1984(ish) Peugeot 604 STI.

[petem]

My dad was a Peugeot dealer in the early '80s and I remember when I was young being totally in awe of the immense waftiness a 604 offered. They then slipped from my memory until a couple of years ago when Mr.D.Nutjob of this parish let me have a go of his gloriously beige early 604.

A few days later he told me of a 604 STI that needed a bit of welding, but was for sale.

After a year and a bit of mucking about, welders doing their thing and general faffage it made it back onto the road.

Here it is now, being enjoyed as daily wheels.





and for those of you who like to lounge in brown velour goodness, some money shots of the interior.





Mmmm. Retro.... It does ride very well indeed, and it turns out that Peugeot designed these to be a 3.5 litre V8, but the fuel crisis in the early '70s resulted in them having a mad half hour and chopping two cylinders off and making the PRV V6 2.7 lump. The 604 uses the same auto box as a Rover SD1 and has tons of space to fit a V8.

It would have been lovely with the V8 in, the 2.7 V6 is about the least satisfactory bit of the whole car, but it goes well enough.

If I could find the time, and didn't need to finish my Mk2 Escort off, I'd be dropping a 3.9 Rover V8 in this. It'd be pretty cool with a V8. Heigh-Ho. Can't win 'em all.

Oh, the reason it says 1984(ish) is because it was registered in '84, but appears to have been built in 1982.

[norniron]

I loved these as a kid... I'm jealous

[Foxy]

Awesome. I'm as green as the hulk with envy.

[Brian Damaged]

Fantastic! I haven't seen one on the road in years now. Daddy Damaged got given one by a work colleague about 20 years ago that had been sat in his front garden, even though it was only about ten years old at the time it was quite spectacularly rotten so unfortunately it got fragged.

Wouldn't be surprised if it spent the early part of its life as a Peugeot managment/fleet/press car with that 'KAC' Coventry registration.

Didn't they share the engine with the Volvo264/Renault 30/Alpine-Renault/Delorean??

[petem]

They do indeed share the same engine, and yup, I suspect it was originally Pug UK that registered it. It was owned by the same chap from '85 until I bought it.

This thing had some spectacular rot issues, but it's solid now. Still a few bubbles topside, but underneath it's all there.

[MK2VR6]

That's lovely indeed. Hope you have smeared waxoil in every last crevice!

[Stu]

Superb! Not seen one of those in years

[dbdb]

It's a lovely old thing this, the photos don't quite convey just how striking the styling is and how much 'street presence' the 604 has. The 604 looks like nothing else on the road and is really rather big! ;D

I have seen this car in Leigh, where it had lots of work done to the underside to bring it to it's current, very solid condition (we met Pete, mine was the blue XJ40). It seemed strange to see a 604 again, they're so rare now that it is the only one I have seen in at least fifteen years. Seeing it surprised me; I had forgotten how much I like them. It really is a lovely and unusual thing.

I did wonder about the year - hadn't Peugeot introduced the 604 GTI by '84?


David

[petem]

Apr 23, 2012 20:47:11 GMT dbdb said:

I did wonder about the year - hadn't Peugeot introduced the 604 GTI by '84?

Ah, 'ello David! Yup, from what I can gather and bits I've been told by the previous owner and his mechanic (who knows it inside out) this one was built in March '82 as RHD but it's not a UK spec car. Australian or South African market probably. It had a MPH speedo but stiff springs and shocks. They fitted the correct Euro spec waftamatic ones. As Mr B.Damaged spotted, it's a Coventry plate, and with the GTI being out it pretty much had to be Peugeot who registered it first. It can't have been an easy thing to flog a heavy duty suspension spec old model when the 604 didn't sell many in the first place.

For some reason Photobucket keeps blocking me from sharing the welding pics and I've got about 50 of 'em.

Your Jag is coming along nicely from what I can see. I'm still looking for a rear bumper for the XJR if you know anyone....?

[funkyhunk]

That looks like a real comfy cruiser. I'll bet it's really quiet and cozy inside too
I love it!

[robbie1961]

Beautiful car, I used to own a manual ti back in 1984, best riding car I ever owned, shame it rusted away so badly and so quickly. If you ever want to sell it let me know and I will cherish it forever and as original as possible.

Kind regards,
Rob

[düdo]

Looks like 'petem' hasn't posted for eighteen months so it might take a while to get a response. Maybe he's AWOL in all that greeny-beige-brown velour?

Anyway, good excuse to look at that nice old barge. The last time I saw one of these was in a French scrapyard about seven years ago. I sat inside and had a waggle on the steering wheel and flew back to the late 70s.
There's quite a few for sale in France on 'leboncoin.fr' if you don't mind sitting on the other side.

[peter96]

Brilliant. Seeing this reminds me of the early C4 Tour de France programmes as the Commissars always had them. Classic and Sportscar had one last month in a group test. Wouldn't mind one now or a.505 GTI.

[THE_Liam]

That is brilliant, never seen a road-legal one! What about the turboed PRV V6 from the Renault GTA/Alpine A610?

[grifterkid]

Mar 5, 2015 13:59:54 GMT peter96 said:

Classic and Sportscar had one last month in a group test...

Was it the one in this thread...?!

I will have to look at that particular C&SC when I get back from work but I'm sure it's the one we are looking at here...!!!

[peter96]

Could be. I'll have a nosey as well.

[GT4ME]

Cool car.

[retroade]

Three words that sum up that car percectly.....

....oooh la la!

[peter96]

Just had a look at last months C&SC and it is the same car. It's a great article and they even managed to find the Peugeots stablemate in the Talbot Tagora. Both must be nearly extinct by now.

[meltennis]

Apr 23, 2012 19:17:34 GMT petem said:

My dad was a Peugeot dealer in the early '80s and I remember when I was young being totally in awe of the immense waftiness a 604 offered. They then slipped from my memory until a couple of years ago when Mr.D.Nutjob of this parish let me have a go of his gloriously beige early 604.

A few days later he told me of a 604 STI that needed a bit of welding, but was for sale.

After a year and a bit of mucking about, welders doing their thing and general faffage it made it back onto the road.

Here it is now, being enjoyed as daily wheels.





and for those of you who like to lounge in brown velour goodness, some money shots of the interior.





Mmmm. Retro.... It does ride very well indeed, and it turns out that Peugeot designed these to be a 3.5 litre V8, but the fuel crisis in the early '70s resulted in them having a mad half hour and chopping two cylinders off and making the PRV V6 2.7 lump. The 604 uses the same auto box as a Rover SD1 and has tons of space to fit a V8.

It would have been lovely with the V8 in, the 2.7 V6 is about the least satisfactory bit of the whole car, but it goes well enough.

If I could find the time, and didn't need to finish my Mk2 Escort off, I'd be dropping a 3.9 Rover V8 in this. It'd be pretty cool with a V8. Heigh-Ho. Can't win 'em all.

Oh, the reason it says 1984(ish) is because it was registered in '84, but appears to have been built in 1982.