Peugeot 305

The Peugeot 305 is a medium-sized car produced by the French automaker Peugeot from 1977 to 1993. It was offered as a four-door saloon, five-door estate, and as a three-door van derivative.
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....