Peugeot 104

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Peugeot 104
Manufacturer	PSA Group
Production	1972-1988
Successor	Peugeot 205
Class	Supermini
Body style(s)	2-door sedan 4-door sedan 3-door hatchback 5-door hatchback
Layout	FF layout
Engine(s)	1.0 L Douvrin I4
Related	Citroën LN Citroën Visa Talbot Samba
Designer	Paolo Martin

The Peugeot 104 is a supermini designed by Paolo Martin and produced by the French automaker Peugeot between 1972 and 1988.

On its launch in 1972, the Peugeot 104 was not one of the first small hatchbacks produced in Europe, being a four-door sedan until a facelift in 1976, when the hatchback was added, making it easily the first with five doors. With power from 1.0 to 1.4 L engines, it gave good levels of economy and refinement as well as having an impressive chassis which made ride and handling excellent. Though the 104 was produced in various forms from 1972 to 1988, the heart of the car was the Douvrin engine / PSA X engine, (all alluminium alloy, chain driven overhead cam , with gearbox in the sump, sharing engine oil, mounted almost on its side), which was jointly developed with Renault. This transmission-in-sump arrangement, was similar to that pioneered by the British Motor Corporation in the Mini. The 104 was sold as a two and four-door hatchback or sedan, although the basic silhouette of the four door car was the same regardless of whether it had a separate boot / trunk or a full hatch-back: the two door hatchback sat on a shortened chassis.

Peugeot 104 was originally available only as a four door booted sedan. The hatchback version appeared four years later.

The 104ZS introduced in 1976 was promoted as the sporting Peugeot 104

By 1975, Peugeot had taken over Citroën, and the 104 bodyshell formed the basis of the 602 cc two-cylinder engined Citroën LN. This car was fitted with the more modern 652 cc engine of the Visa in 1983 to become the LNA, before production finally ceased in 1985. Following the acquisitions of Citroën in 1976 and Chrysler Europe in 1978, various rebadged versions of the 104 appeared. The Citroën version was known as the Citroën LN, while another version of the car (with more differentiated styling and featuring a cabrio version) was released as Talbot Samba, Talbot being the brand PSA used for the rebranding of former Chrysler Europe models. The mechanical configuration of the 104 was also used in the Citroën Visa.

The Peugeot 104 was one of the most successful European small cars of the 1970s but it was starting to show its age against more modern rivals by the turn of the 1980s. When Peugeot launched the stylish all-new 205 in 1983, the 104 was withdrawn from most European markets, including Britain. But it continued in France as a budget choice until production finally ceased in May 1988 after 16 years in which 1,624,992 Peugeots 104 were built.

[edit] External links

• Club 104 Peugeot