BACK FOR GOOD

Thanks to a sensational reproduction of the shooting-brake show car, Pininfarina's full set of two-door Peugeot 504s is reunited at last

- MARTIN BUCKLEY

In the now long-lost heyday of leading styling house Pininfarina, one of the firm's most important commercial relationships was with Peugeot. Beginning with the 403 of 1955, the Turin-based carrozzeria created a succession of refined designs that perfectly complemented the personality of the restrained, well-engineered products of Sochaux - vehicles so beloved of the more conservative elements of the French middle classes.

The 1968 Peugeot 504 saloon - voted Car of the Year for 1969 - continued a tradition established with the 404 by selling in huge numbers (more than 2.8 million by 1982), and providing the basis for elegant coupé and convertible variations with bodies not only designed but also constructed by Pininfarina.

Aldo Brovarone was responsible for the saloon, but the Coupé and Cabriolet models are retrospectively attributed to Franco Martinengo, who had worked with Farina since the 1920s and was due to retire in 1970.

His handsome Peugeot twins were a fine note on which to end a career. With quad rectangular headlights, clean surfaces and curved hips, these gracefully understated designs were an instant hit with both the Peugeot management - which agreed to productionise the cars on first sight of the Coupé prototype - and the public, which bought almost 35,000 of them across a 13-year run. Of the vehicles Pininfarina was contracted to build during this particularly busy period, only the Fiat 124 and Alfa Romeo Spiders (both marketed in North America, unlike the Farina 504s) sold in greater numbers.

Based on a 7in-shorter wheelbase than the four-door-but still four-seaters of sorts - these flagship two-doors were launched at Geneva in 1969 and priced roughly half as much again as the most expensive fuel-injected 504 saloon.