THE French, like the Italians, can always be relied upon to build cars with soul. It’s that intangible component that up until recently differentiated the Europeans from the Japanese and has in the past delivered cars like the famed Citroen DS and Peugeot 504. The Japanese, however, have caught up with the Europeans: think Mazda MX-5 and Nissan 350Z. Now, with the arrival of the Citroen C4 and Peugeot 407 Coupe the Europeans look to be making an ambitious play to re-establish their claim as visual trendsetters for a new millennium. In the 407 Coupe, Peugeot has delivered a sleek and very eye-catching two-door, four-seater. But with the V6 HDi turbo-diesel as its major talking point, Pug's slinky two-door also has a highly desirable point of difference.
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Peugeot 406 Coupe
Released: October 97
Ended: October 04
Family Tree: 407THE 406 coupe was sold in Australia between October 1997 and October 2004, after which a facelifted version was not imported. It was designed by famed Italian coach house Pininfarina and adopted a very un-Peugeot-like look. It was more Ferrari than Peugeot. But no matter. The look was long and languid, from the slim-line headlights to the neat and tidy rear-end. However, performance from the 144kW/267Nm 3.0-litre V6 was only average (despite the fact it offered 157kW/285Nm from January 2001), the four-speed automatic was awful and the car’s handling did not match the slinky sportscar looks. The 406 Coupe’s choppy low-speed ride also lacked the suppleness of Peugeots past. It did not help either that the car’s interior was largely based on the mum-and-dad 406 sedan, despite the attempt to jazz it up with a bit of chrome on the dials.
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