Peugeot 304

The Peugeot 304 is a small family car that Peugeot manufactured and marketed from 1969 to 1980, introduced at the Paris Motor Show in September 1969. Peugeot noticed a gap in the mid-size market in France, Italy and the rest of Western Europe and used the midsection of the smaller 204 to keep development costs down, so the Pininfarina styled car made extensive use of 204 body and mechanical parts. It sat in the 7CV tax category, between the 204 at 6CV and the 404 at 9CV. It launched as a four-door saloon with an all-alloy SOHC four-cylinder 1,288 cc petrol engine, a diesel option followed in 1976, and Peugeot built more than 120,000 diesel 304s. The saloon ended in summer 1979 and the Break estate in spring 1980, with the 305 as its replacement. A version meeting United States federal standards was built from June 1970 to July 1972, selling 4,269 cars in total.