Peugeot 407: the car with the big grille

The Peugeot 407 is a large family car that Peugeot produced from 2004 to 2011 as a saloon, a coupé and an estate. It replaced the 406 and was replaced by the 508.

Peugeot 407 at a glance

History of the Peugeot 407

Launch

The 407 was presented to the press in Paris in February 2004 and launched at The Sunday Times Motorshow Live on 27 May 2004. In France sales began in June 2004 and in the rest of Europe the following month. The streamlined design was called radical by magazines such as Autocar, its most distinctive features being the large front grille and the steeply raked screen pillars. Autocar also published undisguised spy photographs three times during 2003 and remarked that the rear window line of the saloon had the feel of a short-wheelbase Ferrari 250. PSA Peugeot Citroën invested €1.12 billion in the launch.

The estate, the 407 SW, followed four months after the saloon, in September 2004. The coupé was presented at the Frankfurt show in September 2005 and went on sale in January 2006, and stayed in production until March 2012. Annual sales peaked at 259,000 in 2005, of which 57,000 were outside Europe. The 407 was one of the nominees for European Car of the Year 2005.

Design and engineering

The design is very curved, bringing the 407 closer to the smaller 307, and its face was often described as having angry eyes and a big mouth. The change from the more conservative look of earlier Peugeots drew both praise and criticism. The pre-facelift saloon had a drag coefficient of 0.29. All engines had double overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder, all petrol engines multi-point injection and all diesels common-rail injection. One model was offered with AMVAR electronic suspension, which adjusted the damping of each wheel independently every 2.5 milliseconds. The saloon and coupé both received five stars from Euro NCAP.

Facelift and advertising

A minor facelift came in August 2008, after which most petrol versions were withdrawn in Britain and other European markets. The first television advertisement, known as The Toys or Les Jouets, was directed by Philippe André and filmed in Sydney with life-size toy cars, with music by the French duo The Film; a second film took a 407 SW out of the city to a beachside house, using Modjo’s “Lady (Hear Me Tonight)” and the slogan “Playtime is Over”.

Concepts and successor

The saloon was previewed as the 407 Elixir at the 2003 Frankfurt show. The 407 Silhouette was a racing car with most of the coupé’s design, the 407 Prologue at Geneva in 2005 was almost identical to the production coupé, and the 407 Macarena, a four-door coupé convertible by Heuliez, appeared at Geneva in 2006. In November 2010 PSA announced that the 407 would be replaced not by a 408 but by the 508, launched at the Paris show in October 2010; the 508 saloon was about 12 cm longer than the 407 and also replaced the 607. The 408 name went instead to the Chinese notchback version of the 308. The 407 saloon appeared in the films Taxi 4 and Taxi 5.

Design and features

• Deep grille: the most distinctive Peugeot face of its time.
• Raked screen pillars: a low, curved cabin shape.
• AMVAR damping: independent electronic control of each wheel.
• Five stars: Euro NCAP rating for saloon and coupé.
• 407 SW: the estate added four months after launch.

Peugeot 407 versions

• Saloon (2004): the original body.
• 407 SW (2004): the estate.
• Coupé (2005): two-door, on sale from January 2006.
• 407 Elixir, Silhouette, Prologue, Macarena: concepts and show cars.

The 407 replaced the Peugeot 406 and was replaced by the 508, with the 607 also folded into that car. More in the Peugeot collection.

Video: Peugeot 407 2.2: Wie gut ist der Mittelklasse-Franzose?

Video by on YouTube.

Sources

• Peugeot 407, English Wikipedia: launch, design, engines, facelift, concepts, successor