The local auto club, of which I’ve been a member for a little while now, is auctioning off two world-weary old cars. This is the older one of the two, a mid-1960s Peugeot 404. Both cars have been donated to the club years ago, and the powers-that-be-brewing-the-coffee would rather see them go to the hands of someone with the time and means to turn them into something useful. Gathering dust and smelling funny does no-one any good.

Situated in Kokkola, Central Osthrobothnia on the west coast of Finland, the cars will be auctioned off at a swap meet on the coming Sunday. In this post, I let you have a bystander’s look at the worn old Peugeot being very lightly spruced up. You’re free to make all the 404 error jokes you see coming.

The 404 has spent some time in the shack behind a paint shop. It hasn’t degraded to the degree you see here due to that, but was a bit crummy around the edges when it was given away to the club. It’s mostly complete and is said to be a running car – were it not lacking a starter motor. Otherwise it’s all there, except for some underbody sheetmetal like parts of the trunk floor.

Rust on a 50-year-old French family saloon? Who would’ve thought?

The Peugeot used to belong to a business keeper, and is apparently quite local. It was cleared out yesterday, and given a quick wash, but polishing it wouldn’t have been too fruitful. The paint is as flat as the tires, and the rockers as rusty as the three-stud wheels – but the panels are straight and all the glass is intact.

The interior is worn, but it’s almost all there. Three pedals and a column shifter. Some of the detailing has fallen off, but can probably be found in one of the footwells. From behind the wheel, the car smells exactly like you would think it to.

Cleaning time, to get off the accumulated dust. It’s like the 404 was thinking, “Aw, alright. But be careful with that brush.”

Powerwashing a 50-year-old car with dry-rotted seals and flaking paint is one thing, but the end result looked a little less miserable.

I’m still infatuated with French cars and their selective yellow headlights. There’s just something about them that instantly transports my mind into a French crime flick.

And then, the Peugeot was pushed back under the corrugated steel roof, to wait for Sunday’s judgement – like the protagonist Meursault waited for the quillotine in the Albert Camus novel.

The club guys haven’t really set their minds on an estimate yet, and it’s not likely the 404 would command a high price. In my opinion, it’s totally restorable, even if it needs someone that’s dead set on bringing it back to its former glory. It’s not too far gone for that, but requires determination and a thing for 404:s.

Yes, I mentioned an another car. You’ll see what it is, in the next post.

[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]