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Peugeot Brings Back the 504 as a Crazy Concept for Pikes Peak
Ari Vatanen’s breathtaking 1988 run up Colorado’s Pikes Peak in his Peugeot 405 T16 was a drive for the ages. It was celebrated in the glorious film Climb Dance, and now the French carmaker has come up with a fresh tribute.
Peugeot’s Design Lab has actually reached further into the firm’s back catalog and used the 1968 504 Break as the basis for this new challenger for the Race to the Clouds.
Of course it’s wider and lower than any 504 seen before, with bulging fender flares housing huge wheels with aero covers. A front splitter is set at an asphalt-scraping height, while there are also huge air intakes ahead of the rear wheels, suggesting a mid-engined layout. At the rear there’s a wing more suited to a Cessna.
Bizarrely there are no doors, perhaps to give spectators a look inside the pink plaid cockpit, or for the driver to get an uninterrupted view during a sideways ascent of the mountain. The pilot faces an unusual hypersquare steering wheel and minimal instrumentation. Three pedals and a stick shift are also exciting to see, and Peugeot speaks of a “boosted” powertrain, which could mean forced induction like Vatanen’s 405 or maybe a more modern take with the boost coming from batteries.
You”ll also notice the number 113 on the bumpers and roof, which is a nod to the French hiphop group 113 who famously featured a 504 in the video for their hit Tonton du Bled (Uncle from the Country) and even drove it onto the stage of the National Music Awards in 2000.
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The chances of this crazy concept ever actually making it to the road, let alone to Pikes Peak itself are slim, but it’s all the excuse we need to watch Vatanen in action once again.
I really hope they just had the doors off of it to show off the interior…. Nobody wants to run Pikes Peak when they can touch the road
Oh no, it lost the race. It’s already had it’s doors blown off.
Nobody?
I can’t imagine this thing running on a track without doors on it. It kind of looks like something that came from Hoonigan.
I loved my Peugeot back in the day. Of course, it didn’t look like this–just a sedate mom-mobile wagon! Also leased a 3008 in 2021 for 4000 miles running around Europe. It also didn’t look like this one.
Nik, Thanks for bringing us this article, for providing a look at things to come from Europe and, of course for giving us an opportunity to again experience the great Climb Dance!
As a Race Officiaal for the hill climb, I am hoping to see this on the peak sometime soon.