Peugeot 305

The Peugeot 305 is a medium-sized car produced by the French automaker Peugeot from 1977 to 1989. It was offered as a four-door saloon, five-door estate, and as a three-door van derivative.

History

Origins

During the mid 1970s, the motoring press speculated that a new Peugeot would soon arrive, in order to update the company's model lineup, in an attempt to make the Peugeot more internationally appealing. Since Peugeot had only recently discontinued their long-running 404 model, many people thought that the purpose of the new car would to fill the gap, previously occupied by the 404, between the 304 and 504 models, to compete against cars like the Ford Cortina/Taunus and Renault 12. It therefore would have been natural for the new car to be called the 405, commencing a new "05" generation of Peugeot models. However, in fact the car was developed from the running gear from the 304, but in terms of size and price, it was close to the already-defunct 404. The 304 would remain in production some time after the new car was introduced. Instead of being called the 405, the new car was called the 305. When it made its press début in November 1977, the motoring press were initially confused as to why it was called a 305 rather than a 405.^{[citation needed]}

It was similar in size to its French competitor the

Production

The Peugeot 305 was unveiled in November 1977,

Despite the performance limitations of the smaller engine, the gearbox in all 305s was excellent, with extremely precise and light gear changes.^[citation needed] The 305 combined a front-wheel-drive car with an excellent and durable gearbox. There was no fifth gear provided but Peugeot was reported to have said that the car had no difficulty reaching 95 mph (153 km/h) if pushed to the limit.^{[citation needed]}

Power came from 1.3-litre or 1.5-litre petrol and 1.55-litre diesel engines and later, after the facelift, the 1.5-litre was replaced by a 1.6-litre and 1.9-litre petrol and diesel engines (

The facelifted, series 2 models arrived at the

Sales of the 305 were strong in France and most other countries where the car was sold, In Britain, its original competitors were the Ford Cortina MK4, Vauxhall Cavalier MK1 and Morris Marina. It was launched around the same time as its key French rival, the Renault 18. Later in its production life, it was competing with newer rivals including the Ford Sierra, MK2 Vauxhall Cavalier, Austin Montego, Renault 21, and the British-built Nissan Bluebird.

In 1979, the 305 won 1979 the What Car? Car of the Year in the United Kingdom, although it was largely overlooked by the motoring press for that year's European Car of the Year award, who voted the Chrysler/Simca Horizon as the winner, the Fiat Ritmo/Strada in second place and the Audi 80 in third place.

Production of saloons ceased in 1988, following the launch of the slightly larger and more powerful Peugeot 405, which proved a much stronger seller in the United Kingdom. Production of 305 estates ceased in 1989 and did not see a direct replacement until the launch of the 306 estate in 1997. The three-door Van (Fourgonnette, or Break Service in the home market) continued to be built until June 1990 and was not replaced.^[3] A total of 86,413 Fourgonnettes were built, making it the least common bodystyle by a substantial margin.^[3]

Although it was a reasonably common sight on Britain's roads throughout the 1980s and until well into the 1990s, just 76 examples of the 305 were reported to be on Britain's roads by February 2016.^[6]

Body design

The body was done by Italian stylist

http://planete305.fr

References

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