasions in the middle of nowhere with upside down map and looking confused.

You can get away with being dotty if your car is good enough

Andrew
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I like the sound of your great Aunt Dotty!
 
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