Dangel turned Peugeot’s crossovers avant la lettre

With Jan Verhulst, Peugeot dealer and Dangel enthusiast, I walk under the bridge on which is a very rare appearance: his Peugeot 505 Break Dangel 4×4. Only a handful of this type are in the possession of Dutch enthusiasts. I marvel at the apparently rudimentary technique. “It all looks a bit clumsy, but it works,” says Jan, who regularly participates in the roughest off-road events with the 25-year-old car. “The 504 and 505 were formidable participants in African rallies in their time, of which Paris-Dakar is by far the most famous.” The car market knew a clear dividing line in the 1970s. There were off-road vehicles, including the Land Cruiser, G-class and Land Rover, and station wagons, such as the Volvo 245, Mercedes T, Opel Rekord Caravan, Ford Granada Stationwagon and Peugeot 504 and 505 Break. There were no cross-pollinations yet. Dangel made a breakthrough by equipping a standard 504 Break in 1975 with a sophisticated 4×4 system. Thus the first crossover was born. In the history books, however, the 1979 AMC Eagle takes that honor. Is this a case of falsification of history?

Henry Dangel (1935-2006), founder of Automobiles Dangel, is a pioneer in the racing and automotive industry. He did much more than develop a 4×4 system. His story begins in the 1960s, when he developed special suspension kits for Alpine. Dangel, however, had more up his sleeve. He was an electrical engineer with a passion for motorsport. He developed a racing car under his own steam: the Mangouste. The design was very similar to the Lotus 23, but with the engine in the back. It was legal on the road so you could participate in hill climbs and rally sprints. Equipped with a Renault-Gordini 1100 engine, the Dangel Mangouste, light at just 440 kg, delivered exceptional performance. This is partly due to its space frame and a sophisticated, light wheel suspension. The Mangouste was so successful that it was offered in various variants and after numerous upgrades until 1975 – as a kit car or as a completely finished model. The end of the Mangouste was partly caused by Henry Dangel having to shift his focus to a new project; he was asked by wheel manufacturer BBS to manage their production in France. He was also successful in that; the SERAL (Sociéte Europeane Roues Aluminium) factory produced 20,000 wheels per month with 70 employees.

Henry Dangel didn’t enjoy running the BBS factory. He got things up and running, freeing up time for the pioneering work so dear to his heart. In the evenings he worked out a new plan. In the wine-dominated region of Alsace, there was a need for an affordable car that would allow farmers to drive across their fields without getting stuck in the clay. Farmer is looking for 4WD, so. Henry Dangel lived in Sentheim, in the middle of that agricultural environment, and identified this need. That is why he developed something in his own workshop that would benefit farmers (and rally drivers at a later stage as well): a solid four-wheel drive system. Dangel created a ready-to-use system, equipped with a self-designed transfer case. Its operation was based on his specific electromagnetic knowledge: it contained a differential including lock for the largely modified front wheel suspension, an auxiliary chassis to suspend the entire technology and ground protection. Henry found the most suitable candidate in the Peugeot 504 Pick Up to test the system with, after which he further developed it for the 504 Break. In fact, he was the inventor of the crossover, which would create a furore three decades later. Peugeot itself was not interested in the production of 4x4s, but at the same time could not ignore it. The brand was already involved in the development of the G-class of Steyr Daimler Puch, because it wanted to realize the military version Peugeot P4 on the basis of it. In other words: Peugeot had something different about its lion’s head. So it sent new 504s directly to Henry Dangel, who took over the delivery of his converted cars to the customer.

Thus, between 1976 and 1979, about four thousand 504 Breaks and Pick Ups with 4WD were created. In 1979 Dangel left SERAL to focus entirely on 4×4 Peugeots. To this end, he founded his own company Automobiles Dangel. Ties with Peugeot were strengthened, ensuring continuity. To show the world (and convince Peugeot?) what his 4×4 system was capable of, Dangel regularly entered the 504s he built for the illustrious, grueling Safari Rally. For the 1982 edition of Paris-Dakar he prepared no less than ten 504 Breaks that were used as service cars. Peugeot indeed became more and more convinced of the qualities of the cars, so that Dangel received the blessing of the manufacturer from Mulhouse for the next project: it was allowed to build the 505 Dangel 4×4. Technically, the 505 built on the 504; the commercial procedure was also almost identical to that of the 504. Dangel produced to order. However, now the customer could simply place his order with the Peugeot dealer instead of with Dangel. This made the Dangel 4×4 an official 505 variant. Between 1986 and 1992, Dangel equipped 5,500 Peugeot 505s with four-wheel drive. Then it concentrated on the Citroëns C15, Jumpy and Jumper. Today, the eighty-headed company focuses on the conversion of the Peugeot Bipper, Partner and Boxer, the Citroën Nemo, Berlingo and Jumper and the Fiat Ducato.

Once off the bridge, and with its wheels on the garage floor, to my great surprise, the hood turns out to be almost as high as that of a Land Rover Discovery standing next to it. What a tough appearance; the sympathetic and classless appearance of the ordinary 505 is hard to find. It is only a handful of very defining elements that help the Dangel to achieve that appearance: the somewhat amateurish-looking mudguard wideners in combination with the space between tire and wheel well, the for that time hefty 16-inch wheels with M+S rubber (also a size larger than standard) and the increased ground clearance. You need stairs to wash the roof. That is also true: the ground clearance has increased by no less than 22 centimeters due to all the adjustments. Dangel didn’t take half measures; he placed a bush of about fifteen centimeters between the top of the coil springs and the tube that houses the spring. Technically, the 505 4×4 is a special case anyway: while the rear axle is identical to that of a normal Estate, Dangel took the independent rear axle from a ‘Berline’ version, to use it as the basis for the front suspension of the Dangel 4×4. Especially for the Dangel 4×4, a steering knuckle of the Fiat 238 was converted to accommodate the CV joint. Truly a feat that does justice to Henry Dangel’s motto: “creative solutions rather than high-tech nonsense”.

Let’s be honest: unlike the regular Peugeots from the 80s, the 505 Dangel 4×4 offers disappointingly little comfort. He bumps, bumps and bumps on the cobblestone roads and thresholds that we encounter on the way to the military terrain in Vught. The large stickers on the sides and the hood reveal why the car bounces so poorly; this 225,000 kilometer old, but certainly not yet battle-weary 505 has driven more in Africa than in its home country France and here in the Netherlands. This also explains the presence of the double set of shock absorbers on the rear axle. You could buy the Dangel 4×4 with diesel and petrol engines, from which you could only expect modest performance. On the road you hardly come along these days, because 96 hp (petrol version) is not much for a 1,570 kilo heavy terrain container. In its time, however, it was more than sufficient, as was the top speed of 150 km/h. There is nothing more to it. Dangel failed to include an acceleration figure in the brochure. Apart from the specific 4WD characteristics, the 505 feels like a real Peugeot of its time: the soft seats, the steering wheel that is slightly flat and the traditional poker are of those typical, familiar Peugeot elements. Jan Verhulst has owned the 505 for eight years. Business clearly went before the girl with him, because only recently did he pay attention to the old Break. Of these, the overhaul of the deceased transfer case took most of the time. Doing it yourself was out of the question, because the thing is completely closed; only specific knowledge and tools get it back into function. However, Dangel does not overhaul bins himself. Only after a long search did Verhulst come into contact with a specialist somewhere in France. It turned out to be a simple transaction: send in the broken box and get a refurbished box back after paying a few thousand euros. Because Verhulst has still not seen the box open, the inside remains a mystery. It is clear that the bucket distributes the driving forces between the front and rear axle in variable amounts, making the mechanism ahead of its time. When the first Dangel was presented, Audi had yet to come up with the Quattro. That only happened in the early 1980s.

We have now passed the barrier of the military training area in Vught. And while it’s certainly not a Sahel, the 505 can certainly show what it’s worth. At least I don’t have to spare him. Verhulst himself does not do that either. “When I sign up for a 4WD event, I am met with pity by owners of real off-road vehicles, from Suzuki SJ to Land Rover. What is such a raised station wagon in our midst, you hear them think. But once they see my Peugeot dredge through the deepest sludgy mud, their pitying gaze gives way to admiration. The long wheelbase of the 505 is sometimes an obstacle, but in most cases the ground clearance is sufficiently large. It also has long suspension travel and locks at the front and rear, plus a high and low transmission. So who makes me what?” The French veteran can handle even the loosest sand on the varied terrain. The differential lock is operated with a clumsy lever between the front seats. A steep descent can be conquered without difficulty. The Dangel can also technically handle deep fords; I’m only concerned about the quality of the door seals. Inside, the Dangel is a regular 505 Break in GR version (a handful of Familiales were also made). The Dangels are always from after the facelift of 1985. This means that they have the new dashboard, which does not have nearly as much flair as that of the first model series.

Something the 505 Dangel always offers is a lot of interior space; modern station wagons can’t match him. You can easily park the average Dutch holiday equipment in the cargo area, from the six-person tent to the cubic meter of potatoes. The 505 combined sobriety with attractive pricing, a formula that yielded Peugeot a quarter of a million sales. According to Jan Verhulst, there are currently several hundred 505 Dangel among French fishermen, who cannot say goodbye to them. We think the 505 Dangel 4×4 is an undervalued car. Although the large Peugeot in this curious outfit can rejoice in increasing interest, the prices remain at a surprisingly low level: you can spend a maximum of €8,000 on such a rarity. That low amount has everything to do with the image; a Volvo or Mercedes is simply sexier and therefore more expensive, even if they lack off-road capabilities. However, the 504 and 505 Dangel 4×4 deserve more respect! As the creator of a whole new segment of cars – that of crossovers – Henry Dangel is worthy of a statue. The AMC Eagle from 1979 is indeed the first crossover, but that is because Dangel only made adjustments and did not develop the entire car as a manufacturer and sold it as a series model. Moreover, AMC was five years later with their elaboration of Dangel’s idea. It’s clear: Henry Dangel deserves the most credit!

This article originally appeared in AutoWeek Classics issue 4 of 2016.