19 Facts About Peugeot 604

Peugeot 604 is an executive car produced by the French manufacturer Peugeot from 1975 to 1985.

Pininfarina-designed Peugeot 604 was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1975 and drew praise for its formal, handsome styling.

Sochaux-built 604 represented Peugeot's first entry into the market segment for executive cars since the 1930s.

The drive to enter a product in this class came from the increased affluence of the French market which Peugeot 604 felt could accommodate a car more expensive than the 504.

The Peugeot 604 had unusually wide opening doors which made entry and egress very easy for users.

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Peugeot 604 made a profit on each car made, primarily because of the shared tooling and engineering with the 504, but the car ceased production without an immediate successor.

Peugeot 604 was introduced during the recession caused by the 1973 energy crisis, which created a marketplace that was even more unfriendly to large-engined cars in France.

Today the Peugeot 604 is a rare automobile in United Kingdom - there are only 17 that are road-legal as of the second quarter of 2014.

Peugeot 604 was launched in March 1975, at the Geneva Motor Show.

In 1977, the Peugeot 604 was launched in the US in carbureted V6 SL trim, with twin rectangular headlights and larger bumpers.

In 1980 the Peugeot 604 underwent a minor facelift, featuring a new rear-view mirror, while the bonnet badge was removed, the indicators were changed to orange, and there was a new plastic dashboard and gearstick.

From January 1981, the automatic gearboxes used in the Peugeot 604 were no longer sourced from General Motors' factory in Alsace, but rather from ZF in Germany.

In 1982, the carburetted base Peugeot 604 SL was discontinued and in 1983 the TI and GRD Turbo versions were removed from the lineup; this left only the STi and SRD Turbo.

Peugeot 604 is noted for being the first production turbodiesel car to be sold in Europe, the Mercedes-Benz 300 SD having been marketed in North America since 1977.

The test concluded the Peugeot 604 was faster at cornering than the BMW 528 and was quieter and more comfortable.

The only weak area was performance, the Peugeot 604 "not coming up the standards of excellence set by ride, handling and stopping ability".

Autocar's long-term test in 1977 of the Peugeot 604 SL concluded it was very refined, let down mainly by the design of the front seats and minor mechanical defects.

Whilst the Peugeot 604 received commendation for its ride, "superb" headlamp performance, the comfort of the rear passenger compartment and the generously-sized boot, it lost out to the Royale which was viewed as a more rounded overall design.

The Peugeot 604's driving position, and in particular the design of the seat-runners and cushion, were singled out for particular criticism.