Peugeot said adieu to the United States in 1991, a few years after Renault threw in the towel here (Citroën departed after 1973 and Simca after 1971), but one French car managed to make a stand against German and Japanese sport sedans on American roads for a while in the 1980s: the Peugeot 505
While the 505 Turbo was plenty quick for its time, I thought the 240 mph speedometer seemed a trifle optimistic. Then I realized that I was looking at k
A gray-market import, brought over by some Peugeot aficionado and converted to US-spec headlights at great expense? A glance at the door jamb proved otherwise; this car was originally sold in Canada, then moved south at some later date. I see the occasional car that started out in Mexico or Canada in Colorado junkyards, including a Chevrolet Chevy
The 1985 BMW 325e sedan offered 121 horsepower for $21,105, while your friendly Peugeot dealer offered the 505 Turbo sedan for just $18,150 with this 2.2-liter engine making 150 horses (those prices come to about $52,615 and $45,250, respectively, in 2021 dollars). Mitsubishi
The ashtray takes up more real-estate than just about any dash feature, but you need big ash capacity when both front-seaters are chaining unfiltered Gitanes during long road trips.
An automatic transmission was available, but most North American 505s got the correct five-speed manual.
All Peugeots sold in North America were far more comfortable than their competition, even if reliability wasn’t so great and replacement parts were hard to obtain. I had a Peugeot 504 daily-driver
This being Colorado, owners of old Subarus are always on the lookout for Peugeot 504s and 505s in junkyards. Why? Because only rear-wheel-drive Peugeots and pre-1990s Subarus use the super-oddball 4x140mm wheel bolt pattern, and the Subaru freaks have a rough time finding good aluminum wheels for their BRAT
This lifted mid-1980s Subaru 4WD wagon distinguished itself last summer during the Rocky Mountain Breakdown 24 Hours of Lemons Rally
You’ll find one in every car. You’ll see.