Peugeot 505: Only reliable in other parts of the world? | Articles

Story by Nick Pon

Introduced in 1979, the Peugeot 505 became one of the most iconic models for the French automaker. Globally, the 505 is known for its robust build quality and excellent suspension, making it popular in various global markets. In Africa, especially, the durability of the 505 is the stuff of legend. 

Meanwhile, here in the States, the 505 is no less weird than any other French car, and it has a reputation for unreliability. Seeing one in the wild is a rare occurrence. 

There are various reasons for the Peugeot 505’s relative obscurity in the American market, including a limited dealer network, meager advertising efforts and, probably, the existence of the Honda Accord. It’s a mystery how a 505 can cover a million miles as an African taxi while being considered mechanically flaky by the average Yankee. 

Seattle-area Lemons team French Foreign Legion Action Team figured a car couldn’t be simultaneously indestructible and fragile, so they decided to bet their racing future on the Africans being right. Despite immediate evidence of flaws in that logic (their 1985 505 was found dead and abandoned on a llama farm), the team pushed forward with the Lemons build. 

The car had been parked due to some issue with the fuel injection, so the team (a collection of old motorcycle buddies) did what any sensible gearheads would do: Slap on a random Weber carburetor stolen from a VW-powered trike. Amazingly, the car fired right up, with at least some of the fire happening inside the engine. 

To say it ran well would be a vast exaggeration, but the fact that it was running at all was a huge improvement from the llama pasture. Inspired by this success, the team began to work on adapting a set of four bike carbs to the 505. 

Knowing that the Peugeot’s 2.0-liter four had 500cc of displacement per cylinder, they figured any bike with a single carb feeding a 500cc cylinder would be in the ballpark. Ultimately, they found a 1000cc Yamaha V-Twin with twin carbs and grabbed two sets for the 505. A custom intake manifold was fabricated, and the Yamaha carbs were fitted with assorted supporting bits from eBay. 

After some careful tuning, the 505 now runs smoother than ever. Although lap records remain (highly) safe, the car has completed seven Lemons races without a DNF, finally achieving at least a portion of the reliability that made this car (in some places) famous.

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