Peugeot does not build many cars like the Peugeot 504: a 4-door saloon / 5-door estate / 2-door coupé / 2-door convertible / 2-door coupé utility (pickup) / 4-door coupé utility (pickup) with Petrol engine, built from 1968 to 1977 in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. Its designer of record is Aldo Brovarone at Pininfarina.
The story
The Peugeot 504 is a mid-size, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive automobile manufactured and marketed by Peugeot from 1968 to 1983 over a single generation, primarily in four-door sedan and wagon configurations – but also as twin two-door coupé and cabriolet configurations as well as pickup truck variants. The sedan (berline) was styled by Aldo Brovarone of Pininfarina, and the coupé and cabriolet twins were styled by Franco Martinengo at Pininfarina, with wagon (break and familiale) and pickup (camionette) designed and sketches produced in-house at Peugeot. The 504 was noted for its robust body structure, long suspension travel, high ground clearance, large wheels and torque tube driveshaft – enclosed in a rigid tube attached at each end to the gearbox housing and differential casing, relieving drivetrain torque reactions.
The 504 ultimately achieved widespread popularity in far-flung rough-terrain countries – including Latin America and much of Africa. More than three million 504s were manufactured in its European production, with production continuing globally under various licensing arrangements – including 27,000 assembled in Kenya and 425,000 assembled in Nigeria, using knock-down kits – with production extending into 2006. Having debuted as Peugeot's flagship at the 1968 Paris Salon, the 504 received the 1969 European Car of the Year. In 2013, the Los Angeles Times called it "Africa's workhorse."
What is underneath
Under the skin sits Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. Kerb weight is 1200 -. The gearbox is a 4-speed manual BA7 / 5-speed manual / 3-speed automatic ZF 3HP12/22 / 3-speed automatic GM 407 (V6). The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2740 mm (saloon/berline) / 2900 mm (break/pickup) / 2550 mm (coupé/cabriolet). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Peugeot's history is not in doubt: the Peugeot 404 came before it; the Peugeot 505 / Peugeot 406 Coupé (for 504 Coupé) followed it; it was built at Sochaux (Stellantis Sochaux Plant. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Toyota Hilux, the Range Rover Range Rover, the Pontiac Firebird. Nearby in the Peugeot catalogue sit the Peugeot Onyx and the Peugeot Pars.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Peugeot 504 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.