The Peugeot 505 was introduced in Britain in 1979, as a saloon and as an estate, replacing the very popular 504. It made a good impression on the press, and was widely reviewed very positively. The saloon was discontinued in 1990, and the estate in 1992. The estate was much more popular, since it had three rows of seats. Taxi drivers just loved the diesels, for they were torquey yet very economical.
They had various engines to choose from: 2.0, 2.2 4cyl and 2.8 6cyl petrol and 2.5 diesel or turbo diesel(the turbocharged one only on the later models, but strangely enough only in automatic). The 2.8 6cyl engine was quite beefy, its rear wheels were given a hefty 170 Bhp to play with, which produced 130 Mph and 0-60 in 8.5 seconds. Considering it's such a heavy car (nearly 2 tonnes), those specs are not bad at all.
Sadly they are rare to come along nowadays, and parts are quite expensive.
Dangel made 4X4 variations for the French police, fire squads and army, and about 2000 for the public. Dangel also created a few special editions, including 21 4X4 automatic turbo diesels, 13 mid-engined 505s and 3 505 V6s for rallies.