By Antti Kautonen
It’s not only the esteemed Jay Ramey who posts photos of Peugeot 505:s and other quality French cars – this one was spotted on the Amsterdam street during our Dutch weekend. The minute I saw it, I wanted to pounce closer and grab a few quick shots of it for Hooniversal use. It even has my favourite 505 wheels on it.
I do admit, the headlight treatment on this particular one certainly looks weird. I think those are regular, round Hella headlights embedded in a plastic casing, but they could also be Morette. Anyhow, I’m adamant we have more knowledgeable Peugeot people here to offer advice.
The jury’s still out on whether those look good. Anyway, no regular Euro headlights for you! At least the bumpers are slim.
The engine in this GTI is the ordinary 2.2-litre, 89kw/120hp four. It’s not the turbo version, which is a shame.
I did neglect to shoot that 205 parked ahead of the 505. Well, maybe next time.
[Images: Copyright 2013 Hooniverse/Antti Kautonen]
Mercedes Lilienthal 
Kamil Kaluski
Oh snap, that's a neat retrofit of the US-spec quad sealed-beams, we got those on our 505s through 1984 if I recall correctly. Certainly looks distinctive the way its been done here with the body-colored surrounds.
And over here, people swap our US-spec headlights for Euro-spec ones. Nice find!
1983 was the last year of the quad beams. 1984s got the 200mm rectangular sealed beams (H6054).
Also, those are not US-spec quad beams. The US cars used PAR46-sized bulbs in all four positions (H5001 & H5006). The headlamps pictured here are aftermarket Euro-spec Morette lamps, as Antii wrote.
So, basically, the US Department of Transportation made a law mandating a headlight fad decades before it became a thing : ) Very prescient of them.
Extremely prescient, as the sealed-beam law came into effect in 1940 (1957/58 for quads) whereas the DOT itself wasn't established until 1966.
Funny thing is, I've never actually seen a 1983 or earlier 505 in the states. They just did not live that long on the east coast, only chance to see one now is, like, in Alameda or Portland I'd imagine.
Come and visit!
That fad also meant that Zender (pictured) and some other co.'s started to offer headlight kits of very questionable taste in Europe. Still, it was eighties, some people spent amazing amount of money to uglify their cars. Kits were available for BMWs, Opels, VWs etc. and were of relatively high quality with small Hella rectangular units (smaller than US sealed beam blocks):
<img src="http://fiatfoto.tuningimagehosting.com/di-bmw_e30_zender_kit-5ed7f594a8a97f6e9673d6667a0de41d.jpg" width="599">
If you really wanted a Cimarron but only could afford a 3-series in Europe then this was the way to go.
That's a nice Bristol saloon there.
When Peugeots or Citroëns have those double headlights, they are usually made by Morette.
Hoever, Peugeot did offer these in their own official accessory line up too as you can see in this picture…
<img src="http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/815/imgp9957.jpg" width="670/">
In my humble opinion, they look terrible. It completely erases the angry look of the 505!
Neat, and I agree.
Although I'm a Peugeot owner I'm not really a knowledgeable Peugeot person. I do know that this headlight treatment is called, you already named it, Morette for the Citroen BX and CX. It's very uncommon.
Now, for the Americans on here, check the parked cars on the opposite side of the canal. I count 9, and an old Mercedes van. Did you notice how at least 8 of them are hatchbacks, and mostly tiny ones at that? Other than the BMW 1-series and the 9th they're subcompacts or smaller. The ninth is possibly a Citroën Xantia, and if it is it's a hatch too. On this side of the canal there's the 205 and a 3-series wagon (roof rails). How likely would it be to find that many hatches together on the other side of the pond?
Sigh. I've only got three hatchbacks, two of which are subcompact or smaller. Hey, I'm doing what I can here.
Yes, the grey ("silver") car is definitely a Citroën Xantia.
gray ("grey")
;]
Oops! As punishment I will read 50 shades of gray!
Outside of a hatchback meet, which is something I've never heard of, you would NEVER see that many hatchbacks together in the US. Not ever.
The more I look at these from the rear 3/4 angle, the more I see a certain sleekness that I never saw before.
I snapped this and other quirky cars in Amaterdam recently, including a 1960 Dodge. Check it out http://netgaine.weebly.com/1/post/2012/05/nostalg…
Good taste, dear sir! 🙂 Thanks for the link.
Good god, the same car twice! That's pretty cool.
I remember an anecdote from years ago, possibly from sfnet.autot.harrastus where a Finnish GTi club had told a guy with a 505 GTI turbo to take a hike. First they said it wasn't a real GTI, and he countered with yes, that's exactly the model name. Well, it can't do a lap at some track in under some arbitrary time… actually it can. It's not a proper GTI and you can't be a member in any case.
The local Mini club let me join. I admit I haven't yet tried the local MINI club, however.