Remember the classic Saturday morning cartoon of the ’60s, Wacky Races? Most Americans have never seen Peugeot’s awesome 2013 tribute to the Hanna-Barbera show, so we’re sharing it here.
Founded way back in 1889, Peugeot of France is one of the world’s oldest and grandest automakers, but somehow the brand lost its traction in the United States, and it abandoned the market in 1991. Now the make is poised for a return to America, as the parent company, Groupe PSA, producer of Peugeot, Citroen, and Opel automobiles, has established a new headquarters in Atlanta. In honor of the marque’s pending return, you could say, we’re sharing this 2013 commercial, which has never been broadcast in the USA.
While Peugeot cars are not currently found in America, they’re a familiar sight in Brazil. And also well known in Brazil, it turns out, is the old American Saturday morning cartoon, Wacky Races. Introduced in 1968, the Hanna-Barbera production has been packaged and distributed around the world in various forms for decades. In April of 2013, Young & Rubicam Brasil produced this delightful Wacky Races sendup that features all the familiar characters, including Penelope Pitstop, Dick Dastardly, the Ant Hill Mob, and the chuckling dog, Muttley. And here a Peugeot 208 five-door hatchback has joined the competition. Enjoy the video.
That was pretty great!!!
I like the part where they are beating down a Sherman tank, reminded me of a peaceful ANTIFA rally.
I always liked how Dick Dastardly would sick the dog on somebody and it would fly through the air and chomp onto them, hanging off of their arm horizontally in mid-air.
Peugeot has made some really high-quality cars. One that I owned was a 1989 405 Mi16. I got it from a S. African guy of Italian extraction who was new to the States… This was a very, very fun sedan to drive. Fast, very solidly built, great handling, leather, five-speed… He had acquired it upon arrival in the U.S., apparently thinking Peugeots were as ubiquitous here as where he had been. When he realized that finding someone to service it was impossible, he offloaded it to me around 2004. Having owned a couple Citroens, this car was basically child’s play for me. On one occasion, I did need to call for a lifeline, and… it was there! A blizzard put me on the shoulder of I-94. I had it towed to an Ann Arbor shop well-known for servicing oddball imports (which had been historically plentiful in esoteric A^2). It was Christmas Eve and they were closed but in their lot I was able to determine that I had a malfunctioning coil. When they re-opened, they laughed me off their property and I towed it to my house. When coil replacement over the holiday break failed to get it running, I realized that, as is often the case, there was more than one problem. Lo and behold, after taking a what-the-heck shot in the dark I actually found that there was still a Peugeot corporate service support presence extant in NYC! By phone, I conversed at length and in great detail, with a guy who seemed, like the Maytag repairman, to be the loneliest guy in town. He very much appreciated being able to walk me through all the pinouts and the systematic VOM tests to run, as I lay contorted like a pretzel in the driver’s footwell with the phone propped up by my ear. After 45 minutes of Q&A and much VOM probing, we determined that the ignition control module was bad. Think about it… Peugeot had abandoned (minuscule) U.S. sales 13 years prior, and there was no charge for this generous tech support! In fact, the guy thanked me for the opportunity to be useful!
Well here in Australia (the Worlds Automotive grab bag of Everything) Peugeot and Citroen have always been available… you’d just be a full on raving nutter to want one. They drive ok but you’re never gonna get ‘trouble free” motoring. My opinion