What do you do when your favorite automaker doesn’t update their convertible? You simply slap the new model’s front end onto the old car! That, at least, was the solution was for one of this car’s likely many owners. Try as I might, I couldn’t find any obscure production run of Peugeot cabriolets with the 505’s front end, so this must be a customized 504 cabriolet.
It would appear that the front end of this car, spotted in Aswan, Egypt by tonymcandrew45, received a bit more effort than the rear end, which simply had its taillight clusters swapped with another car’s. And while they look like they came from a pre-facelift 505, they’re actually a different shape. I can’t quite place the car they were taken off of and it’s killing me. Watch one of our first commenters correctly guess where they came from.
I’m not sure I’d mess with the original Pininfarina styling, but I suppose the owner wanted more distinction than a stock 504 cabriolet surrounded by so many 504 sedans and wagons could provide. Still, at CC, a modified sedan might be more to our liking.
Well, I can certainly assure you that it won’t be the very first commenter that will identify the true identity of this car.
Cabriolet means the windows remain fixed and the roof drops, that is a convertible, but being an Egyptian car it might be a local build they did build Peugeots in Egypt so this could be a local version.
Peugeot being a french make, “cabriolet” (as “décapotable”) is accurate as it’s the word in french for a car that has a soft folding roof, fixed windshield and doors without windows frames.
A “convertible” in french is a “cabriolet” with hard folding roof.
If you google ‘504 Cabriolet’, that car is what you will see. It was produced by Peugeot & is not a custom. I took the photo & was really knocked out to come across such a rare car in southern Egypt!
Sorry, but I don’t think so. The 504 cabriolet never had this front or rear end. The final versions looked like this:
Maybe you are thinking of the one-off 505 cabriolet Peugeot made?
I believe that the inboard, red taillight and white reverse lamp sections are taken from a late model Lada. Lada taillights varied considerably over time, and none of the red/white/amber configurations that I have seen match this car’s light cluster, but the red and white sections look identical to one particular Lada layout. Where the amber section would be from, is beyond me.
The Lada is a common car in Egypt, where it is produced locally, so Lada taillights would be commonly available there.
I like the front end of this car a great deal. The rear end, not so much, with its bulky (and misaligned on the left side) taillights. I do see a distinct resemblance to the Fiat 124 Spyder rear end, though, so I think that with better executed taillights, both ends of the car would look good.
Never mind, the lights have already been identified!
Quite a nice-looking car really, that could have been done by Peugeot to keep sales of the cabriolet going – if they had wanted to, I doubt there was much if any money in doing so.
Wow. Normally I’m not a Peugeot fan, but I wouldn’t mind owning something like this for the novelty factor.
It’s interesting to notice that even though these old 504s and 505s seem to have disappeared from everywhere else in the world, they continue to maintain a very strong presence in places like Africa, India, and the Middle East.
The rear lamps look the same as the ones on the real one-off 505 Cabriolet from Peugeot:
They’re similar, but not the same.
The trunk lid is quite different.
Those license plates on the Pug convertible would be ideal for use on Colorado C-470. Where would they send the toll bill?
The rear tail lights are from a pre-facelift euro-spec 505. The US lights were different.
Winner winner chicken dinner!
Curious. Someone really must have wanted a 505 Cabriolet badly. I’d like to see a 604 Cabrio.
Done. One of two prototypes built by Peugeot apparently. What do I win? 😉
From http://www.peugeot505.fr/604.htm There’s also the 4-door Landaulet 604 here: http://www.604tours.com/landaulet.html
The finished result is really rather excellent; I like it a lot. Taillights are what we had on NZ-spec 505 sedans. Be interesting to know if the interior was modified! Given the 11 (ish) other 504s in the first photo, I presume this photo was taken on a Peugeot club outing. Really awesome find!
Peugeots 504s are everywhere in the Aswan region, as personal cars or taxis. But a cabrio, especially a modified one, is quite a sight under those latitudes.
‘t is good to see so many 504 Peugeots still alive
Just shows you how good they are.
Remember my company 504 Diesel Break (eastate) one time the crew of an Egyptian cargo ship were preparing for my car to be hoisted onboard.
The loading beam was hanging over the car.
Had to see the Captain they said.
Went to see him and he apologized and simply asked me “How much for the car ? ”
I said to him it wasnot mine but leased.
He said he did not care but wanted my red 504 estate.
Had to talk him out of it !
By the way, if you’re into weird 504s, http://www.504.org is your friend. A gem found in Libya, among others, apparently not a photoshop: someone tried to facelift a W123 with 504 parts!
I wonder if this was rear ended and repaired using available local parts. Nothing seems to fit very well and the badges are missing.
Although I wouldn’t want it as my “Daily Driver”; this drop top would be a desireable, “sunny weekend car”‘ addition to my stable.
Very cool car. Wonder how hard was it to do those changes…
My dad did that once. His fairly new 06 Solara suffered a minor frontal hit, mainly to the fender and when he had it repaired, he changed the front clip to the 07 model which had a different grill and smaller fog lights.
I like the bigger fog lamps in retrospect.
I love seeing things like this! Though, for this example, I think I like the original better–despite that, the novelty factor is significant.
For another subtle “what if” car, check out this one I spotted in Durham, NC back in 2011: