A fully grown camel weighs up to 700kg (1542 lbs). That makes about a ton and a half for a pair. Which is another testament to the legendary ruggedness of the Peugeot 404 pickup, a vehicle that I would love to own. As the former owner of a slew of Peugeot 404s, including a wagon that this pickup is based on, I can attest to their intrinsic ruggedness. And I’m a notorious overloader too, having once been weighed out with a 3400 lb load of building rocks at a quarry in my half-ton F-100. But still; and how did they get them in there anyway?But then this ad for the 404 advertises a 1000kg (2200lb) load capacity. Turns out it’s not as overloaded as my Ford was with the rocks. My truck was riding on all the suspension stops, and looked like a radical low rider; that Peugeot is far from that. Here’s a better shot of that handsome pininfarina designed front end.
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i just saw a movie in an IMAX theater where a guy in saudi arabia was driving his camel down the highway in a little datsun. maybe the camels are easier to load than an ATV.
most people either underestimate their truck or overestimate their load. i made a decent living for 5 years hauling houseboats with a 1993 F-150 which was rated at best 3000 pounds less than the loads i hauled.
granted, i had a former mine truck totally decked out with hauling equipment and the mighty 300CI I6, but before that i hauled fishing boats with a nissan 720. you would really be surprised at what the average pickup can handle.
While in the Army we completed our 1st night patrol early one morning while the sun was just starting to peak up. This was in 1990 during Desert Storm. We were just relieved and exhausted from our patrol since the all night stuff was new to us reserves – once we were released from our duty over the radio and we made for base. Shortly after we (driver, gunner and team leader) were all amazed when we passed a compact white pickup truck with an orange or red stripe on it with a single camel sitting snuggly back in the bed of the truck exactly like the picture shown in the article.
It looks home made. May be a fine little truck, but why couldn’t they incorporate some style into the bed sides?
Because they fold down, to make a flat bed. And that requires them to be thin, and have stiffening ridges. Form trumps style, in Africa anyway, where the Peugeots are very common, and were built.
Paul, as the owner of an F150 with an aftermarket flat bed, I think that’s really really cool.
If I were ever to buy a truck, this is exactly what I’d want; not the inflatable Macy’s Thanksgiving day parade floats that pass for trucks today.
Paul,
Thank you. I didn’t realize the sides folded down.
I still think a nicer looking – more Ute-like -bed would have been a selling point. Though perhaps not in Africa.
@gettysburg
What are you talkin’ about? The F150 King Ranch is a tough, no-nonsense workin’ man’s truck! Ain’t nothin’ says “blue collar” like embossed leather seat logos and a bed shorter than a heiffer’s tail!
The camels are so the driver and his wife can get home when the Peugeot breaks down. Sort of like spare tires with hooves.
Twotone
Certainly a way to show grace under pressure…
I never realized how enormous Camels are. I suppose I always assumed they were about the size of horses, but unless that truck is tiny, camels are huge.
Camels are nature’s AT-AT.
The camels don’t come with lasers, but they require less Galactic Credits to fix if they break down…
These camels come with lasers…Commodore 64 at its finest:
vachement chouette!!!
When peugeot initially entered the market here they brought the then new model. It made a relative success w/ those in the know, though the front end looked too much like an old car to make it. You see, cars in this segment down here are sold most to shall we call them “recreational” users…
But if you could put up w/ the slow smoke belching diesel engine these things go a long way.
As it stands they took this out of the market and will try again w/ the Hoggars (spe??), which is more in line w/ what other makers offer here. The only real work trucks anyway are the Fiat Strada and the Ford Courier, while the Chevy Montana and VW Saveiro are strictally for show. The new Saveiro however has been selling well to both crowds. The ones who use this truck, well, like a truck, will soon be dissaponited.
It seems the camels are not too concerned with riding in a truck. Maybe they are glad that the truck is hauling them, not the other way around!
Getting them in was easy, but how did they get them to turn around?
God help the driver and his passenger if either of those camels becomes flatulent during the journey through the desolate wasteland.
I wonder what the fuel economy is when loaded down with a ton and a half of camel.
if both ways were down hill the MPGs would be awesome!
No small feet (sic), but the Peugeot would be no match for a pair of Bactrian Camels.
should have a bumper sticker…
If this Peugeot starts a’rockin, don’t you come a’knockin!
@gsw0: nice story. my brother in law just came back from a year in iraq and he said the camels were more intelligent and mature than the iraqi guys they had to work with.
This was a pretty common sight when I was in Saudi Arabia, the ubiquitous white Nissan or Toyota pickup loaded with a Camel or two. The Saudis would usually be seen with them coming from the Camel suk. The camels were more of a status symbol than of any use.