Well, I have to admit that this is news to me: A 1938 Peugeot 402 with a folding hardtop. This must be the earliest example of this technology, that is currently all the rage, that I'm aware of. I had always thought that the 1957 Ford Skyliner was the first, but this clearly shows that wasn't the case.

Full story here. Oh, if you're interested, it can be had here for a cool $295,000.

Look familiar? Both the Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C Crosser are essentially the Mitsubishi Outlander. Each version has a slightly different nose but inside it looks just like the Mitsu, chevron or lion logo on the steering wheel notwithstanding.

My favorite part is how garish and un-European the large subwoofer and Rockford Fosgate logo look when you open the rear tailgate. -- Brian Moody, Road Test Editor

Here's another French concept car that had us scratching our heads. The Peugeot 308 RC Z is an obvious Audi TT knockoff, but there's some Mitsubishi Eclipse in there along with bits and pieces of Nissan 350Z. If someone told us they were designing a car that mixed that many design elements, we would not be looking forward to the results.

Remarkably enough, this Peugeot looks quite striking, if not a little odd from the back. Although the roof looks as though it's made entirely of glass, the center section is actually carbon fiber to keep weight down. It's only packing a 1.6-liter engine, but Peugeot says it can do 0-to-60 in less than 7.0 seconds and hit 146 mph. There are plans for production at this time, but given that it's based on the same platform as the new 308 sedan, this coupe has a good chance of showing up in Geneva as a production car. -- Ed Hellwig, Senior Editor, Inside Line

I'll admit it, I have odd taste in cars. I've even been accused of not liking cars at all because I'd rather spend the day in a Lexus rather than a WRX STI.

I really love auto shows like Frankfurt because there's so much stuff that we never get to see or drive in the U.S. Peugeot's 407 Coupe is a car I'd love to take home. This one has a 2.8-liter diesel engine that makes about 204 hp. It's front-wheel drive which I'm not thrilled about in a sporty coupe but a six-speed automatic is standard. A gas-burning V6 is available, it makes 211 hp.

Really, this one is the deal breaker for me. It looks different inside and out but still appears to offer an acceptable level of luxury. The Citroen C6 competes (in Europe) with the BMW 5 Series, Audi A6 and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. An available gas-burning V6 makes 211 hp and of course there's diesel version. With options like head-up display, premium stereo, leather and electric front and rear seats, the price is more than 57,000 Euros -- that's nearly $80,000 U.S., Now I know why they don't sell them in the States -- still nice to look at though. -- Brian Moody, Road Test Editor

While not exactly all-new (in fact it's been on sale since 2004), the tiny 2-door Peugeot 1007 is interesting in that it offers minivan-like sliding front doors.

What a great idea! Where is written that sliding doors have to occur only on minivans?

Check it out on the Peugeot International web site here. More discussion can be found here (if you scroll down a bit) on Karl on Cars.

Okay, I gotta admit I'm not a big fan of Peugeot styling. That goes for all their vehicles. They're French. They're interesting, for sure. But the styling is the definition of a rolling train wreck in my not-so-humble opinion. Nope, don't like the looks one bit...

And now we have this new Peugeot 308 RC Z 2+2 concept to contemplate. Clearly inspired by the Audi TT, Peugeot took a great idea and ruined it—which I didn't think was possible, but they somehow managed to pull it off...

In any event it's powered by a twin-turbocharged 1.6-litre gas engine that produces 218hp. Peugeot claims a 100 km/h (62mph) in 7.0 sec and from 0 to 1.000m (62.3 miles) in 27.0 sec with a top speed of 235 km/h (146 mph). Fuel mileage is reported to be 6.7lt per 100 km which translates to 35.1mpg.

The concept vehicle will be introduced at the Frankfurt auto show in September.

Full story here.

The 2007 editiion of the 24 hours of LeMans is history. The anticipated epic battle between Audi and Peugeot came to pass, but the story didn't exactly unfold the way anyone expected.

Because a scheduled business trip coincided with the race weekend, I had the chance to see the race first hand. Of course I simply had to attempt to stay up for the entire event. Spending as much time as possible wandering the infield and taking in as much I could was another goal.

*Spoilers and impressions follow*

Continue reading...

Will this year's running of LeMans be again won by a diesel? Don't know, but the top five qualifying racers on the grid are diesel-powered.

The starting grid is as follows:

1. Lamy/Sarrazin/Bourdais (No. 8 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP), 3m 26.344s
2. Capello/Kristensen/McNish (Audi R10), +0.572s
3. Gene/Minassian/Villeneuve (No. 7 Peugeot 908 HDi FAP), +1.380s
4. Biela/Pirro/Werner (Audi R10), +1.957s
5. Luhr/Rockenfeller/Premat (Audi R10), +3.392s

It should be noted that the Peugeot 908 driven by Stéphane Sarrazin crossed the finish line just after the time limit expired, beating Alan McNish's best time in the three Audi R10s by 0.6 seconds.

The 75th Le Mans 24 Hours is being held on June 16 and 17, which is this weekend.

Full story here.

Last fall Peugeot showed the beautifully butch 908 RC concept in Paris. It got a lot of attention there. And when we saw the car again in Geneva today, it still looked slick.

The RC was sort of a way for Peugeot to play around with styling, but the real purpose of this rear-engine, tubular-framed sedan was to show off the company's prized 5.5-liter turbodiesel V12 -- in an elegant manner.

 

Rated for 700 hp and 885 lb-ft of torque, this engine was always destined for the Le Mans series, and Peugeot had the racecar, known as the 908 HDi FAP, on display at the Palexpo.

Continue reading...

The new Peugeot 4007 is based on the Mitsubishi Outlander. As to the front end styling, all I can say is hide the women and children...

Jalopnik has some sketchy info on this poor critter.

Now I'm a big fan of the gap-toothed 1950 Buick shown here; always have been, as it is soooooo Buick, and what better car to car to kick off the decade of the 1950s. This Buick is an absolute beauty queen when compared to this new SUV.

Is Mitsubishi just plain cursed when it comes to badge-engineered vehicles, be it their own, or someone else's? First came the awful looking Mitsubishi Raider, an ill-fated Dodge Dakota, and now this poor excuse of a Peugeot...