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Bruce celebrates the glorious French tat of Argentina

Published by Bruce Jamieson at 9th June 2020
Beige Peugeot 505 saloon

If, like me, you watched Race Across the World, you probably noticed the abundance of French tat on the streets of Argentina. I promised myself I’d fly over there to look at the 80s and 90s French cars, but a PetrolBlog reader has got there first.

Here, Australia-based Bruce Jamieson – owner of one of the few PetrolBlog stickers to make it to the Southern Hemisphere – documents his time in South America with the help of some wonderful pics. Over to you, Bruce.

The South American continent has a lot to offer: deserts, rainforests, glaciers, fjords and barbecued meats. However, for a motoring tragic like me, it offers something else. It’s a weird time-warped culture clash of cars, some of which exist only on the world’s most southerly inhabited continent.

Where did all the French cars go?

If you’re worried about European cities banning the battle-scared pre-millennium cars from their streets, sleep easy tonight. South America – and in particular, Argentina – is a haven for such cars. Some streets in Buenos Aires look like Paris circa-1995. It’s absolutely superb.

The old adage of ‘French cars never die’ is an expression I’ve never really bought into. The Mercedes-Benz W124, perhaps. But French tat? Not really.

Peugeot 504 in Argentina

Things have changed for this non-believer. Argentina is the place to go if you want to see sun-bleached examples of the Renault 12, Peugeot 504 and Citroën CX.

You’ll also see examples of the Renault 17, 18, 19, 21 and Fuego, plus the Peugeot 205, 505 and 306. From pristine examples to others held together with tape and a prayer, almost every French car you thought was endangered is represented in Argentina.

The best of the rest are still manual

The streets are awash with other delights, too. There are Fiats (so many Fiats), Alfa Romeos, Mercs, Volkswagens, truly ancient GM Europe products wearing a Chevy badge, and even the odd Rover.

Even in 2020, these oldies share the streets, not with urban SUVs and crossovers, but with slightly more modern cars. I’m talking about traditional hatchbacks and three-box sedans (You mean Shatchbacks, surely?! – ed.).

Rover 25 and Nissan Maxima J30

The vast majority of them have manual gearboxes. Writing from Australia, where the automatic is often the only option, seeing people shift their own gears is so refreshing. The art of driving is not dead.

Of course, I know the reason for the abundance of manual European cars: the bottom line. After European buyers grew tired of these models 25 years ago, the manufacturers simply shifted production to South America and kept on selling to people who needed budget transport.

The 12 and 18 soldier on

Take the Renault 12. By 1980, the French had washed their hands of the ageing saloon and had moved on to flogging the Renault 18. However, Renault kept building the 12 and the 18 alongside each other in Argentina until 1994.

Renault 12 in South America

Ignoring Volkswagen and the well publicised Brazilian-made Beetle, other manufacturers are also guilty. Peugeot churned out the 405 until 2001, and the 206 until 2016, a full decade after it was replaced in Europe by the 207.

Fiat is arguably the unsung hero of selling wonderful old tat. Production of the Fiat Uno didn’t end until 2014, with some 3.5 million of the things built in Brazil. Which raises a moral question: is it OK for large multinational corporations to sell old and now unsafe designs to a different demographic?

I question the practice, but I cannot deny the love of seeing these cars on the road. Best of all, if the 1970s cars are so abundant now, then our collective 1990s favourites will still be around in 2040…

The Australian in the room

As a pretend Australian, another offshoot of Argentinian car culture took me by surprise: the Ford Falcon.

I am ashamed to admit but I was naive to the Falcon story beyond its Aussie motoring icon status. However, I soon discovered that, much like all those wonderful French cars, Argentina built its own Falcons for nearly 30 years (1962-91).

Ford Falcon Argentina

But unlike Australia, where we saw five generations of Falcon in that period, Argentina just kept redefining the 1960s original, building nearly half a million examples. With many littering the motoring landscape, the 80s versions were the ones that caught my eye.

They are some of the oddest looking cars I’ve ever come across. A gorgeous 60s silhouette still exists, but it’s mashed with elements of other 1980s Fords. Mk3 Escort rubber bumpers, Mk3 Cortina front fascias and Sierra-style wheels are just some of the parts bin pilfering that appears to have gone on to keep the cars current.

The Americans

The last piece of patchwork in the quilt of South American motoring is the influx of the all-American pick-up. Many vintage trucks can be seen hauling goods to markets as they were intended. However, I spotted brand new giant F150s, Silverados and RAMs being the vehicle of choice for more affluent South Americans.

Renault 4 outside Peugeot garage

This is no bad thing. But when these behemoths are sharing roads with 1970s era French tat, the whole thing seems preposterous and traffic jams look ridiculous. A collision between the two would see the French car obliterated, while the F150 driver would think they just splattered a large insect on the front grille.

The ‘go for the overtake first, deal with the consequences later’ style of driving makes the chances of a coming together of transatlantic marques quite high.

Even after two months on the continent, there was definitely more car culture to explore. Alas, my wife can only tolerate so many detours to take pictures of tat. But hopefully I have given some insight into the fascinating car culture South America has to offer.

I wish I had taken more pictures of the obscure stuff I saw and wandered deeper into the neighbourhoods. Maybe I’ll get the chance to go back. I hope the streetscapes do not change as quickly as they seem to be in the rest of the world. Viva la Tat revolución!

Postcards from South America

Rover 25 and Nissan Maxima J30
Volvo 200 series in Argentina
Volkswagen Beetle in South America

Renault 21 Nevada in Argentina
Renault 21 Nevada
Three-door Fiat Uno in South America

Rover 400 in Argentina
Renault Laguna in South America
Renault 21 in South America

Renault 18 estate in Argentina
Renault 12 in Buenos Aires
Renault 12 in Argentina

Renault 9 with black bonnet
Renault 9 in South America
Renault 6 in Argentina

Renault 6 green
Red Fiat Uno in South America
Range Rover Classic and Land Rover

Peugeot 505 estate in Argentina
Peugeot 505 and Iveco
Peugeot 504 in South America

Peugeot 504 in Buenos Aires
Peugeot 205 in Argentina
Opel Corsa B estate

Mk1 Renault Twingo and Terios
Mercedes-Benz W123 pick-up
Mercedes-Benz W116

Two Fiat Mille models
W123 240D pick-up
Mercedes W123 El Camino style

Late model Renault 12
Ford Taunus Coupe
Ford Taunus and Renault Torino

Ford Sierra on streets of Buenos Aires
Ford Sierra in South America
Ford Sierra in Argentina

Ford Falcon in South America
Ford Escort saloon in South America
Ford Escort in South America

Fiat Uno orange and white paint
Fiat Spazio
Fiat Spazio rear

Fiat Spazio at speed
Fiat Spazio and Ford Falcon
Fiat Spazio

Fiat Elba
Fiat Duna
Chevette GMC in Argentina

Cars of South America
Argentine Renault 12 estate
Alfa Romeo 164 in Buenos Aires

More postcards

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7 Comments

  1. Ben H says:
    10th June 2020 at 11:40 am

    Nice to see there isn’t a culture of “must be new” over there that plagues the UK, nice article!

    Reply
    • Gavin Big-Surname says:
      10th June 2020 at 6:07 pm

      Let’s hope a possible scrappage scheme doesn’t result in more old cars leaving our roads over the coming months.

      Reply
      • Mark James says:
        10th June 2020 at 9:45 pm

        Great article and nice pics.
        I’m not normally one to defend big corporations but I think car manufacturers can be forgiven for making dated cars in countries with high import tariffs and relatively small markets. The cost of retooling, the logistics of retraining staff and stocking different parts must be prohibitive and if, due to the high import tariffs, there isn’t much competition, where’s the motivation? Additionally, I suspect that safety legislation is somewhat lagging behind if it exists at all. When I think of a lot of recent European cars, the only progress seems to be in making them more idiot proof. Handling, ride and comfort have all declined.
        Incidentally, have you seen the tail lights on the facelifted Peugeot 504 made in Argentina? They couldn’t look more out of place.

        Reply
    • Ben H says:
      11th June 2020 at 8:34 am

      Also the red 304 with black bumpers and rubbing strips actually looks really modern, shows how far ahead of its time it was

      Reply
  2. NMcG says:
    9th July 2020 at 7:55 am

    The Volkswagen Dodge 1500 was a strange Argentinian creation which mated a Hillman Avenger with 1980’s VW Front and rear lights. The end result had a whiff of Morris Ital but I believe they were a popular Argentinian taxi and were built until the early 90’s.

    Reply
  3. Graham Clayton says:
    12th August 2020 at 5:59 am

    A Ford Falcon painted dark green and with blacked out windows and no licence plates was infamous as being the vehicle of choice for the secret police that abducted many people during the period when Argentina was ruled by a military junta (1976-1983).

    Reply
  4. Daniel Girald says:
    14th April 2021 at 5:09 am

    Cost is a serious concern, not only due to the import duties but also the taxation. Harsh riding conditions out of the touristic zones also lead more conservative buyers toward older and already well-proven designs. On a sidenote, even though sometimes Argentinian cars had more advanced features than their Brazilian counterparts, there were exceptions such as the Fiat Fiorino which only started to be made in Argentina in ’89 with tooling from a generation which had been replaced in Brazil for the same model-year, and the 147 soldiered on until ’96 along the Brazilian Fiat Uno which is substantially different from its European equivalent. Odd enough, while Brazil with its larger market had only the regional variant of the Uno, Argentina also had European ones.

    Reply

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