Monday 20th July 2015

Peugeot 505 and VW Jetta GLI: Time For Tea?

America takes on mid-80s Euro saloons in a fantastically retro MotorWeek road test

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There's a playlist on MotorWeek's YouTube channel entitled 'Retro Reviews'; it is, unsurprisingly, absolutely brilliant. Want to know how the Porsche 928 first fared back in 1985? The original M5 perhaps? The 1982 road test of the Fiat X1/9 has video feature written all over it...

There are 179 clips in total, a few more of which will certainly feature in future. Who doesn't want to see '1983 944 vs. RX-7'? Exactly.

Anyway, this video is Peugeot 505 Turbo and VW Jetta GLI. Why? Because when was the last time you saw either of them in a video? This isn't a direct comparison, more an assessment of two similar cars but in different situations. It is crammed with gems of road test lingo from days gone by. Check out the "top notch" features of the VW for example, and the "international" appeal of the Poogeot.

There are quarter-mile tests, slalom runs, all the things you would expect from a road test, just in the 80s. And slower. But it's a joyous nostalgia fest, plus a great oppportunity to celebrate a pair of less spotted saloons. eBay surely beckons...

Watch it here.
 

 

[anonymous-user]

I've always thought the 505 was a good looking car.

Could they have found anyone more jambon-fisted to demonstrate the 505s interior?

Edited by abitlikefiennes on Monday 20th July 16:17

[burningdinos]

"Poo-geot"... that cracked me up. I doubt this pronunciation helped the sales...

[DoctorX]

abitlikefiennes said:

I've always thought the 505 was a good looking car.

Could they have found anyone more jambon-fisted to demonstrate the 505s interior?

Edited by abitlikefiennes on Monday 20th July 16:17

it's just a boxy saloon, but it somehow just looks so right.

[DoctorX]

abitlikefiennes said:

I've always thought the 505 was a good looking car.

Could they have found anyone more jambon-fisted to demonstrate the 505s interior?

Edited by abitlikefiennes on Monday 20th July 16:17

it's just a boxy saloon, but it somehow just looks so right.

[anonymous-user]

Some of those more recent videos are hard work to watch - terrible cheesy music with some bloke shouting over the top of it in a voice so strident it would make the announcer on the X-Factor blush. Interesting though, it'd be great if the BBC did the same so we could see Chris Goffey in his jumper telling us about the boot size of a Morris Marina.

[dandare]

I didn't know the 505 was rwd. It looks quite smart and classy. The dashboard wouldn't be out of place in a power station though.

[dandare]

I didn't know the 505 was rwd. It looks quite smart and classy. The dashboard wouldn't be out of place in a power station though.

[PunterCam]

DoctorX said:

abitlikefiennes said:

I've always thought the 505 was a good looking car.

Could they have found anyone more jambon-fisted to demonstrate the 505s interior?

Edited by abitlikefiennes on Monday 20th July 16:17

it's just a boxy saloon, but it somehow just looks so right.

Is there a saloon on sale these days that isn't just a box? No amount of pointy headlights and ste "lines" running down the side can make a car attractive.

The 505 looks elegant.

[anonymous-user]

I ran a 505 STI for a couple of years when I was a boy. 2.0 injection engine with a 105mph top speed. It was without doubt the most comfortable car I have ever owned. The best trick was demonstrating the brakes to my friends. If you stamped on the brakes at 70 - 80 mph you could actually defy gravity, your passengers floated in the belts, we used to call it the the spaceship moment! It never locked up, just slowed down at such a rate that you 'floated' inside the car. The seats were probably the best design ever, better than my sofa. It's a shame it rusted so badly that it wouldn't pass an MOT after a couple of years, I think I still have the plenum and K Jet meter in the shed somewhere. Without doubt the best all round car I have ever driven, not the fastest by a long way but definitely the most comfortable.

[DUMBO100]

My Dad had a Poogeot 505 Gli Estate in non metallic red, affectionately known as Post Pat's limo

[coppice]

Ah , the days when Peugeots weren't cheap and nasty white goods (which they became in early noughties - are they better yet ?). I loved the 404 - looked like a Morris Oxford but was the car of choice in Africa as it was indestructible and was also rallied successfully. 204 Coupe a sweet little thing ; 504 solid and quirky and 504 Coupe just gorgeous . 505 built on that theme and still svelte . I had a soft spot for the 604 too ;it had an amazingly comfortable ride and a pleasingly snarly V6 .

Just don't mention the risibly dreadful 206, the hideous 308 etc...

[dinkel]

dandare said:

I didn't know the 505 was rwd. It looks quite smart and classy. The dashboard wouldn't be out of place in a power station though.

Big and elegant car. Up for grabs today. Back in the days a local Merc dealer had one.

[confused_buyer]

Just 99 "active" 505's left in the UK according to "How Many Left".

It has aged extremely well in terms of looks.

[anonymous-user]

coppice said:

Ah , the days when Peugeots weren't cheap and nasty white goods (which they became in early noughties - are they better yet ?). I loved the 404 - looked like a Morris Oxford but was the car of choice in Africa as it was indestructible and was also rallied successfully. 204 Coupe a sweet little thing ; 504 solid and quirky and 504 Coupe just gorgeous . 505 built on that theme and still svelte . I had a soft spot for the 604 too ;it had an amazingly comfortable ride and a pleasingly snarly V6 .

Just don't mention the risibly dreadful 206, the hideous 308 etc...

Had to Google the 504 Coupe but it is lovely - very much like the 1970's Fiat Dino Coupe. Which neatly brings me onto another very handsome car, the Fiat 130.

[chrisga]

Loved the 505 when I was a kid. My dad had loads of estate ones after his Rancho phase. It was just us tooling round the countryside, him up front and me in the third row of seats about 30ft behind him shouting directions from the map book over the top of his Abba/Neil Diamond tape! Happy days....

[aka_kerrly]

Often fancied a mk2 Jetta GTI with a few tweeks.

My local Peugeot dealer has a couple of 505s and a 504 Pick up that they sometimes display. It's surprising how retro cool the 505 looks!!

[spreadsheet monkey]

LOL at the "Japanese imports now control as much as 25% of the new car market" comment. If only they knew what was still to come!

dme123 said:

Interesting though, it'd be great if the BBC did the same so we could see Chris Goffey in his jumper telling us about the boot size of a Morris Marina.

There are plenty of old Top Gear episodes on YouTube already...

[fushion julz]

YorkshireWhisky said:

I ran a 505 STI for a couple of years when I was a boy. 2.0 injection engine with a 105mph top speed. It was without doubt the most comfortable car I have ever owned. The best trick was demonstrating the brakes to my friends. If you stamped on the brakes at 70 - 80 mph you could actually defy gravity, your passengers floated in the belts, we used to call it the the spaceship moment! It never locked up, just slowed down at such a rate that you 'floated' inside the car. The seats were probably the best design ever, better than my sofa. It's a shame it rusted so badly that it wouldn't pass an MOT after a couple of years, I think I still have the plenum and K Jet meter in the shed somewhere. Without doubt the best all round car I have ever driven, not the fastest by a long way but definitely the most comfortable.

I had a 505STi saloon, too...mine was an auto and I used it as a towcar for my racing car for several years. The starter motor was the achillies heal and rust in odd places...but nothing that stopped it being safe and (mostly) reliable. I agree, it was supremely comfortable and witstood a huge amount of abuse from my then partner.

[bencollins]

used to be driven to lunch and back by french automotive design legend jean daninos aged 84 in 1990 at breakneck speed in a 505 gti. not the tallest chap, peering through frosty coke bottom glasses perched on his excellently aristocratic french pointy hook nose just over the steering wheel narrowly avoiding pallets. fear and admiration in a perfect coktail. sat there with my eyes wider than an owl with a cumquat up its bum.
have recounted this anecdote at least 3 times here.
505 very french styling.

Edited by bencollins on Wednesday 22 July 15:58