In my opinion the Peugeot 504 pickup is one of the most underrated trucks of all time – and one of the hardest working too.
Based on the 504 saloon (1969 -1982), the pickup derivative only arrived on the scene in 1979 as a direct replacement for the 404 pickup. The saloon and estate had already developed a reputation for reliability and longevity – and the pickup only enhanced this standing. Although it sold well in Europe, the truck really excelled in Africa. Here its unburstable mechanicals and good ground clearance combined to make it the perfect workhorse. In fact, it even had considerable rallying success on the African continent in the early and mid 1980s – competing in the Paris-Dakar among other races.
While European production finished in the early 1990s (a decade after the demise of the passenger carrying derivatives), incredibly they are still being built in Kenya.
This is the cover of a late 1980s British sales brochure.