Out of the distance at scarily high speed exploded a man and his son in a six-year-old 508 diesel, phoned by friends to come and see. The old man jumped kerbs and swerved to the wrong side of the road in his haste to park beside our new car, then spent fully 20 minutes of valuable eating time with the rest of them, trying the new 508 and posing beside it. As a 508 owner, he had a special status among the others and, like them, his verdict was unalloyed admiration. No cynics lived here.
It was a fascinating experience, and instructive. Bigger saloons might not be traffic-stoppers in the UK but, in rural France, they’re just that. We completed our drive, enjoying the sophisticated cruise and comfort of what is now one of the best saloons on the market, especially at the money. In the Sochaux museum, we spent time with Peugeot’s earliest cars, especially the 504 that remains so special, and even enjoyed a close encounter with the Instinct shooting brake concept that is supposed to be a radical guide to a 508 wagon.
However, my best memory of this trip will be of an excited old man called Gaston, sitting in our new 508 beside the national route that carries its name, drinking coffee and replying excitedly to my comments about the new car’s equipment and specification in fractured French. It’s not often the simple sight of a new car makes somebody else’s day.

Peugeot’s first 200 years:
One of the refreshing things about a visit to the superb Peugeot museum at Sochaux in eastern France is learning that the Peugeot family’s business did not begin – as nearly everyone else in early cars or motorcycles did – as a story of overwork and inspired ignorance by seriously underfinanced young men.
The motorcar may be a mere 133 years old, but Peugeot has a 200-year industrial history.
Well before Daimler and Benz, the Peugeot family had a thriving business making women’s fashions (25,000 crinolines a month between 1850 and 1870), kitchen and cooking gadgets, surgical instruments and precision workshop tools. Indeed, Peugeot’s lion emblem was intended first to embody the suppleness of a particularly successful range of quality wood saws and the sharpness of their teeth.
In 1870, young Armand Peugeot, eventually to become the pioneering ‘car guy’, was sent to the UK by his family to avoid the Franco-Prussian war. He became involved in the cycle industry, which led so many into motorcycles and motors, returned to France, produced the Peugeot- Serpollet Type 1 in 1891 (using a Panhard engine) and never looked back. He became one of the leaders of France’s pre-eminent early car industry, involving the company in early motorsport. It’s all laid out with perfect clarity in Sochaux, where there is also a superb collection of far more modern Peugeot road and competition cars. It’s a walk-in proposition and is well worth a visit.
Join the debate
Slowmo
Anything that chips away at
Bob Cholmondeley
Slowmo wrote:
Agreed, time for the lard-arse cars to go out of fashion.
Citroëniste.
Peter Cavellini
Another good looking Car is.......?
The Vauxhall Insignia, especially in Black, have seen two three in various colours,but, the Black makes it look expensive it’s one of the best Face lifts I’ve seen on any car recently the Peugeot is the same a great design back to what was called French flair.
Peter Cavellini.
typos1
Peter Cavellini wrote:
The current Insignia is not a facelift, its an all new model that bears almost no resmblance to its predecessor.
XXXX just went POP.
superstevie
I really want this car to do
I really want this car to do well. It is great looking and has a lovely interior. I do think the Peugeot are on a bit of a roll just now.
streaky
Peugeot is back
I agree. Peugeot has finally got its mojo back after ditching Pininfarina and getting its own styling very wrong, and simultaneously dropping the baton when it came to ride and handling. Now the styling inside and out is some of the best IMO, the ride and handling is getting back to where it should be and the Puretech engines seem to be well regarded. Build quality seems to be OK too.
XLR8
I’m not sure it’s “beautiful”
- it’s a bit too Kia Optima for that - but’s it’s certainly purposeful. If you want beautiful in this category, see Alfa Giulia.
That said, I hope it does better than its predecessors and as mentioned above, does it’s bit in helping overcome the current ludicrous obsession with SUVs.
beechie
A reminder...
...if one were needed, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder; I mean, Alfa Giulia?
typos1
XLR8 wrote:
I like the 508, but I agree that it isnt what I d call beautiful. I cant agree about the Giulia though, it may drive great but in no way would I call it beautiful - bland, boring, derivative, god awful looking, but not beautful in any way and I say that as someone whos on their 5th Alfa.
XXXX just went POP.
FMS
XLR8 wrote:
So you criticise buyers who in their droves buy into SUV's, not because they are forced to do so, but simply because (some as private buyers using their own money) it suits them and their needs/wants. You must learn to add "in my HUMBLE opinion" in future.
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