Introduced in 1987, this Peugeot family car marked the French brand’s return to the upper end of the mainstream European saloon market and quickly became one of its defining 1980s models. It was styled by Pininfarina, and its clean, angular design gave it a more modern look than many of its contemporaries. The model won the European Car of the Year title for 1988, reinforcing its importance in Peugeot’s lineup and helping establish it as a major rival to other large family cars of the era.
The vehicle was offered primarily as a four-door saloon, with an estate version joining the range to broaden its appeal for families and business users. Over its life it also became the basis for a number of notable performance and motorsport derivatives, including the 405 Mi16 and the four-wheel-drive Turbo 16 family, which gave the nameplate a strong enthusiast following well beyond its everyday role as a practical road car. The rally-raid and hill-climb successes of the Turbo 16 variants added to its reputation and made the 405 one of Peugeot’s most celebrated competition-linked road-car names.
Production ran through the 1990s and came to an end in 1997, when it was replaced in the brand’s European range by the 406. It remains a significant model in Peugeot history for combining broad-market success, distinctive styling, and memorable performance offshoots.