Erratum: Despite Wikipedia saying so, there's no other evidence the 406 and Xantia were based on the same platform.

The last new Peugeot sold in the United States. My parents bought a leftover wagon from a dealership that had switched over to Hyundai. It was two years old but only had 107 miles. They drove it for the next twenty years, first as a daily driver and then as the extra vehicle and dog taxi, until parts and service became almost impossible to find. It went to the scrap yard with 250,000 miles on it when they couldn't source a replacement windshield for it and with a major crack in the driver's line of sight it wouldn't pass inspection. It was parked for almost a year while they tried to source a windshield. It was serviced by the former dealership head mechanic who set up an independent shop after the dealership closed and when he retired nobody else was interested in servicing it. It was very reliable and durable over its lifetime and problems were few and far between and mostly minor. The most expensive repair was the replacement of the ABS pump at 150,000 miles. In the whole 20 years they owned it they only recalled seeing three others and those for sedans.

I had totally forgotten, how stylish both the 405 and 406 looked! Lines were so crisp and uncluttered, back in those days.

As an Iranian, who's had almost no choice but to own a 405, it was great to watch this video, especially the section on derivatives made by Iran Khodro. I should point out that 405 derivatives mostly sell well in Iran because there are almost no alternatives in their price range due to various restrictions on car imports.

Fun fact - according to the Finnish inspection statistics the Peugeot 405 was one of the few cars that had lot of individual cars with more than half a million kilometers on them - Mercedes(-Benz) obviously held the top positions but among a few other German premium cars and a few Volvos there was the Peugeot 405. I think I've also heard the joke "what happens to a Peugeot 405 after it has server 500 000 km as a Taxi in France? - It gets shipped to Algeria for 1 million kilometers more" more than once. ...and as anecdotal evidence, my mother drove one until 430 000 km on the odometer to work, daily, 100km a day or so ... and I still have a photo that shows that car's thermometer showing -35C when my dad was picking us up from the airport. If there ever was solid French engineering, that automobile definitely was a stellar example of it.

I’m from Iran and my first car was a Peugeot 405 GLX, I loved it. By the way I’m impressed by how accurate were the things you said about 405’s story in Iran, and also how correctly you pronounced Persian words. Even news channels do it wrong often. Thanks again for another great video ❤

How I loved the song "take My brother Ray"...

The Take my breath away commercial was filmed on my grandfather’s sugarcane farm in northern NSW, Australia! Fascinating story behind how it all came to be and what happened on the days of shooting.

Happily had 405 estate for a number of years. Sold it when it had 280k+ miles on the clock. Knew the new owner who ran it until it finally died at over 380k miles. Super reliable 1.9TDi lump. Wasn’t the fastest wasn’t the most stylish but it was a load lugger and comfy.

I had the estate version with a diesel engine as a company car back in the 90's, I did 130,000 miles in that car with no issues, loved it.

Never had a pug 405 but I always thought the 405 and 406 were extremely good looking.

The 405 was a cracking car, solid and drove really well. The 605 was the big brother and also lovely 🙏🏻

Pinky and Perky singing Take my breath away. Sublime

405 was a magnificent thing to drive. I have memories of my father blatting around motorway sliproads on the outside lane at 100 mph in his 1.9 petrol (not the mi16, although he had colleagues with those and they were apparently slower in the real world, with torque higher up the revs), terrifying anyone in the vicinity. Yet inside, we felt perfectly safe. That was possibly the best handling fwd car ever. Later, I owned a 406. Not quite as good but still very impressive. I regret selling it to this day and wish it could be magicked back into my life.

The 1990 dashboard update only made very slight changes to the instrument cluster and the center fascia of the dashboard, as well as a new steering wheel for models equipped with a 2-spoke steering wheel as standard. They did actually take a photo of it and put it on their sales brochure, but because it still looks very similar to the previous model, most people did not realize that they took another photo for the updated dashboard. You can see the photo in their 1991 brochure.

My dad is a retired commercial artist. He was commissioned whilst working for the advertising agency, McCann Erickson, to head, and draw the storyboards for the iconic 405 advert, take my breath away. I remember him sat at the dining table, drawing his hand in a position that later became the shot of the drivers hand changing gear. The advert is still today, one of the most iconic adverts talked about in the advertising industry. My dad, Robert Jones, absolute Legend.

Not forgetting the washer jets mounted on the wiper arms, a great function, as the Citroen CX had.

406 Coupe was one of the most beautiful cars of its time. The 4 door Saloon was the Star of the Taxi Taxi movies...

Great video of the memorable 405, I will never forget my and my schoolmates utter baffelment when our vocational school teacher changed his oh so cool Mi16 to a tame and ugly Mazda 626 GE model. Mi16 was stuff of legend to a 16 year old (and still is at age 46!). Hope this video does better than your last Peugeot videos and gets all the views in the world! Thank you for your entertaining videos. 🎯

Never knew Alvin & The Chipmunks did some power ballad covers

Fantastic range of cars. In our family we had a series of BX, 305, 309, 405, 406. Earlier this year I purchased a 1992 205 GRD. Happy times.

As a Frenchman, I thank you for the attention you pay to our cars! Even if they are not very popular in Great Britain according to Top gear…

@bigcar please never stop making these videos - you blow my mind every time. Thank you for the nostalgic treats that you deliver :)

I drove a 405 GTX in 1989 and could not believe just how good it was.

The Alvin and the Chipmunks 🐿 version of the Peugeot advert was truly something special. Good work Big Car

Love You! Thanks for covering this topic. It's bound to increase your viewership from nostalgic Iranians. My dad replaced his Peykan in 98 with a cherry-red 405 when I was 6, and so began my problematic obsession with cars. In 2021, after 18 years of living in LA where I'd occasionally see a derelict 504, I happened upon a pre-facelift Mi16 for $800 from a French mechanic a block away from me. I soo wanted to buy it, but it was in terrible shape and needed a valve job, whatever that means. I passed on it, now my life has no meaning.

I love the chipmunk version of *take my breath away" 😂 , my dad had a 405 gL 4x4, when I was a teenager. It had lovely seats, I was always comfy on long journeys back then. 😊😊

A great car I had a turbo diesel estate with 130 k and will always remember the MOT tester of my 10year + car saying "they don't rust"period.

Owned a 405 Mi16 (1990 model). It was a great and fun little car. Simple maintenance.

Such an elegant design. Timeless and clean. And the Dakar version was bang on... :D

My family owned 3 406s while i was growing up, first a silver 98' saloon, then after an accident in the snow a silver 98' estate, after some rust issues we were forced to get rid of it and we still have our blue 03' saloon on jackstands just waiting to be brought back to life to join the ranks of our daily cars. I have nothing but praise for them they truly are such beautiful, elegant comfortable and refined vehicles.

From the US, i really wish we had a lot of these here. They are so well styled, and from what i understand they drive very nicely. The diesel wagon would be particularly nice, as that segment is essentially non-existent on this side of the pond.

I had a 405 1.6GL estate as a company car in 1991. Remember it having very communicative steering. More so than the 406 estate I had a as a company car 10 years later.

Finaly! Im looking at our 405 sri 2.0 at this exact moment, a serious underrated car, like all french cars of this type super cmfortable and also sits quiet happily at 220 km/h i mean it is defently not the fastes car of its time but for what it is it really pulls. You could even be riding on the autobahn at a 120kmh and whn someone was approaching you would just drop a gear and slamm those gears, I used to Do this with my father and coeuld and still to this day neal every shift without loosing almost any momentum cosidering the fact that the car looks like an absolute grandma car due to it having no wing or someting the moment of surpise in the faces of the cars behind you was always one of the best things (In fact our 405 belonged to our grandma which for me made this whole car and its apperance and capebilities even better) Sadly not many know or can respect this car anymore this video realy made my day

I always thought this car looked beautiful back in the day. So understated and underrated..

Well done on the advert. What's not to love about the Chipmunks singing "Take my breath away"

I remember that first commercial, driving through the fields on fire….. I hadn’t realised it was Alvin and The Chipmunks that supplied the music. 🤔😁 🐿️

I believe that the 405 was the last Peugeot sold in North America, which is sad because the car had so much potential here. This was not an uncommon story back then, European marques were not well understood or supported in North America. It's a shame because we generally misunderstood (and/or mistreated) the ones we got, and so many unique cars went to the scrapyards in the 2000's. Thanks for another entertaining and informative video!

I have always appreciated the 405. Thank you for producing this video. It was well researched, interesting, informative, and much appreciated.

I was like 13 when this came out, and rather instantly loved it. Though my father was too much into VW, my grandfather bought a 205 back in '85. Later, in 1991, I got the chance to drive a T16 405, wonderful experience fot that time.

The 405 is a timeless gem and it went on to become a motor racing icon, especially in the Dakar rally, Pikes Peak and a bit later in touring cars.

I have been a great fan of Peugeot, Citroen and Renault over the years. Their departure from the US market was unfortunate and they are missed. This retrospective was terrific. It is a big world out there. Well done!

I just admire the passion you are putting into making videos like this. Brings back memories.

Finally! This is what I always felt, but hardly anyone believed

Thank you so much for this upload! Can you do one on the Fiat Croma? The Lacia/SAAB connection is really interesting 😎

Thanks for this wonderful informative review! I especially liked to information about the Iranian variants and how they managed to build these despite sanctions! Peugeot was popular in South Africa during the 60s to 80s, which you didn't mention, except for neighboring Zimbabwe. The cars had a long travel suspension that made them popular for going off the roads (the main highways had excellent surfaces years ago) to farms, etc. on gravel roads.

for an 'ordinary' car its handling was game changing - I remember getting one in 1992 as a company car and compared with the competition the handling was next level and then some

Another brilliant auto documentary sir!! And I didn’t realize how much my life was missing Alvin & the Chipmunks’ rendition of Take my breath away until I saw it here 😁

Seriously, I watch a lot of content on KZfaq, but often I just think to myself that I kind of miss the content that proper TV shows used to offer. But really you make such a good work that you really could have done a proper TV show back in the day !

As a newly minted Midshipman, I saw a red 405 Mi16 & fell in love.💕⚓🇦🇺 Luckily I couldn't afford one. Kept the MG. Very rare here indeed. Cheers Andy.

I had a high spec Peugeot 405, I remember the seats being REALLY comfortable

I had a Peugeot 405 in Malaysia during the late 1990s. I loved its shape, handling and comfy interior. It's stability was exceptional and despite suffering a double blowout of both tyres on the left side of the car at 130km/h on the North South highway late at night, it did nothing exciting like flipping over or swerved violently. It just gave a shudder and I quietly stirred the car onto the emergency lane. However, it was damn unreliable! Less than 2 years into my ownership of the 405, the auto gearbox gave way and refused to budge. I was told by the official workshop that it was a common occurrence and would cost almost 1/5 of its purchase price to replace with a new auto gearbox. I decided not to, and sold it off at a loss. I bought a Toyota Prado after that, and that never failed me at all in the 10 years I drove it.

Great video, I love classic Peugeots, and the history behind is always amazing. Hope this videos does well haha

I always enjoy your videos but this one was absolutely fascinating! Thanks dude, keep up the good work.

My first car, after I got my license 15 years ago was a 405, great car. I still see it on the streets today, alive and going strong.

Had a 405 petrol on a G plate in 1989. Loved it. Then had a 406 on a R reg in 98. Then a 406 Coupe in 2002. Now that was a special car. Had every conceivable extra on it as it was nearing the end of production. I miss those days

I've always had a big soft spot for the 405, and there's something really pleasing about the fact it's STILL being built. My parents bought one when I was about 4 or 5 years old, it was a very early model on an E plate (in the UK - 1987 model). First car I can remember with a rev counter which young me found fascinating. The first car I 'drove' sat on my dads knee. The car that brought my little brother home from hospital for the first time... I'd love an early phase 1 405 but they're impossible to find!

Great video Andy.. How about a video about the legendary Peugeot 504? That'll be wonderful..!!

Owned a 405 GTi. Bought new in 1991. Very comfy seats. Good ergonomics. Superb roadholding. The 125hp 1.9L engine was robust and reliable. The car was still pristine when I sold it to a friend in 1995.

In Iran, The 405 RD was also facelifted to 405 RoA. Original 405 GLX also facelifted to 405 SLX which happened after 405 was facelifted to Pars. 405 was still sold many years after Pars facelift due to its lower price.

Another amazing video

Great video (as always) I like how you explain the story of this car (and being French I remember I drove many kilometers as a passenger) thank you very much to bringing me back memories!

Hey, from iran here. Peugeot Pars is still in production. there is two variants. One with XU7 (old 405 engine) other with TU5 (newer 206 engine). The one with TU5 is one of the most popular cars today .It's worth more than 14000$.

my dad had one of these when i was a kid, i loved it! it got totaled when a bus ran into it while my dad was shopping for groceries

I love videos about these old normal yet popular cars. I can think of many other similar cars deserving a video of their own Like the Kia Pride, the Nissan Sunny, any skoda really. And more!

That advert would be a total shot in the foot these days. Even if it was cgi, the prevalence of wildfires in recent years would not help.

Thank you for this, I love my 405 , it just goes and goes, she is 28 years old done just shy of 450000km, she will go with me to my grave. She is my favourite of 3, have a 205 CTI a 306 and 405. The 306 was obtained to share daily duty with the 405 to save her.

Thanks for another very nice vid Mr Big Car!!! Both 405 and 406 are lovely cars,like most cars from PSA in the nineties.... and not much wrong with the quality either!!! One friend of mine bought a 405 Turbo Diesel with low milage and maximum luxury,using it mercilessly it reached over 400.000 km without issues and is mechanically stil sound!! Another good friend of mine by now spent 30 odd years buying/selling/restoring/modifying/scrapping Peugeots 205.... (Peugeot 205 Totaal,Lutten,the Netherlands) and 205’s ONLY!!!.... His business by now more and more relies on 205 enthousiasts and collectors (also from abroad!!) and less on local people only interested in a cheap daily driver.... I suppose it is a proove of quality for the 205 that so many stil survive and are in daily use after so many years and kilometres!! Kind Regards,Henk,the Netherlands.

You can tell someone really knows their cars when they pronounce Peugeot properly! Thanks for all the videos, really enjoy your channel!

A very beautiful car. This is great design. Unfortunately car designs I like are getting fewer and fewer on the roads. :/ Sometimes I wish I was a car designer, then I would design cars like this one. But I would probably get rejected by the management lol. :P Many older Peugeot cars are in my list of cars that I really, really, really like. I‘ve always thought these headlights look so cool, along with the non-oversized grille and the beautiful interior. Yesterday I saw a green 106 and it made me very happy. I‘m actually planning on making small models with something like a rubberband for acceleration of some of my fav cars from cardboard and diy stuff, I think I will start with trying out making a Ford Ka 1st gen. But some Peugeot cars are also on the list of cars I want to try out.

I am a proud owner of a 1991 405 SRi in topaz blue. It’s a lovely car to drive , very light , very comfy and a lovely looking car even today

Dad and I had a few 405's over the years, all diesels of course as he did a lot of miles and I trained as a diesel mechanic. Loads of great memories of those cars, they were so so good to drive and great on fuel, especially our non turbo estate. My mate borrowed it to go to the south of France in. He thought the fuel gauge had broken because it took so long to move off full. That car would do 55mpg no problem while fully loaded doing 70 mph. No wonder the 405 soldiered on in other markets. I would have a new one tomorrow!

As always very interesting and very well put together 🙂 Best regards from a car detailer in Norway.

I would like to know about peugeot 406 which was famous in Taxi(1998) movie.

The 405 still looks clean and has aged well. Interesting timing on this video. I've just ordered a 2008. Getting it in December.

Climb Dance short film about 405’s run in Pikes Peak is just phenomena!

Thank you for your excellent research. I watch most of your episodes of car history. This particular episode I found absolutely fascinating. Cars I have driven and owned, 405’s, BX’s, Xantias, Hunter’s, Avenger’s etc. out of all of them, it’s close, but the Citroen BX was my favourite.

TRIVIA: the "405" name came from the speed record reached in 1988 at Le Mans, on the legendary Ligne Droite Des Hunaudières (or Mulsanne if you mistakely want), which clocked 407 kph (lowered to 405 by Peugeot technicians for commercial use of the value) right on the penultimate year before it was broken in 3 by the two chicanes we see today since 1990. The car was the infamous Welter-Meunier P-88, rigorously powered by Peugeot, and driven during the record-speed lap (in race) by Roger Dorchy, AKA "Le Roi Des Hunaudières" for french folks who loves Les Vinght-Quatre Heures Du Mans. Dorchy passed away sadly in July, just like his WM-88 passed away for the immense rise of power that burned the whole engine and the car just as he slowed down at Mulsanne Corner immediately after that 1988 thunder-speed rush on La Ligne Droite. He knew the time was right then or never. So he regulated the turbo boost to extreme pressures, which the Peugeot engine was not capable of withstand. But the WMs were created not to last nor win Le Mans, but to break the absolute record at Le Mans (standing at 396 kph by the n.18 917 Langheck during the 1971 24 Hours pratice sessions - yes, it wasn't 385 as the calculations on the max rev reached revealed later on) and go over the "magical" 400 kph barrier. So much that these cars, whom idea started as far as 10 years before the accomplishment of the "mission", were substancially a process of trial and failing, gradually going faster and faster, under one single dream and banner, going by the name of "PROJECT 400". As a Le Mans and Endurance historian I took the opportunity to tell you the story in short, even if it's quite a long message of mine. Hope you enjoyed. And I have still to see the video by Big Car so if he talks about it as well... sorry to have repeated the already told story but I cannot help myself when some Le Mans Legends lying now in the Heaven of the Speed Angels like Dorchy is now are involved in one way or another... ❤ RIP Roger...😢

Great Peugeot cars. In fact Toyota were so impressed with the Peugeot suspension set-up that they bought a 405/406 back to their factory to strip the car and see how Peugeot made their cars ride/handle so well.

Oh i love 405’s looks when I was a kid. Pininfarina’s styling to me so elegant and clean! I think the look is timeless. The 406 might be another elegant incarnation but to me 405 is still the best looking!

Every single American car youtuber needs to hear you pronounce "Peugeot". Since it's atleast intelligible unlike their mumbling.

Having spent my entire life with my dad’s Phase 1 Mi16. It’s an extremely fun to drive car and one to be a passenger of, contrary to the 307 cc that is parked next to it

I’ve owned 405’s, 605’s, 406’s and 607’s, loved them. I had one 405 1.9 TD, which only fault was a Mechanical Diesel Injector Pump and the other usual stuff. I bought it with 34,000 miles. Used it as a runabout, sold it with 250,000 miles. The engine packed up with 320,000 miles, mainly because he didn’t change the oil regularly.

The 406 still stands as one of my favourite cars of all time.

Fab video, as always. Thank you! Have to say ; I was surprised at the beginning, when you mentioned your Peugeot 205 video hadn’t done well ?! If anything, that was an even more iconic car that you would have thought would get the viewers attention. It certainly got mine ! 👍

I drove a very early car on an E plate in the UK, a Peugeot UK fleet demo… I was blown away with the handling and looks. When the time came I had the first of two 405s and I loved them… 30 years later my first registered K38BKV holds fond memories.

Some of us like Peugeots. My grandad once told me they’d had a 203 which he said was very nice to drive, my parents had a 309 and 205 at different points when I was growing up, and I had a 106 as my first car. I think Peugeot always made very handsome cars with very clean and extremely well proportioned bodywork, right up until around the early 00’s when they started making cars with those enormous grills and massive headlights. I think they’ve turned it back round the last few years though and have gone back to making some very classy looking cars

As a proud owner’s child and owner of 1991 mi16 (yes, two mi16s, 91-99, 02-08) I enjoyed your video, thanks

as a 17 year old from australia i managed to get my hands on a all original 1991 series 1 405 mi16 luxury pack in bright red the fact how luxury packs are pretty much un heard of its crazy no one can find one but yet i got one without even realising the luxury pack was a thing and how rare they are

The 406 coupé is one of the prettiest coupés i've ever seen in my 53 years !

Very satisfying car to drive, smooth handling and incredibly reliable.

since i bought my 207 last year i have fallen in love with peugeot, therefore i liked and subscribed just because you made a amazing video about an amazing car

My first job was in a factory where we made the parcel shelf for the 405. The holes punched out for the speakers made great coasters for putting teapots on. We also made the headrests and they were a complete pain in the arse when it came to quality testing.

Truly superb cars. Stylish, very capable, well equipped and durable. I still maintain that a HDi engine equipped 406 estate represents peak car.

The chipmunks are singing Berlin's Take My Breath away ! Awesome !

Great story. The fact that the Peugeot 405 lives on in Iran is often overlooked. And Pininfarina has always designed beautiful cars.

Last anecdote, you’re not joking with French autoroutes. My best friend’s father had a 405 sedan turbo diesel and his ´cruise control’ was a heavy toolbox on the accelerator pedal. Few years later Sarkozy put thousands of automated speed cameras on the roads and now we’re driving cooler.

I remember that Peugeot 405 ad with the Berlin song. It was unclear at the time why a cornfield would be exploding violently, belching out large fireballs.

An uncle had a 405 imported from France and it was a revolution for me to witness that level of luxury, ride quality… I loved that car.

Good looking car, never had a real one, but happy to have a 1/43 scale model of the 405 SRi sedan in metallic light blue, a beauty :)