Today we take another trip across to Europe to look at something built 50 years ago, a car which you may well not have heard of. It still arguably deserves a second of your time, not least because of the great work done by Pininfarina – transforming an ungainly hatchback into a car with a design pretty enough to take on some of the best in the business.

Obviously, a nice profile isn’t going to count for everything – so luckily the car we’re looking at offers up something a little different to the usual suspects, never straying too far from its humble beginnings, it instead appeals perhaps for what it isn’t.

Borne out of Peugeot’s desire to appeal to more audiences, the coupe and convertible added to the 504 lineup, which included a sedan, station wagon, and a pickup variant.

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Peugeot 504 Coupe Born From A Bland Saloon

Via: leboncoin
Via: leboncoin

Although it wasn’t beautiful, the standard 504 was a big seller for French automaker Peugeot, the sedan and station wagon were capable workhorses praised for the refinement, drivetrain, and ability of the chassis under the new body.

It was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 1968 and won European Car of The Year by 1969.

All cars were rear-wheel drive with 4 or 5-speed manuals and a 3-speed automatic option too, on some models rear disc brakes were fitted. An initial 1.8-liter petrol engine with 80hp was later joined by a 2-liter with 95hp or 105hp.

There were diesels too, but overall, from today’s perspective, all the engines were adequate rather than quick, although refinement was high in these cars, and they were reliable.

For the coupe and the convertible, the styling was heavily changed, with a much sleeker profile, and later around 1974 they were both given new life in the form of the fuel-injected 2.7-liter V6s as an option - which, while costly, bumped up performance.

The coupe, which was more rigid than the convertible and arguably more attractive, has a similar style to cars like the Ferrari-engined Fiat Dino and the Fiat 124 Sport Coupe.

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Via: caradvice
Via: caradvice

135hp and a 115mph top speed don’t sound like much and the coupe wasn’t a racing car by any stretch of the imagination, but back in 1975, 46 years ago, this engine was quick enough.

This V6 engine, also known as the PRV engine (Peugeot Renault Volvo), was also featured in many other cars like the Alpine A310, Venturi Atlantique, and the DMC DeLorean to name just a few - even the Biturbo Safrane from Renault.

In any case, here, it would still have been 25hp more powerful than the infamous Iron Duke in its most powerful iteration (which would come out some 7 years later).

Unfortunately for the US, the sole petrol engine offered there was the 82hp 2-liter, which was a little wheezy - and more in line with that Iron Duke.

Overall, the 504 sold massively, around 3 million, around the world, succeeding in harsh environments like South America, Australia, Kenya, and Nigeria among many others, due to its strength and reliability.

The coupe sold much less, 100 times less, so it’s worth a reasonable amount today, with 35,000 dollars being a realistic figure for a well-sorted example, as per a search on the French classifieds site leboncoin.

Sources: drive.com.au, irishtimes.com, Wikipedia