Stuff You Never See: 1982 Dodge 400 vs 1984 Peugeot 505

Welcome back! I’m starting the week out with a couple of rarities, cars you almost never see anymore. You almost never saw them when they were new, for that matter. But here they are, for sale, nice and cheap, and before you ask – yes, they both run.

Friday’s four-way shootout was a foregone conclusion. If you’re looking for a good reliable way to get around, and those are your choices, then of course you choose the manual Honda. It’ll just do what you ask it to, day in and day out, until you get sick of it and want something else, which sounds like the reason it’s for sale to begin with.

But if you’re looking for a toy, it’s probably the worst choice. There’s nothing you could do to it besides routine maintenance; any modification would make it objectively worse. On the other hand, something like that Cavalier or the BMW would be a great second or third car, something that already runs and drives, but provides ample opportunity for that most noble of all human endeavors: “puttering around.”

Both of today’s choices fit the “cheap car to putter around with” brief as well. One is the rarest version of a car you all love to hate, and the other is, well, French. And diesel. Happy Monday!

1982 Dodge 400 Convertible – $2,000

Engine/drivetrain: 2.2-liter overhead cam inline 4, three-speed automatic, FWD

Location: Rio Rancho, NM

Odometer reading: 51,000 miles

Operational status: “Runs, drives, and stops”

Say what you want about the Chrysler K platform, but Chrysler did an amazing job of making a bunch of different cars from the same basic ingredients. Some you see all the time, like the basic Aries and Reliant and LeBaron. Others, like the Executive Limousine and Laser, elicit a “wow, you don’t see those often” when one pops up. But if you want to really talk K-car rarity, you’d be hard-pressed to beat the Dodge 400. Produced for only two years, this upscale version of the Aries was available as a two-door coupe, four-door sedan, or a convertible. I actually owned one for a while, a coupe, with – get this – a four-speed manual. I think the last time I actually saw a Dodge 400 of any style in person was when I sold that car, back in 1995.

The 400, along with the Chrysler LeBaron, reintroduced convertibles to the US market after six long years. They’re basically the same car except for trim, but the LeBaron usually received the optional Mitsubishi-built 2.6-liter four-cylinder. This being a “mere” Dodge, it makes do with Chrysler’s own 2.2-liter engine. It’s slightly less powerful, but vastly less troublesome. This one runs and drives fine, and has had a lot of recent work done to make sure of it. As you would expect, the transmission is a deeply unsexy but very durable Torqueflite three-speed automatic.

Inside, it’s in reasonably good condition for being a malaise-era Dodge. The dash is cracked, and the upholstery is faded and oddly mismatched. At least it’s not torn up. I believe these seats are vinyl, not leather like you would have gotten in a LeBaron. It does have power windows and a power top, all of which appear to operate fine. The plastic rear window is mostly absent, however, and the top has a tear in one corner, so you’ll have to have it replaced, or just leave it down all the time.

Unsurprisingly for a desert car, all the horizontal paint surfaces are absolutely fried. But the vertical surfaces look pretty good, and all the trim is there, as are all four original hubcaps. Likely no one is going to go to the trouble of restoring a Dodge 400, but if you were so inclined, this isn’t a bad starting point.

1984 Peugeot 505 STI Turbodiesel – $2,300

Engine/drivetrain: Turbodiesel 2.3-liter overhead cam inline 4, three-speed automatic, RWD

Location: Dayton, NV

Odometer reading: 147,000 miles (but says “odometer broken”)

Operational status: Runs and drives well

Diesels never really caught on in America, except for trucks. But for a while in the late 1970s and early 80s, the car industry sure did give diesel a good try. Volkswagen and Mercedes sold a bunch, GM foisted far too many disastrous Oldsmobile diesel 350s onto unsuspecting buyers, and small cliques of loyal owners coalesced around diesel offerings from makes like Audi, Isuzu, and Peugeot.

The 505 was the successor to the 504, Peugeot’s long-lived and well-regarded workhorse. Like the 504, the 505 was available as either a sedan or a wagon, but the pickup truck variant of the 504 didn’t make the jump. Peugeot’s indestructible diesel engines were carried over, however, and gained a turbocharger, for a whopping eighty whole horsepower. This beast of an engine drives the rear wheels through a three-speed automatic that I’m sure no one chose in Europe, but was probably depressingly common here in America. Expect that same sluggish but relentless freight-train acceleration that you get in a Mercedes 300D. You’ll get there eventually. It burns a little oil, and there’s a transmission pan leak that should probably be addressed.

The interior is really clean, and in that grand French motoring tradition, very comfortable. It has power windows, but the rear windows don’t work and the driver’s window is a little recalcitrant; it sounds like the switches may be failing. Openable windows are important here, though, because it does not appear to have air conditioning.

The paint is shot, but at least it’s not rusty. Let’s hear it for Western cars. A paint job would help it a lot, even a cheap DIY job. I do feel like that tow hitch might be a little optimistic, unless it’s for one of those little Harbor Freight utility trailers.

Ninety-nine percent of the public won’t give either of these a second glance, but when that one percent recognizes them, you’re in for a conversation. Even old and faded like this, you’d be a hit at the right Cars & Coffee gathering with either one. And they’d both be fun to tinker around with. So what’ll it be – the rare K-car, or the French diesel?