To what standards should a luxury car be judged?
Blacktop pondered this question as contributor Pete Murray whisked us between photo locations in Liverpool. Scurrying around city landmarks for the sole purpose of glorifying an obscure Peugeot was a conceit to make de Certeau proud.
Ensconced in the Dralon armchairs, the 604 tackled the cobbles of the city centre with aplomb. Never completely removed from the action, you were aware of their presence but never bothered by it. Only the grizzling odd fire V6 detracted from our progress.
The 604 cemented itself in Pete’s affections at an early age. The late Murray Senior ran a Peugeot dealership in the seventies, and ran an early model as a personal car. Contemporary magazines spoke highly of the Peugeot. A 1980 issue of CAR rated it above a Rolls Royce and Jaguar for ride quality. Many modern luxury cars would struggle to better the 604’s supple ride and delicate handling – even if in absolute terms the Peugeot would be left for dead. Should a £1500 604 and a £70k + air sprung Mercedes S-Class be spoke of in the same sentence? That shows you the depth of the 604’s ability.
Riding on unfashionably high profile 15” wheels, it has features Blacktop until recently associated with much younger machines. Global closure, anyone? Add a comprehensive range of equipment, simple but robust interior fixtures, a surprising turn of speed and a spectacularly disdainful handbook – and you have a 27 year old barge capable of crossing Europe with ease. It’s a tragedy Britain never took the 604 to its heart – but large French cars have never sold well here. It would be much happier plying the Routes Nationales between albums on the 8 track, the self emptying ashtray full of Gitanes butts. In Metrocolor, obviously. Far more appropriate than skulking between the Liver buildings with Radio 2 playing the Titanic OST. Not that this ever actually happened.
A bluff 3 box shape of almost childlike simplicity, the model marked the zenith of the rear wheel drive French luxury car. It certainly looked like the product of another decade when Pete’s 1983 year model was built, originally to Australian market specification. At some point its original peppermint green was blown over with a Jaguar shade closely resembling the notorious PSA Diablo Red. Originally registered to the Peugeot plant in Ryton when the order from Down Under was cancelled, it spent many years in the hands of a reclusive East Anglian car collector working in London.
Murray found the car via a fellow 604 owner. An eight hour round trip to Diss saw it back in his native Merseyside, and after a long and protracted restoration (in which more and more filler was found) it returned to roadworthy status after a long absence. With an Mk 2 Escort project to finish, Pete decided to let the Peugeot go. Thus did the luxury car lose to the rally weapon. A new owner was soon found on eBay, and one of the very few 604s still extant will live on. ‘Had I not saved it’, Pete opines, ‘it would have been scrapped without a doubt.’
Now you know the story behind the car atop Blacktop’s banner. Long may it waft into the distance, its occupants unperturbed.
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