Seems to me that it can only be French weirdness....brazing takes time in the manufacturing process, and it appears from the comments that Peugeot and others used this config for some time (years). Since this was done on the entry level Pugs, you would think saving a couple of pennies would be high on the priority list - with this configuration you have to both braze (reasonably accurately) and still put on a clamp on shifter. If I wanted to save $ I'd delete the brazing operation and use the normal double sided clamp on. Hence, this is illogical, and therefore French!

Mark

ps. Anyone know of a source for the Huret shifter like in the OP's picture?