Peugeot 504 Ti Automatic

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Peugeot launched its conservative but well-engineered flagship 504 Saloon in at the 1968 Paris Salon.

Widely praised for its modern styling, solid build quality, chassis strength, smooth ride, good all-round visibility, strong engines and refinement, it went on to win the European Car of the Year award, narrowly beating the Jaguar XJ6 – very high praise indeed!

The roomy four-door was equipped with a 1796cc, four-cylinder engine with pushrod valves and an alloy head producing 97bhp at 5200rpm. Steering was via rack-and-pinion and the four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox (or three-speed automatic) featured a column change. All independent suspension was by McPherson struts at the front, with semi-trailing arms and coil springs at the rear. The 504 was also equipped with disc brakes all round.

After testing the new car in its native France, Autocar magazine (December 1968) said: “We place it among Europe’s finest touring cars.” The engine was enlarged to 1971cc in 1970 , and a voluminous estate was introduced to the range. A coupe and cabriolet version had also been introduced at the Geneva Salon in 1969, but their understatedly elegant Pininfarina bodies didn’t really come from the same mould.

In 1972, the column shift was substituted for an easier to negotiate floor-mounted unit and the injected car (the Ti) got more power - 106bhp. 1976 was the first year of the second series, easily identified by their flush door handles. There were no major differences, but plenty of subtle upgrades and design changes. In 1983, and after more than three million had been built, European production of the 504 series ended, though it would still carry on in Argentina, China and Kenya until 2001.

This November 1978 registered 504Ti is equipped with an automatic gearbox and shows a low mileage for its age of 38,764 miles. Although this figure cannot be warranted it is partially supported by 5 old MOTs spanning the period 1989 to 1994. Since this time the car has been on display in the Stondon Motor Museum, and although it is said to run and drive well, it would doubtless benefit from some precautionary checks before being returned to regular use.

A quietly interesting car for the individual, the 504Ti is a rare sight in Britain today (with just 25 still road registered according to DVLA figures) and provides characterful and comfortable motoring for not a lot of outlay.