Peugeot 305

Friday 26 March 2010
The Peugeot 305 is a small family car produced by the French automaker Peugeot from 1978 to 1989. During the mid to late 1970s, the motoring press speculated that a new Peugeot would soon arrive, in order to update the company's model lineup, in an attempt to make the Peugeot more internationally appealing. Since Peugeot had only recently discontinued their Peugeot 404 model, many people thought that the purpose of the new car was to fill the gap, previously occupied by the 404, between the Peugeot 304 and Peugeot 504 models. It therefore would have been natural for the new car to be called the 405. The car was to be developed from and use the running gear from the 304, but in terms of size and price, it was to succeed the 404, especially considering that the top model in the new range would cost more than the entry-level 504, and that the 304 would remain in production some time after the new car was introduced. Instead of being called the 405, the new car was called the 305. When it made its press debut in November 1977, the motoring press were initially confused as to why it was called a 305 rather than a 405, but it sold well anyway. The body was done by Italian stylist Pininfarina and was completely new. It was all-steel monocoque which strongly resembled the BMW 3-Series of the time. The design is based on Peugeot's 'VSS' prototype safety vehicle, which Peugeot created to improve car safety. This meant that the car had front and rear crumple zones, side impact protection, a protected fuel tank and bolt-on front wings. Three bodystyles were available, consisting of a conventional 'three-box' four door sedan, a five door station wagon, and a three door panel van.

Technical data:
- engine: 4 cylinders
- capacity: 1472 cc
- horsepower: 75 HP
- gearbox: 5+1
- top speed: 165 km/h