From the early post-war years to the 1970s Peugeot, Renault and Citroen all made vehicles that were outstanding performers on dreadful roads in harsh conditions, because in addition to France's many rough rural roads the French colonial empire spanned numerous rough-road continents including Africa, Asia, The Caribbean, South America and Oceania. Japanese 4x4s led by the Land Cruiser, HiLux etc became the preferred weapon of choice from the 1980s. So, those rugged French cars were obviously well suited to the Australian Outback too. Peugeot in particular established a loyal following in many remote regional areas in this country, particularly after the 203's victory in the first Redex Trial (below). The 403, 404 and 504 models were all outstanding successors.