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An Overview of the Peugeot Models
The Peugeot 206
was created in the early 1990’s with the replacement of the preceding 205 model. Peugeot changed their model under the idea that super mini cars were no longer profitable, therefore a change was in order. The Peugeot 206 did not immediately follow the 205 as the Peugeot 106, 306 and 309 models to capture different levels of sales from prospective customers. The Peugeot 106 was rivaling the Ford Fiesta and Volkswagen Polo with the 306 and 309 models taking the mid and top end sales from the discontinuation of the 205. Because of this, many Peugeot enthusiasts believe the 206 should have been named the 207. The 206, although created early was not released until 1998.
The Peugeot moniker indicates that the 206 immediately followed the 205, but this is not true as other models were released before the 206. The eventual successor, the 207, was finally launched n 2006, but Peugeot recently announced that the 206 will stay in production until the year 2010. The 206 is the best selling Peugeot of all time but the end of the model in the upcoming years will end the ‘06’ generation of Peugeot cars in almost 20 years. The 206 was initially produced in France and England but production switched to Slovakia. The closure of the British plant matched with the closure of the Ryton plant, which Peugeot took over when Peugeot bought Chrysler’s European division in 1979.
The Peugeot 306 replaced the 309. The 306 is very similar to the Citroen ZX, which was released to the public two years before the 306 model. Both cars used the same structure and floorplan. The 205 was styled after the Pininfarina styling and has been a better seller. In the 1974 oil crisis, Citroen went bankrupt and Peugeot took over Citroen. This led to the similarities and identical cars produced by both manufacturers.
The 306 Phase 1 came to the market in March of 1993 as a 3 and 5 door hatchback with three different models being offered. The five door was more of a station wagon and was dubbed the “sw” for station wagon. Although not nearly as stylish as the 205, the 306 offered many practical uses in the vehicle. The sw estate model was not a hatchback station wagon, but a sedan with luxurious European styling to accompany the Peugeot racing spirit.
The engines used in the Peugeot cars were offered both in a gasoline and a diesel model. The gasoline engines were four cylinder units, which gained their outstanding reputation from being the power plant in the ever popular Peugeot 205 model. The idea for the Peugeot engines was to have a fair trade off between performance and excellent fuel economy. Three larger capacity engines were available but were restricted to automatic and performance models.
The diesel engines in Peugeot came with an excellent reputation and were largely available in turbo charged models. The original engine displacement for the diesel engines came in a 1.8 liter, but was soon upgraded to a 1.9 liter. The turbocharged Peugeot diesel became an excellent fitting engine to match the 306 as the performance matched similarly sized gasoline cars. The considerable extra weight was overcome by the turbocharged performance.
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The History of Peugeot
Peugeot began its reign in motorsports since the very beginning with the entering five cars for the Paris-Rouen Trials in 1894. These motorsport trials are largely recognized as the first motor sports competition. It was not until 1912 that Peugeot made its most notable contribution to the world of motor sports when one of the entered cars won the French Grand Prix. This winning Peugeot car was advanced and influential for later designs as the Peugeot featured a dual overhead cam configuration with four valves per cylinder. The Peugeot innovation made it such that the engines could be smaller and kick out maximum horsepower versus relying on larger heavier engines to get the desired horsepower.
1913 marked an excellent year for Peugeot in racing as they won the Indianapolis 500 and the French Grand Prix. Interestingly enough, when one of the Peugeot racers remained in the US during WWI, parts could not be acquired from France for the 1914 season. The owner of the car, Bob Burma, had the Peugeot serviced under the mechanic, Fred Offenhauser. The familiarity with the Peugeot engine was the basis of the Miller racing engine which led to the Offy racing engine.
The racing team had a great deal of success wit hthe Peugeot 504 and the four wheel drive turbo charged 205 model. The 205 model is by far the best selling Peugeot model of all time, with the discontinuation of the model happening in the near future. The Peugeot 206 rally car enjoyed successes in championships beating the well known Subaru Impreza. The 206 was retired from rally racing after being nearly unbeatable during its reign as a racing force. The 206 was replaced in rally racing with the 307, which is nowhere near what the 206 established. In the races, transmission troubles gave the car poor results, which made it a far cry from the 206.
In the 1990, the Peugeot 406 saloon was largely referred to as a sedan in many countries. The Peugeot 406 competed in the touring car championships worldwide with success in France, Germany and Australia. The mid-1990s were characteristic of the 406 losing popularity because of lackluster performance in racing. The lack of success was largely based on suspension problems, and the Peugeot 406 earned a poor reputation. After the fact, the Peugeot 406 was declared to be underpowered and the team was underfunded. Had the Peugeot team been better funded, the Peugeot 406 could have a better standing reputation today. In 2001, Peugeot entered three 406 models in to the British touring car championship to compete with Vauxhall Astra coupes. The Peugeot 406 was at the end of its production life cycle and was not competitive with the newer, more technologically advanced vehicles in the race. The Peugeot 307 replaced the 406, with the 307 having lackluster success as well. In all reality, had Peugeot stuck with the 206, they might still have a dominant rally racing prowess.
Peugeot Cars, Tennis And A French Aviator, What Do They Have In Common?
What do Peugeot the car maker, Tennis and a French aviator have in common? The answer is, Roland Garros. Still confused then read on and learn about the wonderful relationship between the three.
Roland Garros was a World War I fighter pilot, who was also famous for being the first person to make a non-stop flight across the Mediterranean Sea, from Southern France to Tunisia. Roland Garros was also the first pilot to achieve a shooting-down method from a fighter plane using a tractor propeller. Which lead to some victories against the Germans, until Garros crash landed in German territory, on April 1915. He survived and even after being kidnapped Garros managed to escape in February 1918. Unfortunately on 5th October 1918 Roland Garros was shot down and killed while still serving for the French army.
Going on to the 1920’s, there was a tennis centre which was regularly attended by Roland Garros, while he was a student in Paris. In respect to his work and dedication to the country, this tennis centre was named Stade de Roland Garros. This is the stadium that now holds the French Open and the Grand Slam tournaments, which are known officially as Roland Garros. The Roland Garros tournaments are held between early May and late July
So we’ve covered the French aviator and then how his name went onto being used by a tennis centre, which then moved onto becoming the name of a substantial tennis tournament. Now we’ll go onto what Peugeot have to do with this all.
Peugeot is a major French carmaker; they are officially the second largest carmaker in Europe.
In 1984 Peugeot became the official partner of the French Tennis Federation. This also made them the leading partner of the International Grand Slam tennis tournament known as the French Open of Roland Garros. 1989 saw the making of Roland Garros Limited edition version of Peugeot’s 205 model, which was done in celebration to the tennis tournament.
The Roland Garos models are painted in a dark green paint and have cream and green leather interior and red seat belts. They also have the Roland Garros logo on them. Due to the success of the special limited edition version, Peugeot went onto releasing several other models such as the 106, 206 and soon to come the New Peugeot 207. But there’s one major difference on the latest Roland Garros model, Peugeot have decided to drop the dark green paint work and cream interior. Instead the New Peugeot 207 comes in a canary yellow but still has the Roland Garros badge in a greyscale colour.
It’s been nearly 26 years since Peugeot became a part of the French Tennis Federation and through the years they’ve not only released special edition cars after the Roland Garros name. They’ve also made Roland Garros Scooters and Bicycles. Also since 1996 Peugeot has been devoted in amateur tennis and have created The Roland Garros Encounters, which is its own mixed double tournament.