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| Peugeot
207 - part 2 |
Broadcast
date : 25th June 2006 |
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In the early 1980s Peugeot established a new motorsport
division, which went from strength to strength, cementing a
new sporting image.
The victorious 205 and 206 rally cars established a worldwide
cult for the 2 Series that continues to this day.
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Marcus Gronholm drove to victory in this 206, which also paved
the way for Peugeot’s partners Citroen to take over
domination of the sport. And there’s little doubt that
Peugeot will be back winning with the 207. In circuit racing,
Peugeot’s history goes way, way back.
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In conjunction with the World Rally and Paris-Dakar programme,
Peugeot also entered Formula one, as an engine partner to
McLaren, and later to the ill-fated Prost and Jordan teams.
The Formula one programme never yielded any meaningful results
for Peugeot, as the engines proved fragile and not
particularly competitive.
In long-distance sports car racing it was another story.
Peugeot made a concerted effort to win at its home race, the
Le Mans 24 Hour, achieving this goal in 1992.
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The 905 sports prototype racer was victorious in Britain,
Japan and France that year with a stable of top-flight drivers
that included former French Formula one stars Phillipe Alliot
and Jean-Pierre Jabouille.
The popular English Formula one driver Derek Warwick went on
to win the world sports car championship for Peugeot that
year.
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This rather special version of the 406 sedan from the 1990s
would be just the ticket for some of our world-famous Gauteng
taxi drivers.
The tank-track wheel-substitutes and high ground-clearance are
first-rate for kerb-hopping and even car-hopping!
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Far more elegant were the coach-built French cars from the
late 1930s, including this competition model from that era.
The four-series cars, which featured the coupe-cabriolet
touring model, also included this two-seater that proudly
upheld the French national racing colours.
That French racing blue livery will live on in the memories of
many a motorsport fan. But the Peugeot Adventure museum
presents an afternoon-odyssey that goes back in the mists of
time far beyond the scope of the motorcar.
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Peugeot has produced all manner of useful items in its
history, including motor scooters in the 1940s and 1950s, and
its famous bicycle range. In fact one of its earlier bicycles
was manufactured in wood.
The company produced its first coffee grinder in 1840, and in
1867 it began producing sewing machines, to accompany its
range of band-saws, springs and other tools bearing the famous
"Lion" brand, which first appeared in 1850.
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The very first Peugeot car was shown at the World Fair in
Paris in 1889, and in 1892 was the first company to fit rubber
tyres to a petrol-engined four-wheeler.
Armand Peugeot drove the Type 28 Phaeton at nearly 30 km/h in
1900 and soon began making his own twin cylinder engines.
By 1900 Peugeot’s output had reached 500 per year, with
fifteen different models produced. In the same year annual
bicycle production reached the 20000 mark!
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The Peugeot Adventure also takes us back to the future. Quite
literally, in fact, with its array of concept vehicles
produced in the past few decades, enabling us to chuckle
quietly at some of the innovations that never made it, and
marvel at others that did.
The bright red Asphalt three-wheeler, for instance, was shown
at the 1996 Paris Show, and boasted a top speed of 200km/h
from a small 1,6 litre 106 engine.
Others, like electric dune-buggies, may well have a place in
our motoring history a decade from now, as will this concept
coupe, as Peugeot re-invokes its sporting traditions in
powerful supercars.
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There’s plenty of excitement in store for Peugeot fans, who
embraced the 206 GTi as the archetypal hot-hatch.
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Peugeot
207 - part 1
Peugeot
207 - part 3
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