Peugeot J7 (1974) – Into the Wild

There is enough emphasis on diversity these days and we also like to contribute in ‘In the Wild’. Whether it’s a flawless Karmann Ghia, a converted 500 SEC, a completely original Sierra or a completely forgotten Argenta, the most diverse features on the Dutch roads get the attention. This also includes delivery vans, as this Skoda 1203 proved recently. Now we put forward a slightly more famous van: the Peugeot J7.

The Peugeot J7 was a pretty common van for a long time. Not surprising, when you consider that it was on the market for fifteen years. More than 330,000 were built between 1965 and 1980. Here in the Netherlands a good number of them were registered. This 1974 copy was just not one of them. The J7, photographed by AutoWeek reader Koen Smit (for which thanks) only came this way in 2006. The rinse J7’s in the Netherlands has therefore become slightly thicker again. By the way, the chance that you will find one is still quite high, especially given the age: there are still roughly 350 on the license plate.

Peugeot J7

There is also a good chance that you will spot a J7 that looks nicer than this one. Still, we wonder if it really is as bad as you seem at first glance. A closer look at the photos shows that there does seem to be hard or at least welded sheet metal under the different colors of paint. The various white tufts of lacquer on the blue base color may therefore be silent witnesses of a restoration process and the J7 may eventually receive a new layer of lacquer from head to toe. However, it could also be that (given the sometimes somewhat random locations of the white spots) it is precisely done to deliberately give the bus a tired appearance. Or one simply takes the time to finish the work: the J7 has been with its current owner for 15 years and since March there is a two-year MOT on it. Either way, it sure does stand out!