2001 Peugeot 307 – Driven To Write

Peugeot 306 to 307 = Immediate Loss of Status

From benchmark to backbench in one generation.

Peugeot 307 - image from caroftheyear.org — Peugeot 307 – image: caroftheyear.org

_{Editor’s note: This piece originally ran as part of DTW’s Benchmarks theme in March 2015.}

In these days, it is usually described as a loss of mojo, although I’ve never been certain of what that word actually means. In terms of the launch of the 307, I’d prefer to describe it as a fall from grace. I suppose I could also have picked the transition from 205 to 206 from the same stable, but I think it less obvious and memorable for me. I think I need to Continue reading “Peugeot 306 to 307 = Immediate Loss of Status”

Driven To Write’s All Time Best Cars Ever: 19 to 10

Here is part four of the much-heralded and long-awaited top fifty most brilliant cars ever. There are pub arguments waiting to be decided in the light of this.

19: Rover threw everything they could at the 45 in a game attempt to impede the sales success of the perennial Golf and evergreen Focus: wood, leather and a 2.0 litre V6. This car then is the spirit of the Battle for Britain, manifest in the metal of a car. Hmmm. You’d never think there was any 1992 Honda Domani underneath the reserved, Saville Row exterior of this classy vehicle. Above all, it was a Rover. Continue reading “Driven To Write’s All Time Best Cars Ever: 19 to 10”

Theme : Benchmarks – Peugeot 306 to 307 = Immediate Loss of Status

In these days, it is usually described as a loss of “mojo”, although I’ve never been certain of what that word actually means.

In terms of the launch of the 307, I’d prefer to describe it as a fall from grace. I suppose I could also have picked the transition from 205 to 206 from the same stable, but I think it less obvious and memorable for me. I think I need to become instantly more specific. The 306 was the chassis benchmark in its class. It was also one of the more lovely looking mid-range hatches of its time, but I think aesthetics are much harder to benchmark, and I am certainly less comfortable opining on the way a car looks under such a heading.

Continue reading “Theme : Benchmarks – Peugeot 306 to 307 = Immediate Loss of Status”