The Peugeot 504 was perhaps the car that truly justified the title “the French Mercedes”. Not only did it have a similar spot in the market in France to the that that the New Generation Mercedes-Benz 200 or 220D had in Germany, it endured, at home and across Europe, and still keeps parts of Africa on the move, even now. Truly an epic car and a classic CC.
To me, though, it never seemed to be designed to be at home in the US. The deliberate air of practicality, of counter-Brougham style in the Brougham era, the use of diesel engines and manual gearboxes would all appear to be to be more to French than American tastes, yet there are still some around.
This example came up recently on Seattle’s Craiglist, and I’ll let the ad do the talking.
“Calling all Peugeot lovers! Our 1976 504D 4-door sedan is fresh out of storage and ready for restoration.
The LA Times called it the Workhorse of Africa. Revered for its solid construction and mechanicals, many are in use to this day in the Middle East and Africa. This example is the desirable diesel with 4-speed manual transmission. Independent suspension and disc brakes all around. Engine starts right up, comes to stable temperature with good oil pressure and charging. Passed its last emissions test with flying colors.
This is a three-owner car that has spent its life in Seattle. Photos show some previous damage to grill and hood. Rest of body has all of its trim and emblems. Existing hood (removed) could be straightened or replaced with a used one. Grills are available on eBay. Interior is in fair condition, with a couple of tears in front seat upholstery. Headliner is pristine and sunroof works fine. Instrument panel is in amazingly good condition. Complete maintenance records since new with receipts. Original owner’s manual, maintenance schedule, and warranty paperwork.
This is a solid car with great provenance that deserves to be put back on the road. Clearly there’s work to be done. But this car is an excellent platform to start from. Much too good to be parted out. Video walk-around with running engine available.
Clear title. You haul. $2,500 obo. Contact me for more information about this unique car.”
Details on the ad included a mileage of 122,000 and a clean title. For a French car that has lived in the moist air of the north west, it has aged pretty well.
The 504 is still a regular spot in France, especially in the pickup format. Like many European cars of the period, it inevitably looks better with the Euro spec (trapezoidal) headlamps and bumper though.
Wait Roger, aren’t you in the U.K.? And you’re looking at Seattle CraigsList? I think you need something else to occupy your time. I’m sure arranging shipment of this 504 over the pond, and the subsequent restoration would be good therapy 🙂
Certainly very tempting…..;-)
That car would look so much better with slim Euro-market bumpers.
I don’t have the will or patience to live with an oddball like that but what a cool retro piece.
If only the French car parts situation in the U. S. was as good as it is in Europe. Perhaps this car would have that grille and hood replaced if the parts were all that easy to find.
These 504s are, IMHO, okay looking but not a classic looker like the comparable Mercedes.
well, you wouldn’t be ordering new parts from France for this car, you’d be headed to the salvage yard. On the positive side, any hood from any 504, gas or diesel from 1969 to 1982 would fit as would any grill although there were some changes in grill style by the year. And while 504s are getting very thin in junkyards, they do pop up once in a while on the west coast. nonetheless this would be a massive project
This is an unusual version of an unusual car: most of the remaining diesel 504s in the US seem to be “automatiques.”
I actually like the quad sealed beam headlight front end but those Euro bumpers are much better.
A hood might be tough to source. Expensive to ship too.
The quad lights look ‘normal’ to Australian eyes – I expect that Peugeot Australia were looking at stone damage and cheaper replacement costs. I wonder if the trapezoidal lights work better than separate high/low beam round lights?
70s Peugeot are simply perfect. I wonder what went wrong…
And yes those US spec headlights and bumpers are horrible.
When my mum crashed the cortina, my dad needed cheap, commodious wheels fast. He bought a white 504 estate that had been owned by a horse-loving doctor. IIRC he got it cheap because it had a suspect head gasket and was cosmetically challenged.
The engine was an easy fix and that car gave many years of hard service. My dad was the village shop, so he would hammer it to the cash-n-carry, load up with a week’s worth of groceries for the village and hammer it back, often completing the run in his lunchbreak. I don’t remember the car ever giving any trouble.
I learnt to drive in it, but clearly not very well, as I soon put it into a ditch on its roof. Shame, because it was a decent car.
the use of diesel engines…would all appear to be to be more to French than American tastes,
You’ve got it backwards, Roger. In the us, starting in 1974, diesels were all the rage, and Mercedes and Peugeot sold very few gas engines, until 1985 or so. The Mercedes W123 was only available as a diesel, except the expensive and rather uncommon 280E. Same with Peugeot; its big draw was the diesel, and gave struggling Peugeot a new lease on life in the US. After 1974, gas engines in the 504 became increasingly rare, and I rather think it was perhaps eliminated in its later years. I know the wagon was diesel only in its later years. And a good number had manual transmissions.
It was the decline of the US diesel boom in the mid 80s that actually contributed substantially to the decline of Peugeot in the US, as they weren’t very competitive engine-wise with their gas models. A lot of these 504 diesels were bought by folks because it was a huge fad, and they had no real idea what they were buying, and after a few years they got sick of their noisy, stinky and slow diesels.
Yeah I’d say the diesel was a big part of the draw for the Peugeot in that time frame. Diesel was still usually a good bit cheaper than gas and of course you went several more miles per gallon too. So it was a family sized car with sub-compact fuel economy.
My High School Spanish teacher had one and the diesel was certainly a big reason he had purchased it.
I remember being surprised when a gas powered model showed up at the shop I worked at during college as most of that era in my area were diesels.
In all my years of searching “peugeot” on craigslist, eBay, etc. – and with my eyes out on the streets in real life, I’ve never once seen a 504 with a gas engine.
I wasn’t around when they were new, so I dunno how common the gas engine was back then… but I’d be shocked if more than a handful still exist in North America.
FWIW, the only 504 I found in recent years on the street and used for my 504 CC was a ’76 gas engine version. https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1976-peugeot-504-one-continents-french-mercedes-and-coty-is-another-continents-most-rugged-vehicle-is-another-continents-pos/
The diesel engine was not even available on US imported 504 from 1970-1973. There was never a 404 diesel in the US either. The first Peugeot diesel in the US was available in 1974, in direct response to the energy crisis. It and the Mercedes were the only diesels on the market at that time, and since the 504 was considerably cheaper than the 240D, it sold well, especially in So. California. A popular modification was to add one or two auxiliary tanks in the trunk, and drive it to Tijuana once a month or so, and fill all the tanks with 15cents/gal Mexican diesel, thus avoiding the long lines and the high prices.
The percentage of gas 504s dropped off decidedly after 1974, but I don’t have stats. As far as I can tell, the gas engine was still available for the rest of the 504’s run, although I suspect no gas wagons were brought over in the last few years.
Nice ~
You have to drive one of these to believe it .
I had a gasoline 1976 four cylinder stickshift one, paid $125 for it and it had _two_ carbys ~ not dual carbys, two completely separate ones, one of which was frozen shut .
I fixed it and this little sedan was a real stormer .
Pops had a late model (197?) Peugeot diesel wagon and loved it .
Had to buy it in Canada as not sold in California then .
-Nate
Unfortunately this Craigslist ad was removed before I could react 🙁
CC really should have a news alert.
My consolation is that it’s not a french P504. It is a so called SAFAR-Peugeot.
Made in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Identified by the cheapish bumpers, the “wrong” steering wheel and other engine items. Nonetheless at $2500 it was a bargain.
I’m quite certain that all the 504s imported to the US were all made in France, not Argentina.
One way you can tell French 504s from the others is by looking at black flat thing behind the licence plate.
Back then you have to admire the marketing men at Peugeot, they were spot-on with launching the 504 as successor of the 404, bigger, better, faster, really good looking, the 505 has somehow never been able to bring home the bacon, too dull and consercative I guess.
I lost it as far as Peugeot is concerned when they launched the 407 model, I was convinced the body was fitted backward forth and no more Pininfarina design.
Around 1980 or so, give or take, Yellow Cab bought a fleet of these, diesel edition, for taxi duty in Philadelphia. I’m sure they were going for the combination of a relatively roomy cabin and good gas mileage. They didn’t last long. They were replaced by a motley assortment of much more reliable, albeit thirstier, 70’s and early 80’s GM iron — including one 1973 Caddy Fleetwood Brougham, of all things, which I actually got to ride in once.
This Peugeot was known, in Europe, for it’s reliability. But a standard Chevrolet, Ford or Plymouth was better in terms of long time reliability. Thirstier, but simplier and tougher. Quieter, more powerfull and softer riding also helps.
The reason why these was so popular in Africa is the fact that France did have a strong relationship with the Northern (and western) African countries after the colonization ended. The 504 was cheap to buy, and you could get parts from France easy, later on from used 504s around the African countries. The 504 was indeed a good car, and by European standards it was some of the best in terms of reliability and longevity. The 504 had good ground clearance and economical diesel engines.
TopGear did a tribute to the 504 in Africa:
Ironic that America, with relatively well-developed road infrastructure, was a failure for Peugeot, while Africa was not. Maybe it simply came down to motivation; the French never seemed serious about marketing in America. The only French stuff one can find in general is cookware.
Here’s my explanation: https://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1976-peugeot-504-one-continents-french-mercedes-and-coty-is-another-continents-most-rugged-vehicle-is-another-continents-pos/
All the old worn out 504s from NZ have been gathered up here and exported to Africa, these cars are virtually bullet proof far better long term than anything out of the US during that era as for ride comfort nothing other than a Citroen even comes close.
Almost every fullsize american car from the 60/70s will outlast a 504. 504 was good by European standards, but in terms of reliability and durability, a regular BOF american fullsize car was better.
Ride comfort? It was ok, if you want to listen to that struggelig engine at 100 kmh I guess it’s ok. These cars also rusted at an impressive pace. 10 years was the normal age before these cars was trashed in Norway. For Chevrolet it was and is 30 years. Mercedes and Volvo both gets around 20-25 years old.
Check out the crash test footage of a 504 on YouTube. One of the worst vehicles NHTSA has ever tested. The entire car bends/folds up around the B pillar. No one expects a classic to perform like a modern car in a crash, but this is terrible even by the lax standards of the time. It’s a shame, it’s an otherwise interesting car….
Don’t crash it then. It’s a classic car, I wouldn’t advise being in a crash in a 1910 Mercer Raceabout either.
My daily driver for the last few years has been a 1985 505 diesel wagon. With about 350k miles on the clock, it runs and drives like it has less than a third of that. On highway trips with a bike on the roof rack, and cruise control set at 70 mph it returns 32 mpg. I previously owned a 1982 240d, and in every functional way I prefer the Peugeot. The only area the Mercedes demonstrated superiority was in the quality of interior plastics. Truly an excellent vehicle, I only wish I could buy a new one!
Many years go my uncle had a 504TI,the mechanical fuel injected one. Definitely a fringe vehicle for the time, mid 70s. It felt like a Mercedes inside and it was another 10 years before he got the real thing..a 190. The diesels never sold well in the UK except in Pickup form.
The 505 was the 1st of the “plastic Pugs” with cheap materials and electrical nightmares.
Dont get me started on the current range……
Rugged and supremely comfortable vehicles, overwhelmed by US demands for accessories and smog controls, finished off by a substandard service and parts network. My sister owned a diesel 504 in which the previous owner, foreseeing peak oil in 1977, installed two additional 40-gallon fuel tanks in the trunk. You could have driven that car to the moon, but with no luggage… She’d probably still be driving it had not someone totaled it in a rear-end accident.
That would be a good car. Being a 76 it has the XD-90 diesel, which is the sleeved engine which ran from 1957 thru 1976. A very good engine but head gaskets and sleeve seals were a weak spot. I really liked my ’74. They just didn’t like high speeds in hot weather as engine temp would rise with road speed. XD-88/XD90’s were not offered with an automatique to my knowledge. The new XD-2 engine came in 1977. That’s when all the automatiques came along. I much prefer the older engine until the XD-2S turbodiesel came out. The 504 was never graced with the turbodiesel even though it arrived in ’79 first in the 604 then the 505. A TD in a 504 with a 5-speed would have been eating its Euro competition for lunch!
You might have asked yourself this question :
Why 504 and 404 sedans are so popular in Africa but 505 sedans are not ?
The answer is the torque tube ,
505 sedan has independent rear suspension which is too fragile for rough African roads . but 504 and 404 have tougher TT rear end.
BTW, 505 wagons have also TT rear ends , you will find many 505 GLD seven passenger wagons doing bush-taxi service in west africa.
504 sedans have semi-trailing arm independent rear suspension though, I remember talking to a rally driver who modified his for some negative camber on the back wheels by putting the suspension arms in a very large press.
John, no they didn’t all. Starting in 1973, there was an “L” version that reverted back to a torque tube solid rear axle, as on the 404 (and the 504 wagons). I would not be surprised to know that was the version that Peugeot built in Africa for so long. It really was simpler and tougher, with almost nothing to wear out.
But yes, the bulk of the European versions and all the sedans sold in the US had the IRS.
Those interiors are pretty hard-wearing and quite comfortable, based on what I remember from riding around in my Dad’s 504 between the ages of 8 and 12.
The 504 remains the nicest riding car I have ever drove. My brother gave me the keys to a ’74 504 D 4-speed for the summer of ’84, a car he took in on work he had done. The seats were worn out but covered in sheepskin, I had some brazing done on the leaking coolant expansion tank. It was everything one could imagine a French Mercedes could be; brilliant ride quality, fantastic turning radius, all day highway comfort.
What a fantastic car!
In the late 80’s, the step-dad of a friend of mine had an old farm full of dead Pugs. He was the go-to guy in his town for “them funny ‘furrin’ cars”, so after fixing a few, people started bringing their Peugeot’s to him. By the time I met him, he probably had a couple dozen. This was in Wisconsin, so everything was well rusted by the time he got them. My friend drove a car that we literally couldn’t get it to go over 45mph, no matter what we tried (and it would overheat after a while) I remember having to drive him around while his step-dad harvested parts off some of his inventory to get my friends’ car going again. It was a bright blue, with orangy-tan interior. It was super comfortable, which was good because it took so long to get anywhere… His car ended up getting turned over by his dad with a forklift, to harvest something from underneath for somebody else’s car. My friend was pretty pissed about that… But left for basic training not very long after. A few years later the township made his step-dad clear out his property, so everything he had got crushed and recycled by the local scrapyard. It’s just another boring subdivision, now…
At my first job out of college, boss had a ’78 504D Automatiqúe, which we could use for parts runs, etc. around town. In several previous, but similar workplaces, these duties had always been handled by really large American Iron, so this was my first exposure to the French take on automatic mobility. A few impressions:
1. The ride was unbelievably, supremely smooth and comfortable. You didn’t feel any indication of the road surface below you, it just passed silently underneath as you floated mere inches above it. The suspension system, of course, played a large part in this, but the seats helped, as well. The seats! Covered in butter soft leather, and padded with some type of foam material that hadn’t actually been invented for another two decades, those thrones were at once completely supportive, and entirely insular from any external interferance. When the boss eventually decided to scrap the car, rather than repair the cracked cylinder head, I was able to score the front seats for my buddies ’79 Toyota FJ40 Land Cruiser. The improvement in ride quality that those seats afforded the Toyota, was nothing short of miraculous.
2. Acceleration was never a problem in that car, as it had none. I coined the metric of “advancement” to describe how rapidly the car would move you about the roadways. When attempting to drive as quickly as possible, you would find, at any given point in time, that you were, in fact, somewhat farther down the road than you had been at any previous point in time. You had undeniably “advanced” your position in space, so by that measure, it had to be accepted that the car was “in motion”. Anyone actually concerned with how much time it took to realize useful gains in distance travelled, need not apply.
3. Electrical switchgear/componentry was everything they had been hyped up to be: Crap. I recall that alternator replacement was a regular maintenance item, on a schedule similar to that of checking the (tyre?) pressures, and cleaning the ashtray. Also, Peugeot apparently didn’t believe in the punitive practice of placing switch “blanks”, reminding you where the controls of options you did not pay for, might have been. They went ahead and installed every possible one during construction, leaving future drivers to discover what, if any, effect the various and sundry knobs and switches would have. Plenty of time was afforded this discovery, however, see item (2), above.
In all, a very pleasant car to drive (Oh! Except in winter… Miserable heater.) No doubt its performance helped shape American’s love affair with diesel passenger cars for years to come…
Hi Everyone,
I am from Canada, and I have a mint 76′ 504 Diesel Wagon. I am getting a lot of chatter from the vacuum pump and I need to have it replaced. Does anyone know where I can order a new (or used) vacuum pump? I have had absolutely no luck in North America.
Trapezoidal lights, or a double set of rounds? I am reminded that in the UK, British Leyland offered the ill-fated Princess with both.