Were they not though? Sure the Xantia had the Hydropneumatic suspension (especially the legendary, sporting "Activa" option) and also gained the passive rear wheel steering axle from the smaller ZX. However the midsize PSA cars always came in (closely related) pairs, no? - 405 & BX (presumably PF2) - 406 & Xantia (presumably PF2 as well) - 407 & C5 (PF3) - 508 & C5 II (PF3) - 508 II & DS 9 (EMP2) - 408 & C5 X (EMP2) And of course each generation is an evolution of their predecessors... There is hardly ever a complete clean sheet design with a new gen model (especially when it comes down to platforms and underpinnings.)
Inline with PSA Group policy, the Peugeot 406, launched two years later, used the same floorpan, core structure and engines as the Xantia. The Hydractive suspension system was not carried over, and the 406 utilised a more traditional spring suspension.
Fun fact - according to the Finnish inspection statistics the Peugeot 405 was one of the few cars that had lot of individual cars with more than half a million kilometers on them - Mercedes(-Benz) obviously held the top positions but among a few other German premium cars and a few Volvos there was the Peugeot 405. I think I've also heard the joke "what happens to a Peugeot 405 after it has server 500 000 km as a Taxi in France? - It gets shipped to Algeria for 1 million kilometers more" more than once. ...and as anecdotal evidence, my mother drove one until 430 000 km on the odometer to work, daily, 100km a day or so ... and I still have a photo that shows that car's thermometer showing -35C when my dad was picking us up from the airport. If there ever was solid French engineering, that automobile definitely was a stellar example of it.
They've always made great looking cars. I've only ever had a 307 I got for €1400 and I daily drove it for about 2.5hrs commuting and it was always rock solid, if a little squishy in corners. Can't really speak to the reliability beyond that.
The last new Peugeot sold in the United States. My parents bought a leftover wagon from a dealership that had switched over to Hyundai. It was two years old but only had 107 miles. They drove it for the next twenty years, first as a daily driver and then as the extra vehicle and dog taxi, until parts and service became almost impossible to find. It went to the scrap yard with 250,000 miles on it when they couldn't source a replacement windshield for it and with a major crack in the driver's line of sight it wouldn't pass inspection. It was parked for almost a year while they tried to source a windshield. It was serviced by the former dealership head mechanic who set up an independent shop after the dealership closed and when he retired nobody else was interested in servicing it. It was very reliable and durable over its lifetime and problems were few and far between and mostly minor. The most expensive repair was the replacement of the ABS pump at 150,000 miles. In the whole 20 years they owned it they only recalled seeing three others and those for sedans.
@garethjones8047 No diesel 405s were sold in the United States. The only powertrain options were a 1.9L 4cyl with either 8V or 16V and a 5spd or 4spd automatic. My parents had the 110hp 8V and automatic.
As an Iranian, who's had almost no choice but to own a 405, it was great to watch this video, especially the section on derivatives made by Iran Khodro. I should point out that 405 derivatives mostly sell well in Iran because there are almost no alternatives in their price range due to various restrictions on car imports.
Are the tooling and metal stamps from Hillman Hunters used to build Peykan become too deteriorated and can no longer be used to make cars when Khodro was introduced?
@@bigmedge while some people have many bad experiences with Iran Khodro cars, mine only needed regular maintenance for the first three years and after that it's never needed a major repair, just minor repairs. In terms of ride quality, they're OK for short trips and driving in the city.
My dad is a retired commercial artist. He was commissioned whilst working for the advertising agency, McCann Erickson, to head, and draw the storyboards for the iconic 405 advert, take my breath away. I remember him sat at the dining table, drawing his hand in a position that later became the shot of the drivers hand changing gear. The advert is still today, one of the most iconic adverts talked about in the advertising industry. My dad, Robert Jones, absolute Legend.
I’m from Iran and my first car was a Peugeot 405 GLX, I loved it. By the way I’m impressed by how accurate were the things you said about 405’s story in Iran, and also how correctly you pronounced Persian words. Even news channels do it wrong often. Thanks again for another great video ❤
Did they start looking for replacements after tooling for Peykan become too worn to use, and ended up with 405? 405 sold in my country only ever came with 1.6 fuel injection petrol engine with around 50 Mi-16 imported in the first year but none after. What do you get for Iranian spec? Diesel?
@@thanakonpraepanich4284 405 GLI was started to be manufactured when Paykan was in production, but before they end Paykan, they created a Peugeot RD with Paykan’s chassis, engine and transmission, but with 405’s body. But 405 also had a 1600 engine just like you told at first, then changed to a 1800 and also GLI changed to GLX.
Aha also it wasn’t diesel, it was gasoline. Don’t know why but there weren’t any diesel cars in Iran, maybe because petrol is cheap and gasoline is more affordable.
Happily had 405 estate for a number of years. Sold it when it had 280k+ miles on the clock. Knew the new owner who ran it until it finally died at over 380k miles. Super reliable 1.9TDi lump. Wasn’t the fastest wasn’t the most stylish but it was a load lugger and comfy.
405 was a magnificent thing to drive. I have memories of my father blatting around motorway sliproads on the outside lane at 100 mph in his 1.9 petrol (not the mi16, although he had colleagues with those and they were apparently slower in the real world, with torque higher up the revs), terrifying anyone in the vicinity. Yet inside, we felt perfectly safe. That was possibly the best handling fwd car ever. Later, I owned a 406. Not quite as good but still very impressive. I regret selling it to this day and wish it could be magicked back into my life.
Great video of the memorable 405, I will never forget my and my schoolmates utter baffelment when our vocational school teacher changed his oh so cool Mi16 to a tame and ugly Mazda 626 GE model. Mi16 was stuff of legend to a 16 year old (and still is at age 46!). Hope this video does better than your last Peugeot videos and gets all the views in the world! Thank you for your entertaining videos. 🎯
Love You! Thanks for covering this topic. It's bound to increase your viewership from nostalgic Iranians. My dad replaced his Peykan in 98 with a cherry-red 405 when I was 6, and so began my problematic obsession with cars. In 2021, after 18 years of living in LA where I'd occasionally see a derelict 504, I happened upon a pre-facelift Mi16 for $800 from a French mechanic a block away from me. I soo wanted to buy it, but it was in terrible shape and needed a valve job, whatever that means. I passed on it, now my life has no meaning.
same happened to me....saw one for 400 years ago in good shape...left my life meaningless even after I got a bmw e39 until I finally succumbed to a 406 last year. French rare models are hard to come by in America.... think about the hardship to get one imported.
From the US, i really wish we had a lot of these here. They are so well styled, and from what i understand they drive very nicely. The diesel wagon would be particularly nice, as that segment is essentially non-existent on this side of the pond.
Finaly! Im looking at our 405 sri 2.0 at this exact moment, a serious underrated car, like all french cars of this type super cmfortable and also sits quiet happily at 220 km/h i mean it is defently not the fastes car of its time but for what it is it really pulls. You could even be riding on the autobahn at a 120kmh and whn someone was approaching you would just drop a gear and slamm those gears, I used to Do this with my father and coeuld and still to this day neal every shift without loosing almost any momentum cosidering the fact that the car looks like an absolute grandma car due to it having no wing or someting the moment of surpise in the faces of the cars behind you was always one of the best things (In fact our 405 belonged to our grandma which for me made this whole car and its apperance and capebilities even better) Sadly not many know or can respect this car anymore this video realy made my day
The Take my breath away commercial was filmed on my grandfather’s sugarcane farm in northern NSW, Australia! Fascinating story behind how it all came to be and what happened on the days of shooting.
No way???!!! My dad is the artist who drew the storyboard for the advert!!! The whole storyboard was drawn on our dining room table at home in Bolton, England. I was about 11 years old, watching him create a masterpiece.
I wrote this for when Evo car magazine did a back page feature on the advert. Being Australian, I had never seen the Peugeot 405 ad, but it seemed strangely familiar. The reason? That perilous Australian location for the ad was my grandfather Jim Spencer's cane farm. I called him straight away to get the whole story. After a hard day, Jim, his sons and other workers were enjoying a beer when two men drove up to the farm. The newcomers were offered a beer and explained that Peugeot was looking for a location for a new ad it turned out that an ad executive in Europe had been told that if he ever wanted to see something impressive, he should the can fires in Australia which are used to prepare the cane for harvesting. The crew turned up with a car transporter and 2 never-seen-before left hand drive 405s and an Italian stun crew. They coated the cane in napalm and a bunch of hay amongst it for good measure, and liberally soared the area in kerosene. After turning down offers from Jim to light it for them, an assistant approached the waiting firebomb with a lighter fashioned out of a stick and some petrol-soaked cotton wool. A brief touch to one of the napalm-covered stalks and whoomph! Even the experienced cane farmers were taken aback by the intensity of the blaze. There were assistants tripping over camera equipment trying to shield themselves from the heat. After all this, it turned out that the Italian stunt driver was refusing to drive past such a wild fire! Back to square one. Jim offered to prepare the fire this time on one condition: the film crew left him and his workers to it. Later that afternoon, in front of a brilliant fire, the stunt driver did six passes for the camera to capture the perfect shot. It was fortunate they had three 405s, as it turned out that the windscreen washer jets on the wiper arms melted after a few of the more intense moments.
The 1990 dashboard update only made very slight changes to the instrument cluster and the center fascia of the dashboard, as well as a new steering wheel for models equipped with a 2-spoke steering wheel as standard. They did actually take a photo of it and put it on their sales brochure, but because it still looks very similar to the previous model, most people did not realize that they took another photo for the updated dashboard. You can see the photo in their 1991 brochure.
I believe that the 405 was the last Peugeot sold in North America, which is sad because the car had so much potential here. This was not an uncommon story back then, European marques were not well understood or supported in North America. It's a shame because we generally misunderstood (and/or mistreated) the ones we got, and so many unique cars went to the scrapyards in the 2000's. Thanks for another entertaining and informative video!
French cars have a bad reputation here in North America as flimsy, unreliable, bio-degradable poorly put together and death traps. I once upon a time had an R5 and it was certainly the poster child of why not to own a French car. Fast forward many years and the problems I had with my Mercedes W203 were all French made parts such as Valeo alternator and rads and some other parts stamped 'Made in France'. And while R4 and old Peugeots soldiered on in deepest Africa, they could not cut their teeth in Canadian climates (they same could be said of Italian cars back then as well)
@@noticiasinmundiciasThe downfall of Peugeot in the US in that era was twofold: parts availability/cost (even when they were still importing them here) and poor quality interior materials leading to body integrity issues. I had a 1984 505 that had issues with stuff like window winders fading and breaking off due to the atrocious, flimsy plastics used back then.
@@will89687 The biggest issue was no dealership network, as far as i'm aware there was only ever a handful of dealerships across the entire country. Also from stories i have heard, the French didn't teach dealerships how to work on the cars which sounds ridiculous, also getting parts from France was more of a task than it really needed to be. I'm sure the build quality was not as bad as Americans make it out to be considering what else was out there back in the day, but back in the day having a "European car" meant you were wealthy, as in having something German or British, which were usually higher end cars to begin with. Stuff like Peugeots and Renaults were never really meant to compete with Mercedes' and Bentleys... But ye, not having a dealership network, made many tasks either too expensive for such an inexpensive seeming car, or would just take too much time to get done.
@@YYZ-SRQ "the same could be said of Italian cars back then as well". They stopped selling Lancia in the U.K. after never recovering from the adverse publicity of three year old cars failing their first safety inspection due to excessive ruse in important places.
My family owned 3 406s while i was growing up, first a silver 98' saloon, then after an accident in the snow a silver 98' estate, after some rust issues we were forced to get rid of it and we still have our blue 03' saloon on jackstands just waiting to be brought back to life to join the ranks of our daily cars. I have nothing but praise for them they truly are such beautiful, elegant comfortable and refined vehicles.
I wouldn’t pay too much attention to Clarkson and Co. They’re not real motoring journalists, more like wannabe comedians and entertainers. The 405 and 406 are quite high up on my list of ‘ordinary’ cars that I like. Both were smart and good looking cars for their day. I loved the gold and green 406’s that raced in the British Touring Car Championship in 1997 and 1998. 👍
Nah you see plenty of Peugeots on the roads in the UK - my mum used to have a 207. I’m more of a Renault fan myself though. We definitely like French cars over here.
I had a 405 1.6GL estate as a company car in 1991. Remember it having very communicative steering. More so than the 406 estate I had a as a company car 10 years later.
I have been a great fan of Peugeot, Citroen and Renault over the years. Their departure from the US market was unfortunate and they are missed. This retrospective was terrific. It is a big world out there. Well done!
Thank you for this, I love my 405 , it just goes and goes, she is 28 years old done just shy of 450000km, she will go with me to my grave. She is my favourite of 3, have a 205 CTI a 306 and 405. The 306 was obtained to share daily duty with the 405 to save her.
Seriously, I watch a lot of content on TH-cam, but often I just think to myself that I kind of miss the content that proper TV shows used to offer. But really you make such a good work that you really could have done a proper TV show back in the day !
Thanks for another very nice vid Mr Big Car!!! Both 405 and 406 are lovely cars,like most cars from PSA in the nineties.... and not much wrong with the quality either!!! One friend of mine bought a 405 Turbo Diesel with low milage and maximum luxury,using it mercilessly it reached over 400.000 km without issues and is mechanically stil sound!! Another good friend of mine by now spent 30 odd years buying/selling/restoring/modifying/scrapping Peugeots 205.... (Peugeot 205 Totaal,Lutten,the Netherlands) and 205’s ONLY!!!.... His business by now more and more relies on 205 enthousiasts and collectors (also from abroad!!) and less on local people only interested in a cheap daily driver.... I suppose it is a proove of quality for the 205 that so many stil survive and are in daily use after so many years and kilometres!! Kind Regards,Henk,the Netherlands.
Great Peugeot cars. In fact Toyota were so impressed with the Peugeot suspension set-up that they bought a 405/406 back to their factory to strip the car and see how Peugeot made their cars ride/handle so well.
Another brilliant auto documentary sir!! And I didn’t realize how much my life was missing Alvin & the Chipmunks’ rendition of Take my breath away until I saw it here 😁
Worked at Peugeot when they were new, there were quite a few Mi16's sold, they were a fun drive, not as fun as the 205Gti though. Peter Brock drove one in '92 Bathurst 12 hr.
When I was a kid a family friend bought a new facelift 93 405 1.6 carburetor and that was the first new car that I was in. That day I told myself I need to have exactly that car. After several years it was mine- I fulfilled my dream. Thousands of joyful kilometers with it. Thank you for the video and memories 😊
In Iran, The 405 RD was also facelifted to 405 RoA. Original 405 GLX also facelifted to 405 SLX which happened after 405 was facelifted to Pars. 405 was still sold many years after Pars facelift due to its lower price.
At one point all these cars were produced at the same time with these prices: 405 GLX 12million T (Tomans) 405 SLX 13million T Pars 14million T Pars ELX ( with Xantia engine) 18million T Samand 13million T Samand EL (base model mainly used as taxi) 11.5million T Samand LX 15million T And Dena was just about to enter the market 1 platform in 3 completely different exteriors
I remember that first commercial, driving through the fields on fire….. I hadn’t realised it was Alvin and The Chipmunks that supplied the music. 🤔😁 🐿️
Thanks for this wonderful informative review! I especially liked to information about the Iranian variants and how they managed to build these despite sanctions! Peugeot was popular in South Africa during the 60s to 80s, which you didn't mention, except for neighboring Zimbabwe. The cars had a long travel suspension that made them popular for going off the roads (the main highways had excellent surfaces years ago) to farms, etc. on gravel roads.
for an 'ordinary' car its handling was game changing - I remember getting one in 1992 as a company car and compared with the competition the handling was next level and then some
I've always had a big soft spot for the 405, and there's something really pleasing about the fact it's STILL being built. My parents bought one when I was about 4 or 5 years old, it was a very early model on an E plate (in the UK - 1987 model). First car I can remember with a rev counter which young me found fascinating. The first car I 'drove' sat on my dads knee. The car that brought my little brother home from hospital for the first time... I'd love an early phase 1 405 but they're impossible to find!
I find myself regressing to childhood with your comment because i lived the exact same experience (same age and time wise :) ), my father's had an early 1987 model which was changed last minute by PEUGEOT as he initially ordered the "GR" version (middle grade version) color brown, because of the delay he was finally offered the higher "SR" version with a deep "blue marine" color and with those lovely "six branch star shaped" hubcaps content-eu.invisioncic.com/m304542/monthly_2010_07/2112345863_40520St20cyr2002.jpg.717ee22460bb0e287fa1dd039d67e917.jpg The car had 04 powered windows, remote locking, crazy stuff for the time. Fun fact: Upon disembarking from the ferry (in the Algiers docks at the time) people were looking curious and excited as it was the very first model landing there, they called it the "KITT car" as a reference to the TV show. Very good and fond memories... I'll would really like to get one for collection purpose in the future.
I love the chipmunk version of *take my breath away" 😂 , my dad had a 405 gL 4x4, when I was a teenager. It had lovely seats, I was always comfy on long journeys back then. 😊😊
Great video (as always) I like how you explain the story of this car (and being French I remember I drove many kilometers as a passenger) thank you very much to bringing me back memories!
since i bought my 207 last year i have fallen in love with peugeot, therefore i liked and subscribed just because you made a amazing video about an amazing car
Fab video, as always. Thank you! Have to say ; I was surprised at the beginning, when you mentioned your Peugeot 205 video hadn’t done well ?! If anything, that was an even more iconic car that you would have thought would get the viewers attention. It certainly got mine ! 👍
I love videos about these old normal yet popular cars. I can think of many other similar cars deserving a video of their own Like the Kia Pride, the Nissan Sunny, any skoda really. And more!
I’ve owned 405’s, 605’s, 406’s and 607’s, loved them. I had one 405 1.9 TD, which only fault was a Mechanical Diesel Injector Pump and the other usual stuff. I bought it with 34,000 miles. Used it as a runabout, sold it with 250,000 miles. The engine packed up with 320,000 miles, mainly because he didn’t change the oil regularly.
Oh i love 405’s looks when I was a kid. Pininfarina’s styling to me so elegant and clean! I think the look is timeless. The 406 might be another elegant incarnation but to me 405 is still the best looking!
First car I owned was a 205. After that two 405's. First one I lost in a head on, second one I sold when I became a driving instructor with BSM and leased a vehicle. Loved both vehicles. Wonderful to drive .............. Love Peugeot ( Now got a 23yr old Toyota Corolla - most reliable vehicle I'v ever driven - miss my 205 though).
TRIVIA: the "405" name came from the speed record reached in 1988 at Le Mans, on the legendary Ligne Droite Des Hunaudières (or Mulsanne if you mistakely want), which clocked 407 kph (lowered to 405 by Peugeot technicians for commercial use of the value) right on the penultimate year before it was broken in 3 by the two chicanes we see today since 1990. The car was the infamous Welter-Meunier P-88, rigorously powered by Peugeot, and driven during the record-speed lap (in race) by Roger Dorchy, AKA "Le Roi Des Hunaudières" for french folks who loves Les Vinght-Quatre Heures Du Mans. Dorchy passed away sadly in July, just like his WM-88 passed away for the immense rise of power that burned the whole engine and the car just as he slowed down at Mulsanne Corner immediately after that 1988 thunder-speed rush on La Ligne Droite. He knew the time was right then or never. So he regulated the turbo boost to extreme pressures, which the Peugeot engine was not capable of withstand. But the WMs were created not to last nor win Le Mans, but to break the absolute record at Le Mans (standing at 396 kph by the n.18 917 Langheck during the 1971 24 Hours pratice sessions - yes, it wasn't 385 as the calculations on the max rev reached revealed later on) and go over the "magical" 400 kph barrier. So much that these cars, whom idea started as far as 10 years before the accomplishment of the "mission", were substancially a process of trial and failing, gradually going faster and faster, under one single dream and banner, going by the name of "PROJECT 400". As a Le Mans and Endurance historian I took the opportunity to tell you the story in short, even if it's quite a long message of mine. Hope you enjoyed. And I have still to see the video by Big Car so if he talks about it as well... sorry to have repeated the already told story but I cannot help myself when some Le Mans Legends lying now in the Heaven of the Speed Angels like Dorchy is now are involved in one way or another... ❤ RIP Roger...😢
What a coincidence! Yesterday a friend of mine took me and 2 other fellas for a ride in one of these, and some 12 hours later you ve uploaded this video. His Peugeot is late 95' 405 sedan with 1.6 fuel injection petrol engine! What a machine! I was shocked by how spacious cabin is and how low you are sitting, almost like in vintage 1990's Hondas!
Thank you for your excellent research. I watch most of your episodes of car history. This particular episode I found absolutely fascinating. Cars I have driven and owned, 405’s, BX’s, Xantias, Hunter’s, Avenger’s etc. out of all of them, it’s close, but the Citroen BX was my favourite.
I had a 1993 Pug 405 STi 2.0L petrol automatic. Huge amount of fast road/motorway miles driven over 7 years. Brilliant, comfortable car, with a cracking sound system. Huge boot swallowed a large pram easily, which was part of the reason I bought it. Thanks for this film.
A very beautiful car. This is great design. Unfortunately car designs I like are getting fewer and fewer on the roads. :/ Sometimes I wish I was a car designer, then I would design cars like this one. But I would probably get rejected by the management lol. :P Many older Peugeot cars are in my list of cars that I really, really, really like. I‘ve always thought these headlights look so cool, along with the non-oversized grille and the beautiful interior. Yesterday I saw a green 106 and it made me very happy. I‘m actually planning on making small models with something like a rubberband for acceleration of some of my fav cars from cardboard and diy stuff, I think I will start with trying out making a Ford Ka 1st gen. But some Peugeot cars are also on the list of cars I want to try out.
I agree, both the 405 and 406 are beautifully designed and hold up well, don't even look too dated nowadays. This kind of simple but elegant design is really rare nowadays.
I was like 13 when this came out, and rather instantly loved it. Though my father was too much into VW, my grandfather bought a 205 back in '85. Later, in 1991, I got the chance to drive a T16 405, wonderful experience fot that time.
I drove a very early car on an E plate in the UK, a Peugeot UK fleet demo… I was blown away with the handling and looks. When the time came I had the first of two 405s and I loved them… 30 years later my first registered K38BKV holds fond memories.
My Dad's first ever diesel car was the Peugeot 405 GLD in 1992. It was a very comfortable car to drive and much loved. We kept it in our family until 2005.
I grew up as a kid reading the likes of "Autocar and Motor" and "Car" magazines. I remember the very first road tests they did on the 405 Mi16 and fell in love with them. Unfortunately I never saw one in the flesh and had to make do with driving my dads 405 diesel when I got my driving license. Then by chance in 2004 or so a colleague bought one with the intention of transplanting the engine into his 205. I made him an offer he couldn't refuse and bought a lovely 1992 1.9 Mi16 with full leather interior. To this day I've never driven a standard car that handles as well. The suspension is quite unique. It's stiff but you won't feel it shaking your bones over rough roads. The steering is power assisted but has unbelievable feel and weight. On a twisty road it's just magical. The engine comes alive at 4200rpm right through to the (modified) 8250rpm limit and sounds glorious doing so. Also people talk about French reliability. The only issue I ever had was a seized gear linkage and a cracked 8-branch exhaust manifold (which is common due to them being stainless). Unfortunately it has fallen into a little bit of disrepair this past few years as I had some health issues, but I'm planning on a full standard restoration in January
Thank you for this video! One of the most beautiful cars ever made. Gosh, if you lived in Europe at this time, between the 405 and the Citroen Xantia, you had some gorgeous options at a reasonable price.
To be honest, you can talk about anything. I will probably watch it. You're just doing it right. Thank you for taking the time and providing so much in-depth information and pictures. I feel that you are maximizing the benefits of a video podcast.
Thank you for detailed history. I'm from Indonesia. Green Cedar 405 with xu9J2 engine was my first car. Bought it second hand in 2008. Now I use Rouge Red 405 with xu10j2 as daily car. Love it and to keep it till the end.
My father's first car back in the early 70s was the Peugeot 204, which he kept for 17 years, thus we grew up in that car. Very satisfied with Peugeot he ended up, after seeing other brands for comparison, choosing the 405. Back in the late 80s it was indeed the best car in its range. And it was also the best looking. Very comfortable and with the best driving you could get back then, I would say better than many modern cars. It was also the car I started driving in - the one I got the first girl in as well, many fond memories. But seeing it objectively in this video, it is not my own mixing of fond memories in it : this was indeed a superb car at a time Peugeot was going for beauty, quality and comfort.
My parents had a 405 in the 1990’s when Peugeot came back to South Africa. I loved that car. Never let us down. Getting spares was the only problem here, when the 405 got older it needed a new radiator and it took 3 months to arrive from Europe. Can’t blame that on the car though, it was an awesome drive.
I drove numerous 405's when I worked in car rental, they were likely the only vehicles that I never needed to book into a dealers to fix. The design still looks good after all these years too. Owned a 605 once, it was a sea of bland inside, but a joy to drive.
I have owned a fair number of cars of different eras and styles but honestly... for longer distance journeys the 405 was simply the best. It was such a fantastic motorway cruiser and I loved the way it looked too. :) I deeply miss my 405!
![Would You Fall for It? [ST08]](/img/n.gif)
Erratum: Despite Wikipedia saying so, there's no other evidence the 406 and Xantia were based on the same platform.
I owned an BX and I think that the BX shared it's platform with the 405 (except the hydropneumatic suspension of course).
Were they not though?
Sure the Xantia had the Hydropneumatic suspension (especially the legendary, sporting "Activa" option) and also gained the passive rear wheel steering axle from the smaller ZX.
However the midsize PSA cars always came in (closely related) pairs, no?
- 405 & BX (presumably PF2)
- 406 & Xantia (presumably PF2 as well)
- 407 & C5 (PF3)
- 508 & C5 II (PF3)
- 508 II & DS 9 (EMP2)
- 408 & C5 X (EMP2)
And of course each generation is an evolution of their predecessors... There is hardly ever a complete clean sheet design with a new gen model (especially when it comes down to platforms and underpinnings.)
@@ronaldderooij1774 the 4x4 version of the 405 actually had Citroën's hydropneumatic suspension in the back
Top notch work and content for such a niche car, just one point in 2019 de 405 ended production but the pars is still being made as we speak in iran !
Inline with PSA Group policy, the Peugeot 406, launched two years later, used the same floorpan, core structure and engines as the Xantia. The Hydractive suspension system was not carried over, and the 406 utilised a more traditional spring suspension.
Fun fact - according to the Finnish inspection statistics the Peugeot 405 was one of the few cars that had lot of individual cars with more than half a million kilometers on them - Mercedes(-Benz) obviously held the top positions but among a few other German premium cars and a few Volvos there was the Peugeot 405.
I think I've also heard the joke "what happens to a Peugeot 405 after it has server 500 000 km as a Taxi in France? - It gets shipped to Algeria for 1 million kilometers more" more than once.
...and as anecdotal evidence, my mother drove one until 430 000 km on the odometer to work, daily, 100km a day or so ... and I still have a photo that shows that car's thermometer showing -35C when my dad was picking us up from the airport.
If there ever was solid French engineering, that automobile definitely was a stellar example of it.
my MI16 is on 450K kilometres and going strong. I suspect it was mainly the turbo diesels that were making 500K+
I had totally forgotten, how stylish both the 405 and 406 looked! Lines were so crisp and uncluttered, back in those days.
I've has two 406's, and they were wonderful cars. Very attractive, and a joy to drive.
406 manages to look better than a BMW 5 series E39.
Too bad all Peugeots are FWD since the ealy 90s.
@@mro9466Why “too bad” FWD ?
@@Mancozeb100FWD sucks
They've always made great looking cars. I've only ever had a 307 I got for €1400 and I daily drove it for about 2.5hrs commuting and it was always rock solid, if a little squishy in corners. Can't really speak to the reliability beyond that.
The last new Peugeot sold in the United States.
My parents bought a leftover wagon from a dealership that had switched over to Hyundai.
It was two years old but only had 107 miles.
They drove it for the next twenty years, first as a daily driver and then as the extra vehicle and dog taxi, until parts and service became almost impossible to find.
It went to the scrap yard with 250,000 miles on it when they couldn't source a replacement windshield for it and with a major crack in the driver's line of sight it wouldn't pass inspection. It was parked for almost a year while they tried to source a windshield.
It was serviced by the former dealership head mechanic who set up an independent shop after the dealership closed and when he retired nobody else was interested in servicing it.
It was very reliable and durable over its lifetime and problems were few and far between and mostly minor.
The most expensive repair was the replacement of the ABS pump at 150,000 miles. In the whole 20 years they owned it they only recalled seeing three others and those for sedans.
Was it a 405 or a 505?
@@ofirs5830 A 405. The 505 sedan and wagon, although not what you would call popular, would be seen far more frequently than a 405 in any form.
Was it a diesel?
@garethjones8047 No diesel 405s were sold in the United States.
The only powertrain options were a 1.9L 4cyl with either 8V or 16V and a 5spd or 4spd automatic.
My parents had the 110hp 8V and automatic.
A petrol engine lasting that long is just impressive. Even for a diesel that's pretty good.
As an Iranian, who's had almost no choice but to own a 405, it was great to watch this video, especially the section on derivatives made by Iran Khodro. I should point out that 405 derivatives mostly sell well in Iran because there are almost no alternatives in their price range due to various restrictions on car imports.
I mean it's not a bad car to be stuck with.
Are the tooling and metal stamps from Hillman Hunters used to build Peykan become too deteriorated and can no longer be used to make cars when Khodro was introduced?
How would you rate the ride comfort, reliability, & build quality of Iran Khodro’s version ?
@@bigmedge while some people have many bad experiences with Iran Khodro cars, mine only needed regular maintenance for the first three years and after that it's never needed a major repair, just minor repairs. In terms of ride quality, they're OK for short trips and driving in the city.
Allot of Iranian scientists were blown up in the 405. How ironic is the 1989 405 commercial?
My dad is a retired commercial artist. He was commissioned whilst working for the advertising agency, McCann Erickson, to head, and draw the storyboards for the iconic 405 advert, take my breath away. I remember him sat at the dining table, drawing his hand in a position that later became the shot of the drivers hand changing gear. The advert is still today, one of the most iconic adverts talked about in the advertising industry. My dad, Robert Jones, absolute Legend.
I’m from Iran and my first car was a Peugeot 405 GLX, I loved it.
By the way I’m impressed by how accurate were the things you said about 405’s story in Iran, and also how correctly you pronounced Persian words. Even news channels do it wrong often.
Thanks again for another great video ❤
Did they start looking for replacements after tooling for Peykan become too worn to use, and ended up with 405?
405 sold in my country only ever came with 1.6 fuel injection petrol engine with around 50 Mi-16 imported in the first year but none after. What do you get for Iranian spec? Diesel?
@@thanakonpraepanich4284 405 GLI was started to be manufactured when Paykan was in production, but before they end Paykan, they created a Peugeot RD with Paykan’s chassis, engine and transmission, but with 405’s body. But 405 also had a 1600 engine just like you told at first, then changed to a 1800 and also GLI changed to GLX.
Aha also it wasn’t diesel, it was gasoline. Don’t know why but there weren’t any diesel cars in Iran, maybe because petrol is cheap and gasoline is more affordable.
OP destroys French words on a regular though ;)
I had the estate version with a diesel engine as a company car back in the 90's, I did 130,000 miles in that car with no issues, loved it.
The 405 was a cracking car, solid and drove really well. The 605 was the big brother and also lovely 🙏🏻
My mate had one. 1989 carbed 1.9 8v.
It pulled like a train and was shockingly able around the twisty stuff. Great motors!
Happily had 405 estate for a number of years. Sold it when it had 280k+ miles on the clock. Knew the new owner who ran it until it finally died at over 380k miles. Super reliable 1.9TDi lump. Wasn’t the fastest wasn’t the most stylish but it was a load lugger and comfy.
Owned a 405 Mi16 (1990 model). It was a great and fun little car. Simple maintenance.
405 was a magnificent thing to drive. I have memories of my father blatting around motorway sliproads on the outside lane at 100 mph in his 1.9 petrol (not the mi16, although he had colleagues with those and they were apparently slower in the real world, with torque higher up the revs), terrifying anyone in the vicinity. Yet inside, we felt perfectly safe. That was possibly the best handling fwd car ever.
Later, I owned a 406. Not quite as good but still very impressive. I regret selling it to this day and wish it could be magicked back into my life.
Great video of the memorable 405, I will never forget my and my schoolmates utter baffelment when our vocational school teacher changed his oh so cool Mi16 to a tame and ugly Mazda 626 GE model. Mi16 was stuff of legend to a 16 year old (and still is at age 46!). Hope this video does better than your last Peugeot videos and gets all the views in the world! Thank you for your entertaining videos. 🎯
Never had a pug 405 but I always thought the 405 and 406 were extremely good looking.
406 has quiter engine sound than 405 is it true?
Fantastic range of cars. In our family we had a series of BX, 305, 309, 405, 406. Earlier this year I purchased a 1992 205 GRD. Happy times.
Love You! Thanks for covering this topic. It's bound to increase your viewership from nostalgic Iranians. My dad replaced his Peykan in 98 with a cherry-red 405 when I was 6, and so began my problematic obsession with cars. In 2021, after 18 years of living in LA where I'd occasionally see a derelict 504, I happened upon a pre-facelift Mi16 for $800 from a French mechanic a block away from me. I soo wanted to buy it, but it was in terrible shape and needed a valve job, whatever that means. I passed on it, now my life has no meaning.
same happened to me....saw one for 400 years ago in good shape...left my life meaningless even after I got a bmw e39 until I finally succumbed to a 406 last year. French rare models are hard to come by in America.... think about the hardship to get one imported.
From the US, i really wish we had a lot of these here. They are so well styled, and from what i understand they drive very nicely. The diesel wagon would be particularly nice, as that segment is essentially non-existent on this side of the pond.
Finaly! Im looking at our 405 sri 2.0 at this exact moment, a serious underrated car, like all french cars of this type super cmfortable and also sits quiet happily at 220 km/h i mean it is defently not the fastes car of its time but for what it is it really pulls. You could even be riding on the autobahn at a 120kmh and whn someone was approaching you would just drop a gear and slamm those gears, I used to Do this with my father and coeuld and still to this day neal every shift without loosing almost any momentum
cosidering the fact that the car looks like an absolute grandma car due to it having no wing or someting the moment of surpise in the faces of the cars behind you was always one of the best things
(In fact our 405 belonged to our grandma which for me made this whole car and its apperance and capebilities even better)
Sadly not many know or can respect this car anymore
this video realy made my day
The Take my breath away commercial was filmed on my grandfather’s sugarcane farm in northern NSW, Australia! Fascinating story behind how it all came to be and what happened on the days of shooting.
No way???!!! My dad is the artist who drew the storyboard for the advert!!! The whole storyboard was drawn on our dining room table at home in Bolton, England. I was about 11 years old, watching him create a masterpiece.
@@maxjonei Amazing!
I wrote this for when Evo car magazine did a back page feature on the advert. Being Australian, I had never seen the Peugeot 405 ad, but it seemed strangely familiar. The reason? That perilous Australian location for the ad was my grandfather Jim Spencer's cane farm. I called him straight away to get the whole story.
After a hard day, Jim, his sons and other workers were enjoying a beer when two men drove up to the farm.
The newcomers were offered a beer and explained that Peugeot was looking for a location for a new ad it turned out that an ad executive in Europe had been told that
if he ever wanted to see something impressive, he should the can fires in Australia which are used to prepare the cane for harvesting. The crew turned up with a car transporter and 2 never-seen-before left hand drive
405s and an Italian stun crew. They coated the cane in napalm and a bunch of hay amongst it for good measure, and liberally soared the area in kerosene.
After turning down offers from Jim to light it for them, an assistant approached the waiting firebomb with a lighter fashioned out of a stick and some petrol-soaked cotton wool. A brief touch to one of the napalm-covered stalks and whoomph! Even the experienced cane farmers were taken aback by the intensity of the blaze. There were assistants tripping over camera equipment trying to shield themselves from the heat.
After all this, it turned out that the Italian stunt driver was refusing to drive past such a wild fire! Back to square one. Jim offered to prepare the fire this time on one condition: the film crew left him and his workers to it.
Later that afternoon, in front of a brilliant fire, the stunt driver did six passes for the camera to capture the perfect shot.
It was fortunate they had three 405s, as it turned out that the windscreen washer jets on the wiper arms melted after a few of the more intense moments.
406 Coupe was one of the most beautiful cars of its time. The 4 door Saloon was the Star of the Taxi Taxi movies...
The 1990 dashboard update only made very slight changes to the instrument cluster and the center fascia of the dashboard, as well as a new steering wheel for models equipped with a 2-spoke steering wheel as standard. They did actually take a photo of it and put it on their sales brochure, but because it still looks very similar to the previous model, most people did not realize that they took another photo for the updated dashboard. You can see the photo in their 1991 brochure.
Wow. That's very interesting.
@bigcar please never stop making these videos - you blow my mind every time. Thank you for the nostalgic treats that you deliver :)
I believe that the 405 was the last Peugeot sold in North America, which is sad because the car had so much potential here. This was not an uncommon story back then, European marques were not well understood or supported in North America.
It's a shame because we generally misunderstood (and/or mistreated) the ones we got, and so many unique cars went to the scrapyards in the 2000's.
Thanks for another entertaining and informative video!
French cars have a bad reputation here in North America as flimsy, unreliable, bio-degradable poorly put together and death traps. I once upon a time had an R5 and it was certainly the poster child of why not to own a French car. Fast forward many years and the problems I had with my Mercedes W203 were all French made parts such as Valeo alternator and rads and some other parts stamped 'Made in France'. And while R4 and old Peugeots soldiered on in deepest Africa, they could not cut their teeth in Canadian climates (they same could be said of Italian cars back then as well)
@@YYZ-SRQ It's interesting how the French seem to be poorly regarded in the US in general.
@@noticiasinmundiciasThe downfall of Peugeot in the US in that era was twofold: parts availability/cost (even when they were still importing them here) and poor quality interior materials leading to body integrity issues. I had a 1984 505 that had issues with stuff like window winders fading and breaking off due to the atrocious, flimsy plastics used back then.
@@will89687 The biggest issue was no dealership network, as far as i'm aware there was only ever a handful of dealerships across the entire country. Also from stories i have heard, the French didn't teach dealerships how to work on the cars which sounds ridiculous, also getting parts from France was more of a task than it really needed to be. I'm sure the build quality was not as bad as Americans make it out to be considering what else was out there back in the day, but back in the day having a "European car" meant you were wealthy, as in having something German or British, which were usually higher end cars to begin with. Stuff like Peugeots and Renaults were never really meant to compete with Mercedes' and Bentleys... But ye, not having a dealership network, made many tasks either too expensive for such an inexpensive seeming car, or would just take too much time to get done.
@@YYZ-SRQ "the same could be said of Italian cars back then as well".
They stopped selling Lancia in the U.K. after never recovering from the adverse publicity of three year old cars failing their first safety inspection due to excessive ruse in important places.
Not forgetting the washer jets mounted on the wiper arms, a great function, as the Citroen CX had.
Finally! This is what I always felt, but hardly anyone believed
My family owned 3 406s while i was growing up, first a silver 98' saloon, then after an accident in the snow a silver 98' estate, after some rust issues we were forced to get rid of it and we still have our blue 03' saloon on jackstands just waiting to be brought back to life to join the ranks of our daily cars. I have nothing but praise for them they truly are such beautiful, elegant comfortable and refined vehicles.
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I have always appreciated the 405. Thank you for producing this video. It was well researched, interesting, informative, and much appreciated.
As a Frenchman, I thank you for the attention you pay to our cars! Even if they are not very popular in Great Britain according to Top gear…
I wouldn’t pay too much attention to Clarkson and Co. They’re not real motoring journalists, more like wannabe comedians and entertainers.
The 405 and 406 are quite high up on my list of ‘ordinary’ cars that I like. Both were smart and good looking cars for their day. I loved the gold and green 406’s that raced in the British Touring Car Championship in 1997 and 1998. 👍
French cars are extremely popular in the UK some of the best most reliable cars I've had have been from Citroen.
Nah you see plenty of Peugeots on the roads in the UK - my mum used to have a 207. I’m more of a Renault fan myself though. We definitely like French cars over here.
@@Spudchucker92 Egads! Clarkson is such a racist francophobe! 😂
I had a 405 1.6GL estate as a company car in 1991. Remember it having very communicative steering. More so than the 406 estate I had a as a company car 10 years later.
I always thought this car looked beautiful back in the day. So understated and underrated..
I drove a 405 GTX in 1989 and could not believe just how good it was.
I have been a great fan of Peugeot, Citroen and Renault over the years. Their departure from the US market was unfortunate and they are missed. This retrospective was terrific. It is a big world out there. Well done!
A great car I had a turbo diesel estate with 130 k and will always remember the MOT tester of my 10year + car saying "they don't rust"period.
Such an elegant design. Timeless and clean.
And the Dakar version was bang on... :D
Thank you for this, I love my 405 , it just goes and goes, she is 28 years old done just shy of 450000km, she will go with me to my grave. She is my favourite of 3, have a 205 CTI a 306 and 405. The 306 was obtained to share daily duty with the 405 to save her.
Well done on the advert. What's not to love about the Chipmunks singing "Take my breath away"
Seriously, I watch a lot of content on TH-cam, but often I just think to myself that I kind of miss the content that proper TV shows used to offer. But really you make such a good work that you really could have done a proper TV show back in the day !
Thanks for another very nice vid Mr Big Car!!!
Both 405 and 406 are lovely cars,like most cars from PSA in the nineties.... and not much wrong with the quality either!!!
One friend of mine bought a 405 Turbo Diesel with low milage and maximum luxury,using it mercilessly it reached over 400.000 km without issues and is mechanically stil sound!!
Another good friend of mine by now spent 30 odd years buying/selling/restoring/modifying/scrapping Peugeots 205.... (Peugeot 205 Totaal,Lutten,the Netherlands) and 205’s ONLY!!!....
His business by now more and more relies on 205 enthousiasts and collectors (also from abroad!!) and less on local people only interested in a cheap daily driver....
I suppose it is a proove of quality for the 205 that so many stil survive and are in daily use after so many years and kilometres!!
Kind Regards,Henk,the Netherlands.
I just admire the passion you are putting into making videos like this. Brings back memories.
Great Peugeot cars. In fact Toyota were so impressed with the Peugeot suspension set-up that they bought a 405/406 back to their factory to strip the car and see how Peugeot made their cars ride/handle so well.
Great video, I love classic Peugeots, and the history behind is always amazing. Hope this videos does well haha
Another brilliant auto documentary sir!! And I didn’t realize how much my life was missing Alvin & the Chipmunks’ rendition of Take my breath away until I saw it here 😁
As a newly minted Midshipman, I saw a red 405 Mi16 & fell in love.💕⚓🇦🇺
Luckily I couldn't afford one. Kept the MG. Very rare here indeed. Cheers Andy.
Worked at Peugeot when they were new, there were quite a few Mi16's sold, they were a fun drive, not as fun as the 205Gti though. Peter Brock drove one in '92 Bathurst 12 hr.
When I was a kid a family friend bought a new facelift 93 405 1.6 carburetor and that was the first new car that I was in. That day I told myself I need to have exactly that car. After several years it was mine- I fulfilled my dream. Thousands of joyful kilometers with it. Thank you for the video and memories 😊
The 405 is a timeless gem and it went on to become a motor racing icon, especially in the Dakar rally, Pikes Peak and a bit later in touring cars.
That footage of the Pikes Peak 405 is impressive and terrifying!
In Iran, The 405 RD was also facelifted to 405 RoA.
Original 405 GLX also facelifted to 405 SLX which happened after 405 was facelifted to Pars.
405 was still sold many years after Pars facelift due to its lower price.
At one point all these cars were produced at the same time with these prices:
405 GLX 12million T (Tomans)
405 SLX 13million T
Pars 14million T
Pars ELX ( with Xantia engine) 18million T
Samand 13million T
Samand EL (base model mainly used as taxi) 11.5million T
Samand LX 15million T
And Dena was just about to enter the market
1 platform in 3 completely different exteriors
I remember that first commercial, driving through the fields on fire….. I hadn’t realised it was Alvin and The Chipmunks that supplied the music. 🤔😁 🐿️
my dad had one of these when i was a kid, i loved it! it got totaled when a bus ran into it while my dad was shopping for groceries
Thanks for this wonderful informative review! I especially liked to information about the Iranian variants and how they managed to build these despite sanctions!
Peugeot was popular in South Africa during the 60s to 80s, which you didn't mention, except for neighboring Zimbabwe. The cars had a long travel suspension that made them popular for going off the roads (the main highways had excellent surfaces years ago) to farms, etc. on gravel roads.
Kenya as well. My father in law owned one or two.
for an 'ordinary' car its handling was game changing - I remember getting one in 1992 as a company car and compared with the competition the handling was next level and then some
I've always had a big soft spot for the 405, and there's something really pleasing about the fact it's STILL being built. My parents bought one when I was about 4 or 5 years old, it was a very early model on an E plate (in the UK - 1987 model). First car I can remember with a rev counter which young me found fascinating. The first car I 'drove' sat on my dads knee. The car that brought my little brother home from hospital for the first time... I'd love an early phase 1 405 but they're impossible to find!
I find myself regressing to childhood with your comment because i lived the exact same experience (same age and time wise :) ), my father's had an early 1987 model which was changed last minute by PEUGEOT as he initially ordered the "GR" version (middle grade version) color brown, because of the delay he was finally offered the higher "SR" version with a deep "blue marine" color and with those lovely "six branch star shaped" hubcaps content-eu.invisioncic.com/m304542/monthly_2010_07/2112345863_40520St20cyr2002.jpg.717ee22460bb0e287fa1dd039d67e917.jpg
The car had 04 powered windows, remote locking, crazy stuff for the time.
Fun fact: Upon disembarking from the ferry (in the Algiers docks at the time) people were looking curious and excited as it was the very first model landing there, they called it the "KITT car" as a reference to the TV show.
Very good and fond memories...
I'll would really like to get one for collection purpose in the future.
There is alot of these Still produced in Iran but its mostly the GLX version
Pinky and Perky singing Take my breath away. Sublime
That advert would be a total shot in the foot these days. Even if it was cgi, the prevalence of wildfires in recent years would not help.
It seems like WhistlinDiesel wanted to replicate that ad a little to faithfully
@@JK061996just looked him up. Seems like an idiot.
Excellent research. Thanks.
Thank you so much for this upload! Can you do one on the Fiat Croma? The Lacia/SAAB connection is really interesting 😎
I'm working on a Delta video which has plenty of SAAB connections.
@@BigCar2can't wait for it!
The 405 still looks clean and has aged well. Interesting timing on this video. I've just ordered a 2008. Getting it in December.
I love the chipmunk version of *take my breath away" 😂 , my dad had a 405 gL 4x4, when I was a teenager. It had lovely seats, I was always comfy on long journeys back then. 😊😊
The Alvin and the Chipmunks 🐿 version of the Peugeot advert was truly something special. Good work Big Car
Great video (as always) I like how you explain the story of this car (and being French I remember I drove many kilometers as a passenger) thank you very much to bringing me back memories!
since i bought my 207 last year i have fallen in love with peugeot, therefore i liked and subscribed just because you made a amazing video about an amazing car
You can tell someone really knows their cars when they pronounce Peugeot properly! Thanks for all the videos, really enjoy your channel!
Fab video, as always. Thank you!
Have to say ; I was surprised at the beginning, when you mentioned your Peugeot 205 video hadn’t done well ?!
If anything, that was an even more iconic car that you would have thought would get the viewers attention. It certainly got mine ! 👍
I love videos about these old normal yet popular cars. I can think of many other similar cars deserving a video of their own
Like the Kia Pride, the Nissan Sunny, any skoda really. And more!
I have fond memories of my Nissan Sunny Coupe. The Nissan Sunny range seemed to cover a lot of requirements.
Great video. Looking forward for a 505 history
Never knew Alvin & The Chipmunks did some power ballad covers
I’ve owned 405’s, 605’s, 406’s and 607’s, loved them. I had one 405 1.9 TD, which only fault was a Mechanical Diesel Injector Pump and the other usual stuff. I bought it with 34,000 miles. Used it as a runabout, sold it with 250,000 miles. The engine packed up with 320,000 miles, mainly because he didn’t change the oil regularly.
605 was a beast... literally you can sleep on the passenger seat at the front , with somebody behind. very elegant car , with appearance.
Another amazing video
I had a high spec Peugeot 405, I remember the seats being REALLY comfortable
Great video Andy.. How about a video about the legendary Peugeot 504? That'll be wonderful..!!
Oh i love 405’s looks when I was a kid. Pininfarina’s styling to me so elegant and clean! I think the look is timeless. The 406 might be another elegant incarnation but to me 405 is still the best looking!
I always enjoy your videos but this one was absolutely fascinating! Thanks dude, keep up the good work.
First car I owned was a 205. After that two 405's. First one I lost in a head on, second one I sold when I became a driving instructor with BSM and leased a vehicle. Loved both vehicles. Wonderful to drive .............. Love Peugeot ( Now got a 23yr old Toyota Corolla - most reliable vehicle I'v ever driven - miss my 205 though).
TRIVIA: the "405" name came from the speed record reached in 1988 at Le Mans, on the legendary Ligne Droite Des Hunaudières (or Mulsanne if you mistakely want), which clocked 407 kph (lowered to 405 by Peugeot technicians for commercial use of the value) right on the penultimate year before it was broken in 3 by the two chicanes we see today since 1990. The car was the infamous Welter-Meunier P-88, rigorously powered by Peugeot, and driven during the record-speed lap (in race) by Roger Dorchy, AKA "Le Roi Des Hunaudières" for french folks who loves Les Vinght-Quatre Heures Du Mans. Dorchy passed away sadly in July, just like his WM-88 passed away for the immense rise of power that burned the whole engine and the car just as he slowed down at Mulsanne Corner immediately after that 1988 thunder-speed rush on La Ligne Droite. He knew the time was right then or never. So he regulated the turbo boost to extreme pressures, which the Peugeot engine was not capable of withstand. But the WMs were created not to last nor win Le Mans, but to break the absolute record at Le Mans (standing at 396 kph by the n.18 917 Langheck during the 1971 24 Hours pratice sessions - yes, it wasn't 385 as the calculations on the max rev reached revealed later on) and go over the "magical" 400 kph barrier. So much that these cars, whom idea started as far as 10 years before the accomplishment of the "mission", were substancially a process of trial and failing, gradually going faster and faster, under one single dream and banner, going by the name of "PROJECT 400". As a Le Mans and Endurance historian I took the opportunity to tell you the story in short, even if it's quite a long message of mine. Hope you enjoyed. And I have still to see the video by Big Car so if he talks about it as well... sorry to have repeated the already told story but I cannot help myself when some Le Mans Legends lying now in the Heaven of the Speed Angels like Dorchy is now are involved in one way or another... ❤ RIP Roger...😢
I highly doubt that the 405, released in 1987, nearly a year before Dorchy set his speed record, was named after a car that went 407kph.
What a coincidence! Yesterday a friend of mine took me and 2 other fellas for a ride in one of these, and some 12 hours later you ve uploaded this video. His Peugeot is late 95' 405 sedan with 1.6 fuel injection petrol engine! What a machine! I was shocked by how spacious cabin is and how low you are sitting, almost like in vintage 1990's Hondas!
Thank you for your excellent research. I watch most of your episodes of car history. This particular episode I found absolutely fascinating. Cars I have driven and owned, 405’s, BX’s, Xantias, Hunter’s, Avenger’s etc. out of all of them, it’s close, but the Citroen BX was my favourite.
I had a 1993 Pug 405 STi 2.0L petrol automatic. Huge amount of fast road/motorway miles driven over 7 years. Brilliant, comfortable car, with a cracking sound system. Huge boot swallowed a large pram easily, which was part of the reason I bought it. Thanks for this film.
A very beautiful car. This is great design. Unfortunately car designs I like are getting fewer and fewer on the roads. :/ Sometimes I wish I was a car designer, then I would design cars like this one. But I would probably get rejected by the management lol. :P
Many older Peugeot cars are in my list of cars that I really, really, really like. I‘ve always thought these headlights look so cool, along with the non-oversized grille and the beautiful interior. Yesterday I saw a green 106 and it made me very happy.
I‘m actually planning on making small models with something like a rubberband for acceleration of some of my fav cars from cardboard and diy stuff, I think I will start with trying out making a Ford Ka 1st gen. But some Peugeot cars are also on the list of cars I want to try out.
I agree, both the 405 and 406 are beautifully designed and hold up well, don't even look too dated nowadays. This kind of simple but elegant design is really rare nowadays.
My first car, after I got my license 15 years ago was a 405, great car. I still see it on the streets today, alive and going strong.
Every single American car youtuber needs to hear you pronounce "Peugeot". Since it's atleast intelligible unlike their mumbling.
I was like 13 when this came out, and rather instantly loved it. Though my father was too much into VW, my grandfather bought a 205 back in '85. Later, in 1991, I got the chance to drive a T16 405, wonderful experience fot that time.
As always very interesting and very well put together 🙂 Best regards from a car detailer in Norway.
I love Peugeot 😁, I will watch them.
I would like to know about peugeot 406 which was famous in Taxi(1998) movie.
Great video!
How I loved the song "take My brother Ray"...
Great video 😊
I drove a very early car on an E plate in the UK, a Peugeot UK fleet demo… I was blown away with the handling and looks. When the time came I had the first of two 405s and I loved them… 30 years later my first registered K38BKV holds fond memories.
My Dad's first ever diesel car was the Peugeot 405 GLD in 1992.
It was a very comfortable car to drive and much loved.
We kept it in our family until 2005.
I grew up as a kid reading the likes of "Autocar and Motor" and "Car" magazines. I remember the very first road tests they did on the 405 Mi16 and fell in love with them. Unfortunately I never saw one in the flesh and had to make do with driving my dads 405 diesel when I got my driving license.
Then by chance in 2004 or so a colleague bought one with the intention of transplanting the engine into his 205. I made him an offer he couldn't refuse and bought a lovely 1992 1.9 Mi16 with full leather interior.
To this day I've never driven a standard car that handles as well. The suspension is quite unique. It's stiff but you won't feel it shaking your bones over rough roads. The steering is power assisted but has unbelievable feel and weight. On a twisty road it's just magical.
The engine comes alive at 4200rpm right through to the (modified) 8250rpm limit and sounds glorious doing so.
Also people talk about French reliability. The only issue I ever had was a seized gear linkage and a cracked 8-branch exhaust manifold (which is common due to them being stainless).
Unfortunately it has fallen into a little bit of disrepair this past few years as I had some health issues, but I'm planning on a full standard restoration in January
Thank you for this video! One of the most beautiful cars ever made. Gosh, if you lived in Europe at this time, between the 405 and the Citroen Xantia, you had some gorgeous options at a reasonable price.
To be honest, you can talk about anything. I will probably watch it. You're just doing it right. Thank you for taking the time and providing so much in-depth information and pictures. I feel that you are maximizing the benefits of a video podcast.
Haha, so true. I think he could also make a video about the history of a toothbrush model and still make it entertaining and exciting.
Thank you for detailed history. I'm from Indonesia. Green Cedar 405 with xu9J2 engine was my first car. Bought it second hand in 2008. Now I use Rouge Red 405 with xu10j2 as daily car. Love it and to keep it till the end.
Great as usual. 👏
Let this be my vote for you to do a video on the absolute classic Peugeot 504.
My father's first car back in the early 70s was the Peugeot 204, which he kept for 17 years, thus we grew up in that car. Very satisfied with Peugeot he ended up, after seeing other brands for comparison, choosing the 405. Back in the late 80s it was indeed the best car in its range. And it was also the best looking. Very comfortable and with the best driving you could get back then, I would say better than many modern cars. It was also the car I started driving in - the one I got the first girl in as well, many fond memories. But seeing it objectively in this video, it is not my own mixing of fond memories in it : this was indeed a superb car at a time Peugeot was going for beauty, quality and comfort.
Truly superb cars. Stylish, very capable, well equipped and durable. I still maintain that a HDi engine equipped 406 estate represents peak car.
My parents had a 405 in the 1990’s when Peugeot came back to South Africa. I loved that car. Never let us down. Getting spares was the only problem here, when the 405 got older it needed a new radiator and it took 3 months to arrive from Europe. Can’t blame that on the car though, it was an awesome drive.
I drove numerous 405's when I worked in car rental, they were likely the only vehicles that I never needed to book into a dealers to fix. The design still looks good after all these years too.
Owned a 605 once, it was a sea of bland inside, but a joy to drive.
Great story. The fact that the Peugeot 405 lives on in Iran is often overlooked.
And Pininfarina has always designed beautiful cars.
An uncle had a 405 imported from France and it was a revolution for me to witness that level of luxury, ride quality… I loved that car.
I have owned a fair number of cars of different eras and styles but honestly... for longer distance journeys the 405 was simply the best. It was such a fantastic motorway cruiser and I loved the way it looked too. :) I deeply miss my 405!