Rescuing a $750 Peugeot, the untold story

"Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy" (zipppyart) 08/16/2015 at 20:15 • Filed to: Peugeot 505, 505, Peugeot

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It was 11 AM on a lovely Friday morning, 7th of August, resting from a week of planning, and I get a call from my Peugeot owner-to be, slash, friend. Here is the story of how we rescued a 505, from 1987, with the splendid PRV V6 also found in so many cars, including the famous DeLorean DMC-12, Volvo 960 and Renault 25.

“Come on over to my place, man!” he exclaimed over the phone, “We’re gonna pick up my car!” like a child on Christmas day. So I got my breakfast, and fired up the trusty family car, a Jetta TDI.

Once I made my way over there, and all great and ready, I spotted our tow vehicle, a beat to hell Dodge Dakota, parked in front ready for action by noon. Perfect. Two of his friends were there too, one of which owns the truck.

From there, we just tossed all the tools, (and not just just all the tools, ALL THE TOOLS) in the Jetta’s trunk, and set off to the other end of town to pick up our dolly/trailer from UHaul. I was the support vehicle for this trip. Once we got to the front desk, we found out they didn’t get our reservation through, and refused a car transport rental.

With UHaul burnt out, and without anyone else available, we had basically no other choice, and drove to the car’s location at a nearby town anyway, and decided to figure it out there. Quite an uneventful drive, although quite a sight spotting the owner’s blue 505 Turbo S headed the other way on other business, before meeting an hour later. and also the fact that I was being ‘pursued’ by what looked like could send my plucky German oil burner into the ditch with the slightest nudge. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Roads were suprisingly empty, and we got there fairly quickly, despite a slowpoke in a dinky, stereotypical Korean car holding up traffic closer to our destination. But hey, our vehicles are far from underpowered, and overtook that hindrance with ease.

And here we are, at long last. We see the car encrusted in dust, fresh out of the barn for about a week, the first time in probably a year, parked next to one of the owner’s other 505’s, a white turbo wagon. This man sure loves his 505’s. The one we’re scooping up has been sitting at a Peugeot mechanic’s front yard all week, and he has about 10 other 505’s sitting. At this time, around 3:00-ish, our truck driver has to set off for something more important than scooping a car, work.

We loligag for 30 minutes and see the owner pull up in his minty turbo S. Here you can see the mechanic’s yard, who’s very fond of these cars, and has imported various European cars, majority of which are not in shot, former UK police van included, right hand drive and all. He even has a matching tow truck for his inventory. Snazzy.

Since the (now-former) owner somehow misplaced the title, we made a trip to the local DMV to get that all sorted. He took the wagon this time.

After they get the title transfer and registration stuff done, he comes up to me asks me a few questions about the TDI before we head back, and I gladly answer them, quite a nice dude. The reason he’s held on to 505’s up to this point is that they’re basically the best vehicles he’s ever driven, bar none, despite the ‘annoying’ quirks, which he claims adds to the ‘personality’ of the car. Nothing that’s new compares to how good they are, even a modern Volkswagen that can get 40 miles per gallon on average.

Right, back to my adventure.

Once we get back to the yard, we decided, “Screw it, we’re driving this thing home”, and applied the temporary license to the windshield and set off with me closely behind, but not before a photo.

Once the car pulled out onto the road for the first time in years, (with his friend in the passenger seat) the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! (later found out be a bad grounding point) made me burst out laughing. Car held up well, despite an occasional misfire, and an exhaust leak that made it sound like a nondescript Nissan coupe (if you get that reference, good for you, and here’s your cookie).

After driving for 15 minutes, the car had to pull over. Did it catch fire? Engine blow? tie rod snap?

Nope. Wheels were out of balance and were under-torqued. Hmm...

Fortunately, we had a torque wrench handy, and tightened all 4 corners up.

Driving for another 30 minutes around remote towns on a low fuel light looking for a station that wasn’t closed at 5 PM on a Friday, we finally found one. Big thank-you to the Francis family, who had a station open that offered both diesel and gasoline in the middle of nowhere.

After refueling, we finally went home with no other issues. !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , OppositeTalk once we got into town. Pat yourself on the back, whomever you are on the Kinjaverse!

We stopped at his friend’s house to drop him off, and saw a motherlode of Nissan S-chassis cars, collectively owned by him and his brother, and they’re always tweaking something on the SR20s that power them. From this drive, he is now convinced that he should get one of these Peugeots down the line. I also ‘get’ them now too, snappy handling with plenty of body roll, and a peppy V6 that doesn’t stop pulling. Also, looks. Lots and lots of puzzled looks. Glamour shot below as part of a shoot I’m currently editing.

Once we finally got home, I found a fuel leak coming from the filler neck, and proceeded make a checklist in my mind of what aspects of French weirdness came with the car and other nonsense:

Occasional misfire (bad spark cables, fuel filters, and something else?)

Slow wipers (bad grounds?)

Exhaust leaking right after the catalytic converter (screws broken off)

Fluid leak under the car (power steering leaking?)

Filler neck leak (see evidence on passenger side rear QP?)

A/C needs a recharge (any leaks?)

Turn signals don’t work 100% (hazard light switch flaky?)

Cruise control not working (bad contacts on the switch?)

Brakes squealing (bad pads?)

Drivers headlight dim (chrome coating faded?)

Clearcoat faded (well, duh?)

Seat stitching undone (seriously?)

Grille faded (um..)

Flaky taillights (yeah, I’m done.)

Otherwise though, car rides buttery smooth, interior is very cozy, all this is in a car that only sold 4,000 units in its final year of being in North America, and was bought for $750, a steal. Being born in Argentina, my friend, who is referred to as “Santi”, lurks Oppo under the tag “ !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ”, loved these cars since, well, always, and are still a staple in his hometown after 30 or so years.

This car is one of 3 in the urban area of Ottawa, ON as far as I can tell, and I saw the other two this past week, and these cars are quite rare to see. If you ever see one on the road, or one for sale, give them a shot. You do not know what you are missing.

And that concludes the story of how we rescued a classic Peugeot, and the start of Santi’s Peugeot ownership adventures. Santi’s blog is available !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 08/16/2015 at 20:26

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NSU?

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > Jordan and the Slowrunner, Boomer Intensifies 08/16/2015 at 20:27

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Yes.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 08/16/2015 at 22:06

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.....NSU Ro80?!?!? :D

DasWauto > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 08/16/2015 at 22:09

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I added your friend to Oppo so he can post updates as well.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 08/16/2015 at 22:12

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Great ride! Would love one with a manual trans. someday! :)

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/16/2015 at 22:53

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He will trade for a manual one in a few months.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/16/2015 at 23:00

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Yessir.

pip bip - choose Corrour > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 08/17/2015 at 03:54

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NSU Ro80.

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > DasWauto 08/17/2015 at 05:09

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Alright, excellent.

BATC42 > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 08/17/2015 at 07:07

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Now, just Bi-Turbo that engine, and you’ll have a wolf in a sheep’s clothing. (The Safrane Bacara Biturbo as well as the Venturi Atlantique used a bi turbo version of the PRV V6, 281hp in the Venturi).

Here ’s a guy who put the 24 valves version of the engine in its 505.

Back in the day (in France), quite a number of people would use the 505 to tow, caravans, rally cars you name it! A friend of my father used to have a 505 V6 that he would use to tow his Simca 1000 when going to a rally.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 08/17/2015 at 08:53

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Is that a Peugeot 205 commercial van I see back there...?

Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 08/17/2015 at 13:01

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Yes you are.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > Zipppy, Mazdurp builder, Probeski owner and former ricerboy 08/17/2015 at 14:00

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Pretty neat, and definitely not as common in Canada! :D Just needs a 205 GTi drivetrain swap! ;)