This 505 4×4 was not manufactured by Peugeot themselves.
In 1979 Peugeot was replacing the very popular 504 range which (please see picture below) had seen service in Africa, Asia and Europe of course.
The replacement model was named Peugeot 505 and it was a large family car produced from 1979 to 1992 in Sochaux, France.
It was also manufactured in various other countries including Argentina (by Sevel from 1981 to 1995), China, Thailand (by Yontrakit Industrial Co. Ltd.), Indonesia and Nigeria. The 505 was Peugeot’s last rear-wheel drive car.
The 505 was praised by motoring journalists for its ride and handling, especially on rough and dirt roads; perhaps one reason for its popularity in less developed countries and it carried on the tradition of the 504 (which incidentally will be returning soon as the 504 Pure Electric).
In 1980, a private company called Automobiles Dangel decided to give the tough 505 the ability to go further. Automobiles Dangel is a French specialist automobile company based in Sentheim, Alsace. It has produced 4×4 versions of Citroën and Peugeot vehicles since 1980. Its first conversion was the Peugeot 504 and since then Dangel has converted over 22,000 vehicles. This was when this car in the picture was born.
It was powered with either the intercooled turbo-diesel 110hp engine or the 130hp 2.2 L petrol engine. The four-wheel drive 505 also had shorter gear ratios.
Over a few years, Dangel produced 500 units of this 505 4×4 vehicles and to our knowledge there were all left hand drive and not a single unit arrived in Malaysia.
Today in Malaysia, finding a stock 2-wheel drive 505 in good running condition is not easy, yes some are sitting with collectors who will not sell and some others are sitting outside workshops and sadly under some village houses rotting away.
If you can find a good running condition unit at an acceptable price, we suggest between RM8,000 and RM15,000 at the most, it might worth the effort to have it as a modern classic family car. The best version to own is of course the 505 GTi, Yes, Peugeot made a 4 door GTi and this version entered races in ‘touring car’ championship and IMSA Racing series.
The showroom 505 GTi was no slouch for its time. This large sedan was just 1,235kg and carried a naturally aspirated 4-cylinder engine. Producing 128bhp at 5,750rpm and 188Nm of torque at 4,250rpm, it could accelerate from 0-100km/h in 10 seconds and had a top speed of 185km/h. It was a rear wheel drive sedan with a 5-speed manual gearbox. It was in production from 1984 to 1989.
