Spotted lurking in one of the avenues at Bicester Heritage, oddly inconspicuous among the handful of supercars that did surround it, I waited until the end of the day for all of the other modern cars to move on and I grabbed a rare opportunity to get close to this replica of the 1975 Safari Rally winner.
Handled by Hanger 136, this Australian registered car has seen a substantial amount of strengthening work by Rally Torque for use in active competition. It has around 10 years of pedigree and has returned each time after completing a rally with its integral strength largely intact.
The 504 saloons carved out an impressive rally pedigree back in the 70s and were best known for long-distance events. It secured 12 podium places over seven years, mainly under a relatively modest backup from the manufacturer. Rally saloon cars were always fitted with 2-litre engines, the sight of 504 saloons raising the dust resonated deeply with African customers, who kept production going as recently as 2004.
