Peugeot had a great history with station wagon vehicles, and its predecessor, the 504, was praised for its ride qualities and reliability.
The French carmaker introduced the 505 in 1979 as a replacement for the aging 504, which remained in production in several countries until 1983. But in 1982, Peugeot introduced a station wagon version for the 505, which had to match, or exceed, the customers' expectations. And it did.
Larger, more refined, and more powerful, the 505 was a big success for the French carmaker, although not as big as its predecessor. In the station wagon shape, it featured an extended rear overhang to make room for more loading areas and passengers as well. The car shared the same front fascia as the sedan, with its angry-looking headlights and black plastic grille.
The interior featured up to eight seats, face-forwarding, one more than on the 504 station wagon. It was a cheaper, and sometimes better, alternative to the new minivan market. At the front, the carmaker installed a modern-looking dashboard, with a raised area in front of the driver for the instrument cluster, but with rounded corners and edges. On the center stack, Peugeot installed the vents on the upper side, followed by the climate control sliders and the stereo. In the back, the 505 station wagon featured folding seats for the middle row and an additional flat-folding bench in the trunk. The total loading volume reached 1,940 liters (68.5 cu-ft) of space, with only the front seats kept in running order.
The carmaker offered the 505 with a wide choice of engines and transmission. A French subcontractor, Dangel, built a successful range of 4x4 models with an increased ground clearance and locking rear differential.
Produced between 1979 and 1992, the Peugeot 505 was a 4-door sedan with a difficult legacy.
While it was designed to replace the already dated Peugeot 504, its predecessor was the most successful model of Peugeot. Even if they shared most of the underpinnings, the 505 never achieved the sensational sales figures of the 504, at least not in Europe.
While the exterior design was the work of Pininfarina, the interior was designed by Paul Bracw, an automotive designer remarked for his work at Mercedes-Benz, BMW and others.
The last Peugeot’s rear-wheel-drive sedan, the 505 was available with a choice of gasoline and Diesel engines two different body styles: sedan or wagon. The wagon in the Familiale version could accommodate up to 8 occupants. The wagon later served as base for transforming it into a 4x4 ambulance.
Greatly praised for the incredible handling on rougher roads, the Peugeot 505 was very popular in the less developed countries. Other goodies that the Peugeot 505 offered were a power assisted steering and high ground clearance, as well a 4-wheel disc brakes on some models.
Peugeot had in plan to release both a coupe and a convertible version, however, the economic crisis affected them and the vehicles remained at a prototype stage.
Greatly known for their reliability, some of the Peugeot 505s managed to exceed 500,000 km.