European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 18, 1988, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday August 18, 1988 the stars and stripes Page 13 new on military . Markets Peugeot 405 an attractive Auto the new front wheel drive Peugeot 405 Sedan has a lot going for it Sharp styling a Roomy Interior and a reason Able Price for a car in the midsize luxury Sedan category. Peugeot is banking on the 405 to sell Well in the United states and to spearhead its fortunes there into the 1990s see Story below so it is an extremely important automobile in the French firm s present and future plans. The 405 will have some Tough opposition along the Way but it is our opinion that it will More than hold its own. We noted on this Page last month that military car sales pcs was the first american firm to introduce the .-Spe a fiction Peugeot 405, presenting the car to the Public some two weeks before Peugeot dealers in the United states. The introduction was held july 31 in Kaiserslautern and Ross Gays pcs s product manager for Peugeot says that the original Supply of 36 cars has already been sold out and that another shipment of 50 is due from France next month with 75 More in october. If the . Market acceptance of this car is similar to the military a then the 405 will be a hot item indeed. Gays said pcs plans to sell 1,000 of the 405s annually while Claude Blan Chet a Peugeot official who attended the pcs introduction program said sales of 405s in the states Are targeted at 12,000 to 15,000 annually. We recently drove the new .-Speci fiction 405 s Model Courtesy of pcs and it is an impressive automobile the first reaction from observers being what a Beautiful car and indeed is. Designed by Pinin Fari a of Italy the aerodynamic treatment is immediately noticeable the wedge shaped lines flowing gracefully from the integrated spoiler and Low Hoo line to the High rear deck lid. The Glass is flush with the body throughout and the tops of the doors merge deeply and overlap onto the roof to create additional smoothness. Peugeot says the aerodynamic design is the result of More than 550 hours of wind Tunnel research with both models and prototypes with the final re sults producing an extremely Low drag co efficient of 0.29 on the 405 s Model. On the Road the 405 s returns a feel ing of Complete solidity yet it is quite agile and pleasant to drive. It goes exactly where it s pointed the Power assist steering direct and precise. As the test car was quite new we never pushed it too hard but it cruised easily at 96 Mph with the Tach Reading 4,000 rpm the red line starts at 6,200 rpm top Speed is rated at 115 Mph. The ride is comfortable and the car will seat up to five passengers with plenty of leg room for those in Back. The Large illuminated trunk meanwhile with a capacity of 13.7 cubic inches accommodates enough Luggage for four people. The .-specification Peugeot 405 s four door midsize luxury Sedan. Is Interior design is conservative but Roomy and functional. The 405 rally prototype at 1987 Frankfurt Auto show. See Story below. The car has Strong Road holding capabilities and More than once we wished for a More powerful engine to exploit them. The 405 s and the base do is powered by a fairly responsive 1.9-liter, 4-Cylinder, fuel injected engine of 1 10 horsepower the engine smooth and quite adequate but not really exciting where punch is concerned. But then the 405 Sis a family oriented Lulu by be Jan and not a performance , t 4 _,.but � u so uld  j1 performance Peugeot has a 405 i 1 6 sports version with 1 6-valve, twin Cam engine of 150 hand military car sales will be adding that Model to its 405 lineup at the beginning of january. Meanwhile both the 405 s and the base do models currently offered by military car sales have such Standard features As air conditioning climate control adjustable steering column Central Locking and velours Interior. They also have five Speed gearboxes while a four Speed automatic is available As an option. Along with air conditioning climate control other standards on the 405 s test car included disc brakes at All four wheels Cen trial Locking Power windows Power rear View mirrors and Power Sun roof Center armrest with ski sack opening into trunk lighted vanity mirrors on both Sun visors cruise control electrically heated front seats Alloy wheels adjustable steering column and Many other items too numerous to list Here. The Interior is relatively spartan but pleasant and Roomy and there is a Liberal amount of storage space with bins on the front doors and pockets on the seat backs. The seats Are comfortable and the Liberal use of Glass allows for excellent visibility Peugeot pegging that Factor at 309 degrees. Instrumentation is Complete and the various dials Are easy to read. In the fuel Economy department the test car returned 23 mpg on super unleaded fuel. The tank capacity is 17.2 Gallons. According to military car sales the Peugeot 405 s Model discussed in this report costs $16,800, this Price including delivery anywhere in Germany. In the United states the 405 s costs $ 17,700, plus fees for dealer preparation destination and delivery. Pcs Sells the Basic do meanwhile for $13,950, the Price including delivery any where in Germany. Randy Barnet Auto columnist Victory at pikes Peak gives new 405 a big boost the French Peugeot firm enjoys the status of being the no. 3 car maker in Europe and now with its new 405 Sedan it plans to make a much bigger name for it self on the . Market. With the arrival of the 405 subject of today s test report Peugeot now has two models available with . Specifications the other being the somewhat dated 505 Sedan which is sold with a Turbo or normally aspirated engine. In a recent interview with the new y9rk times Peugeot Boss Jacques Calvet said he Hopes to quintuple american sales by the Early 1990s, and his opening Salvo will be the company s biggest american marketing Blitz Ever. That Blitz is actually under Way now to introduce the midsize Peugeot 405, which was voted Europe s car of the year in 1987 by a panel of top automotive journalists. The specially developed Peugeot 405 rally car won the pikes Peak Hill climb in Colorado last month to much fanfare and of course that tied in beautifully with the firm s marketing plans. Peugeot is already running big color advertisements in Ameri can magazines showing the 405 flashing up pikes Peak the headline Reading if you want to get to the top first drive the car that got there  with four wheel drive and Power from a 540-horsepower Turbo engine the rally car has Little in common with the 405 Street version but it s a 405 series car nonetheless. The pikes Peak 405 rally car was driven by former world rally Cham Pion Ari Vatanen of Finland and he not Only won the Hill climb but eclipsed the pikes Peak Speed record set by Ger Many s Walter Rohrl in an Audi in the 1987 event. Another special 405 car driven by current world rally Champion Juha Kankkunen also of Finland was second. A showing like this simply could not be timed better just before the . Introduction of the Normal 405 Street version. Peugeot can now work on its sports image in the United states an image Long established in Europe. The Little Peugeot 205, in special Competition form added to that image by winning two world rally championships for Peugeot and the Paris Dakar Marathon rally As Well. It was the 205 that also prep ezied Peugeot to third place in euro Pean sales in 1987, the French firm now trailing Only Volkswagen and Fiat respectively. The Peugeot 205, unfortunately was never planned for marketing in America and it s too late for Peugeot to do so now. But the new 405, with its sporting image quickly and firmly established May bring the Success to Peugeot in America that the 205 created for Peugeot in Europe.