50 Hearty Cheers to Peugeot 504 at 50!!!

Fifty years ago a car was launched that heralded the birth of the stylish, high-quality cars that Peugeot is famous for today. 

The Peugeot 504 is a large family car manufactured by French automaker Peugeot between 1968 and 1983, with licensed production continuing until 2006.

The Peugeot 504 is a mid-size, front-engine, rear wheel drive automobile manufactured and marketed by Peugeot for model years 1968-1983 over a single generation, primarily in four-door sedan and wagon configurations — but also with two-door coupe, convertible and pickup truck variants.

The 504 was noted for its robust body structure, long suspension travel, and torque tube drive shaft — enclosed in a rigid tube attached at each end to the gearbox housing and differential casing, relieving drive train torque reactions. The 504 ultimately achieved widespread popularity in far-flung rough-terrain countries — including Brazil, Argentina, Australia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Benin, Kenya and Nigeria.

More than three million 504s were manufactured in its European production, with production continuing globally under various licensing arrangements — including 27,000 assembled in Kenya and 425,000 assembled in Nigeria, using knock-down kits — with production extending into 2006.

Having debuted as Peugeot's flagship at the 1968 Paris Salon, the 504 received the 1969 European Car of the Year. In 2013, the LA Times called it "Africa's workhorse.