Peugeot does not build many cars like the Peugeot 406: a 4-door saloon / 5-door estate / 2-door coupé with Petrol engine, built from 1995 to 2005 when airbags, anti-lock brakes and Japanese build quality became the world standard. Its designer of record is Laurent Rossi (saloon) (1991) / Davide Arcangeli and Lorenzo Ramaciotti at Pininfarina (coupé).
The story
The Peugeot 406 is a large family car that was produced by French automaker Peugeot between 1995 and 2004. Available in saloon, estate and coupé bodystyles with a choice of petrol or turbodiesel engines, the 406 replaced the Peugeot 405 in Peugeot's lineup, and was itself replaced by the Peugeot 407.
What is underneath
Under the skin sits Petrol engine; other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. The gearbox is a 4-speed AL4 automatic / 4-speed ZF 4HP20 automatic (V6 only) / 5-speed manual. The layout matters: the engine drives the front wheels, the packaging choice that gives a small car a big cabin. The wheelbase is 2700 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Peugeot's history is not in doubt: the Peugeot 405 / Peugeot 504 coupé (for coupé) came before it; the Peugeot 407 followed it; it was built at Sochaux. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the BMW Z3, the Toyota Tacoma, the Honda CR-V. Nearby in the Peugeot catalogue sit the Peugeot Onyx and the Peugeot Pars.