1990 Peugeot 505 GTI Family – Project Profile

Indulge us, if you will, and cast your mind back to 1990. The world was on the cusp of change. As the ’80s gave way to a new decade we would see music, fashion and cars begin to morph into the next generation, but Peugeot, bless ’em, were still hanging on to a few legacy models. Models like the 505 for example – a car that began life all the way back in ’78! We can’t really blame them though. The 505, especially the GTI, was from a time when Peugeot made good cars. You may remember the 604 limousine we featured a couple of months ago where we waxed lyrical about the French manufacturer’s past affinity for making spicy versions of its everyday models and the 505 GTI is no different.

Back in the ’80s a GTI badge on a Peugeot really meant something and whilst everyone and their dog remembers the 205 GTI, fewer recall the 505 GTI, with a fraction of those even being aware that there was an estate version.

Named the Family (or Familiale in its native France) the 505 GTI estate was unique in that it offered not five, not seven, but eight forward facing seats. It’s unfathomable at our age to even be able to get four friends together for a curry let alone piling seven into the car for a trip somewhere, but should you need to cart a septet of associates around then the 505 GTI Family is the car for you.

With brick-like looks to rival the best Volvo had to offer, the 505 GTI Family, although handsome in its own way, wasn’t particularly sleek. It was a bit of a fatty too, weighing in at almost one-and-a-half tons, but the ace up the Family’s sleeve, aside from it capacious interior, was its 130bhp, 2.2-litre fuel-injected four-cylinder engine. Being front-engined and rear-wheel drive means that it’s also correctly configured and drifting huge estate cars will never not be fun.

Spritely enough to drive exuberantly when required it also behaves impeccably on long journeys, being comfortable and supple in its ride, and if, like us, you struggle to muster friends like a really crap Avengers then the seats fold flat, providing more load space than a fleet of Eddie Stobart lorries.

What is it? 

Technically we should rename this particular section to “what are they?” because this auction is actually for a pair of Peugeot 505 GTI Family estates. They’re like buses these things! On the one hand we have the main event – a silver 1990 five-speed manual that ran well until being taken off the road in 2012 and on the other we have a maroon donor car that’s likely headed for the scrappy and can be pilfered for parts.

Why is it a project? 

Let’s talk about the good bits first. With just two former keepers the car was looked after by a Peugeot main dealer for the first two years of its life and then by a marque specialist until parked up in 2012 for some welding work. It was a much-loved family bus in the past but was later purchased as a restoration project, along with the maroon donor car and haul of rare parts, but unfortunately the transformation hasn’t come to fruition. The car was running and driving until last year, occasionally exercised around the storage compound, but now, alas, it no longer starts and so will need to be trailered away, along with the aforementioned donor car.

What should you look for? 

Rust
The 505 was a rugged beast and Peugeot built it to withstand a lot of abuse but that doesn’t mean it’s impervious to corrosion. We understand that this particular car was taken off the road for some rust repairs so get underneath and fully inspect the chassis and usual problem areas like the wheel arches, windscreen surrounds and sills. Replacement body panels can be hard to come by but there is the donor car don’t forget, so inspect that too for any rusty bits because the last thing you want is to end up with two cars that have identical problems, thus cancelling each other out.

Engine
The 2.2-litre four-pot is a hardy lump and can rack up gargantuan mileage if correctly and regularly serviced and maintained so check the history file for evidence of this. As the car doesn’t currently start then you’ll have to make do with the usual visual inspections; head gasket, fluid leaks, cooling system, dodgy wiring, etc. but factor at least a full service and recommissioning in to your budget.

Suspension and brakes
These are large, heavy cars and so the suspension, steering and braking components are under a lot of stress. Spare parts should be easy to come by but again, there’s the donor car to consider too. The Peugeot 505 GTI Family estates were fitted with MacPherson struts and coil springs up front and a live rear axle so check for perished bushes and rubbers along with any play in the joints and signs of leaking from the differential. The car has been parked up for a while too so have a look for binding calipers and corroded brake lines.

Parts
As mentioned, the car comes with a bonus donor car as well as a whole host of additional spare parts so hopefully there should be most of what you need for a full resto but it still pays to check exactly what’s included, what’s salvageable and whether or not you’ll need to fork out for any additional bits and pieces.

History
There is mention of history in the listing and there are photos of service stamps but it would be worth finding out exactly what has been done and when as this will give you a good idea of the car’s general health and upkeep up until the point it was taken off the road, better informing your decision to either take this on or run a mile.

What should you do with it? 

We’re generally not a fan of using donor cars as it inevitably means one less on the road and these are already an exceptionally rare sight but the maroon example included here looks to be too far gone to be anything other than a facilitator for the main event.

With that in mind this would therefore be a one horse race and you should concentrate all of your efforts on bringing the silver 505 GTI Family back to its early ’90s glory days, because as Dominic Toretto quite rightly said: “You don’t turn your back on Family”…