Peugeot 604 (1982) – In the Wild

For the last (and only the second) Peugeot 604 that ever appeared in this section, we have to go back to May 2020. When we were all mostly indoors, Michiel Hartzuiker ventured outside and found a red 604 from 1979. That was a more elegant example than the 604 that our highly esteemed colleague Lars recently encountered. We are dealing with a Peugeot 604 STI and that was a slightly sportier version.

Let’s say that the Peugeot 604 never really had a sporty character, although the six-cylinder PRV in its stately nose did produce a nice hum. The 604 STI had a slightly sportier touch with special alloy wheels and thanks to the injection, the power of 144 hp was also slightly higher than with the earlier carburetor 604s. This copy also has an automatic transmission and from now on it was one from ZF instead of GM. Ultimately, a real 604 GTI would come onto the market in 1984, which essentially expanded on this STI. It was even stronger with 155 hp, because the V6 grew from a 2.7 to a 2.8.

As you can see in the photo above, the Peugeot 604 is still quite a stately appearance today. This copy has clearly seen some life. We see, among other things, partly loose bumper strips and the characteristic wheels are no longer very fresh. Yet these seem to be things that can be put right with not too much effort. The most important thing is that the 604 does not yet show any alarming rust spots. His owner apparently takes quite good care of it and has been doing so since 2002! We take our top hats off to someone who keeps such a special piece of French automotive history on the road.