Introduction

The Peugeot 505 replaced the Peugeot 504 and became very popular as a large family car. The Peugeot 505 came in two designs, the 4-door saloon and the 5-door estate. The estate, also known as the station wagon consisted of eight seats and was very much similar in style to the Peugeot 504. This model gained a lot of popularity in many African countries and is used even today in many of these countries. It is popular by the name of ‘Work horse’ in these countries. Peugeot 505 was highly praised for its handling and ride. It had a solid road grip and could well be controlled in rough and un-made roads. This is a good reason of its popularity in under developed countries of Africa. The 505 estate model was also introduced in 4 wheel drive version in the 1980s. This version came in both diesel as well as the petrol engine. The diesel engine version was a 110 hp while the petrol one was a 130 hp. The European production of Peugeot 505 started to decline in 1987 and ceased completely in 1992 when it was replaced by the Peugeot 405 and Peugeot 605. In Africa though, the production of Peugeot 505 never stopped and is still being manufactured. Apart from Africa where Peugeot 505 gained a lot of popularity, the model was famous in many European countries as well as many other countries such as the United States, Australia, China and New Zealand. It became a popular taxi cab in many countries and especially in New York City where it was preferred over the other cars as a taxi cab. It is still used a taxi cab in most of the African countries. The Peugeot 505 served many different purposes in several European countries such as France and Germany where it was used as an Ambulance, a police car, a funeral car, and even as a military vehicle.

Dimensions

The Peugeot 505 saloon has a total length of 458 cm, width of 172 cm and a height of 145 cm. The car weighs more than 1300 kilograms.

Family Estate

The Peugeot 505 family estate version came with a total seating capacity of eight people and gained a lot of popularity as a large family car as well as well as a taxi cab. The model was a convenient choice for larger families and was thus preferred over its rivals. It had three rows of seats and was designed in such a way that the seats could be folded so that one could get a completely flat space of 1.94 cubic meters in the car. This allowed it to be used as a load carrier with a total load capacity of 590 kg. The model was competed by Renault 21 savanna and MPV/Minivan vehicles but it proved to be more popular than them.

Engine

The Peugeot 505 model was introduced in both the petrol as well as the diesel engine.
The diesel engines was offered in 4-cylinder with a different rage of horse power in them. The 2304 cc ‘XD2C’ was a 70 hp engine which attracted the world famous Ford Company and they acquired it for their Sierra model. The 2304cc ‘XD2S’ was 80 hp while the 2498cc ‘XD3T’ was a 95 hp engine and was used in the newer versions of the car. 2498cc ‘XD3T’ with an engine power of 108 hp was the last model of the car that came in the diesel version. It came with a turbo charger, electronic fuel injection and intercooler. The model was introduced in 1987.

The petrol engines were introduced with 4-cylinders and 6-cylinders. The engine was introduced in many varieties, the 1796 cc ‘XM7A’ with 4-cylinder capacity being the first one having an engine power of 80 hp. Improvements were made and different other models of the petrol engine were introduced in the later years having more strength and reduced fuel consumption. The strongest 4-cylinder engine was the 2165 cc having an engine power of 130 hp and was used in 505 GTI models. A 6-cylinder engine was introduced by the name of 2155cc N9T ‘Simca Type 180’ having an engine power of 142hp. 2849cc ‘ZN3J’ was the last model of 6-cylinder petrol engine with 170 hp and was used in 505 V6 models.