Car Of The Day: March 28, 2012

Today's car of the day is Zylmex's 1988 Peugeot 405 Turbo 16 GR.

The Peugeot 405 is a large family car released by the French automaker Peugeot in July 1987 and which continues to be manufactured under licence outside France. It used TU/XU petrol and XUD diesel engines.
The 405 was voted European Car of the Year for 1988 by the largest number of votes in the history of the contest. About 2.5 million vehicles have been sold worldwide in left-hand and right-hand-drive versions, as a berline (saloon) and break (estate).

No coupé was offered to the public, unlike the 504 and 406, as only two examples of the purpose-built 405 Turbo-16 (not to be confused with 405 T16) were made.

The appearance of the car bears similarities to those of the Alfa Romeo 164, launched the same year and also styled by Pininfarina.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Peugeot 405 Turbo 16 GR

One of the definitive French rally racers.  This one was also done my Majorette.  Black doesn't photograph well- this car has better detail than what's shown.

The most famous motorsport version of the 405, the rallying 405 Turbo 16 GR, was very different from the road-going 405. It was built in a coupe body style in mid-engine configuration, had constant four wheel drive with electronically adjustable center differential like the 205 T16, as it was based on the same technology. At least four were produced, competing in hill climbs and the Paris-Dakar rally. Today, three are in the official Peugeot museum, and the other is in a private collection.

1988: Finnish driver Ari Vatanen set a new record in the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb (an award winning film of the drive titled Climb Dance was made by Jean Louis Mourey). Kankkunen and Piironen win the Paris-Dakar Rally in the 405 T16 GR.

1989: Victory in the Paris-Dakar rally by the Vatanen-Ickx team in a 405 T16 GR.

1990: Victory in the Paris-Dakar rally by the Vatanen-Berglund team in a 405 T16 GR.

Racing 405s much closer in specification to the road-going models were campaigned for several years in European touring car racing during the early to mid 1990s, most notably in the British Touring Car Championship and the French Supertourisme Championship. In Britain, the 405 did not achieve much success, but the car won the French series in both 1994 and 1995, in the hands of Laurent Aïello.