From Paris to Tokyo... in an old Peugeot 104? This man actually did it

Paris to Tokyo. Budget-ish airlines will fly you for as little as 300 quid.  Although for that price you get a free 20-hour stopover and an imprint of your seat neighbour’s elbow in your ear lobe.

Alternatively, you could hop into your Peugeot 104 and just drive. Allow us to introduce Renan Favigny.

If you’re dead set on driving between the French and Japanese capitals, there are undoubtedly better equipped vehicles to do the 8,000-mile journey in. Why did Renan decide to set off in a clapped out Peugeot 104? He explains: “Anyone could do it in an expensive camper. People spend tens of thousands of euros on gear. I wanted to see if I could do it in something ordinary people can afford.”

Photography: Toby Thyer

This particular 104 was actually Renan’s first car. Completely stock, he picked it up 10 years ago for €1,000 in Brittany. You probably wouldn’t pay that looking at the car now, but he insists it was an honest minter until a few months ago. Driving intercontinentally can take its toll.

Renan’s first long distance expedition was from Paris to the Scottish Highlands. The first attempt saw him promptly break down five miles from Dover. Not wanting the British Isles to defeat him and his Peugeot, he tried again, this time arriving safely beyond the wall to a warm welcome of a hearty haggis and the strangulations of bagpipes.

“I always wanted to have a great adventure. I love doing things from scratch with almost no resources or tools,” he explains. “Before I had my driving licence, I couldn’t understand why people didn’t use their car to travel abroad. I wanted to see if some regular guy with no mechanical skill and limited budget could do it.”

In the autumn of 2024, Renan made his preparations and loaded the 104 with a solar panel and power bank to charge his gadgets and camera equipment. Sensibly he also packed a tent and a backpack full of clothes, and a few spare parts for the Peugeot. What could possibly go wrong?

On his second day, Renan got a puncture. On the third, petrol began cascading out of the fuel filler. Easily fixable problems and Renan wasn’t put off, as in his opinion, “you can’t blame a 50-year-old car for protesting against a transcontinental journey".

The next few countries passed with no issues, for either driver or ancient Peugeot. But Renan had a big decision to make: should he route through China or Russia? Well, his choice to go through Russia rather than China came entirely down to the fact that to drive in North Korea or China you need a Chinese driving licence – something Renan found impossible to get.

Renan’s decision instead to navigate through Russia – also not exactly Disneyland – suddenly seems quite straightforward and sensible, despite the fact that the only guaranteed border crossing into the country was through Georgia, which dictated that he would travel down through Turkey and up through Kazakhstan, rather than a more direct route up and through Poland and Latvia.

But nothing is ever simple and when Renan arrived in Kazakhstan, he found locating a place to pitch his tent a little tricky. He found the local constabulary and, much to their surprise, asked where might be suitable. They in turn told him to pitch camp in the town square. A bit public, but handy for the shops at least.

Back on the road in the Peugeot, things took a turn for the worse when Renan entered Russia. He was involved in an accident – a serious rear end collision that left the little 104 crumpled like a French Bulldog. The rear axle was shunted up to where the rear seats should be and the bodywork was totally wrecked: think an automotive accordion. To make matters worse, by this time Russia was in the depths of a Siberian winter, which made work on the damaged Peugeot impossibly slow, forcing Renan literally to put his trip on ice and wait for better weather.

When the rear end of the Peugeot was finally successfully repaired (for a bargain price), Renan pushed on eastwards. He continued his mammoth drive, eventually arriving at Vladivostok, from where he got a place for him and his 104 on a cargo ship to Busan in South Korea.

After that, the rest of the trip was easy. Renan booked a spot on the car ferry from Busan across the Sea of Japan – the biggest physical obstacle of the whole trip – arriving in Japan in the heat of summer: 38°C and no aircon was très uncomfortable but the end was in sight.

Japan was a total culture shock. Initially, Renan was worried people would react badly to an old, polluting Peugeot, but he had faith in human nature. And almost immediately he met someone who tweeted about him and his Paris to Tokyo trip – that tweet got 10 million views. He and the 104 became overnight celebrities and were sought out by car spotters everyday.

His fame reached fever pitch when, on his arrival in Tokyo, there was a huge crowd waiting for him, including the CEO of Peugeot Japan. What did the Peugeot do to celebrate? Fried its petrol pump and refused to move another inch. Fair play. Makes you wonder how he’ll get home though?