It is, most likely, one of the most emblematic cars of the 24 Hours of TT Vila de Fronteira. Not only for the 11 participations that he has already taken in the only race in which he lines up, which celebrates 20 editions this year, but also and mainly, for the way he faces one of the highest moments of the national off-road season – with adventurous spirit, relaxation, lots of fun and, by the way, trying never to get in the way. Something that, by the way, only once happened to this already iconic Peugeot 504.
“It all started in 2006,” recalls Joaquim Serrão, the patriarch (the team also includes his son, António Serrão, responsible for the team and navigator in some competitions), “when we were watching Baja de Castelo Branco and a friend told me that he had a 504 tipper van, which had come from France, and that he was going to use only the tipper and destroy the rest of the van. At the time, I already had a company that assembles stands, I had a lot of material, and, with two other partners, Luis Guerra da Silva and Fernando Sebastião, we kept the van. Result: the conversation took place in September and in November I was already participating, for the first time, with 504, in Fronteira”.
A car that even today, 11 years later, is still of origin (only the chassis had to be reinforced), keeping, for example, the Indenor 2.3 liter turbo block delivering the “roaring” power of 90 hp, with a four-speed gearbox in the steering wheel, the 1987 504 became particularly well known, however and in particular from 2009 onwards.
When, looking to find funds to help pay for his participation in the Alentejo race, Joaquim Serrão decided to implement a strategy similar to the one he had seen in a Belgian Sport Prototypes driver, selling small advertising squares on the car's body, for just €10. “And the truth is that, nowadays, we already have so many advertisers, that you can even pay for the wine! (laughter)…".
When a Peugeot 504 warms up with Minde blankets…
However, after achieving recognition as “the car of the squares”, a new (inadvertent) marketing action would further elevate the success of this 504 – the Minde blankets.“It all started with a partner of mine, Luis Guerra da Silva, who remembered to cut to pieces a Minde blanket he had there because, as a joke, to serve as a cover for heating the tyres. The truth is that the thing has caught on and, nowadays, we can't forget to put on the blankets, because someone will soon ask for them. However, at the time, the thing almost ended in divorce, since the original blanket had been a gift from my partner's mother-in-law to his wife. That when she found out what her husband had done, she almost put him out of the house… ”.
Only one withdrawal in 10 years
The protagonist of countless stories, the Peugeot 504 is, however, also one of the examples of reliability, in what is one of the toughest off-road tests. Having, only once in 10 consecutive participations, he did not reach the end of the Alentejo race.
“It was in 2013, at a time when my partner, Luís Guerra da Silva, was driving. Suddenly, he sent a 'fruit' in the back of a car that was going ahead, which was stopped due to dust, which almost ended the race right there. However, we were still able to bring the van to the assistance, we were tired of working on it, but it was no longer possible to retrieve it in time to be able to finish.”
Even so, “never, in 10 years, did we have to be towed!” he concludes. Ah, great 504!…