The V12 Peugeot 907 Took On Ferraris And Astons In A Parallel Universe

Peugeot boasts some cracking performance cars in its back catalogue, from the glory days of the 205 GTi and 106 Rallye to more recent efforts like the 208 and 308 GTi. Most of these, though, were attainable hot hatches, and none of them came in the noughties, a time when ‘Peugeot’ was largely synonymous with ‘car driven by someone who’s entirely given up on life’.

Maybe it was in an effort to shake off this newfound malaise that Peugeot rocked up at the 2004 Paris Motor Show with a trio of slightly mad concept cars, then. There was the Quark, essentially a bizarre quad bike with a big grinning face; the 1007 RC, a small people carrier with two electronically sliding doors (that one actually made production); and the 907, a *checks notes* 6.0-litre V12-powered, 500bhp Aston DB9-rivalling grand tourer.

That V12 was basically two of the company’s 3.0-litre V6s melded together, and sat behind the front axle of the car, technically making it front-mid-engined. It powered the rear wheels via a six-speed automated manual (which was the style at the time).

The bodywork, made from carbon fibre, was archetypal grand tourer, with the cabin pushed right back behind a bonnet that stretched into the next postcode. There was even a perspex panel in said bonnet that allowed onlookers to peer voyeuristically at the 12 individual intake trumpets protruding from the engine. The styling was, however, topped off with the gurning corporate face Peugeot was perhaps overly fond of at the time. We’ll let you make your own mind up on whether this was a good thing.

Inside, it was a feast of rich burgundy leather, pristine white Alcantara and mirror-polished aluminium, with a big panoramic glass roof flooding it with light and a pair of gorgeous analogue clocks in front of you. It was, frankly, magnificent.

So, after it had done its duty sitting on a giant lazy Susan for the delight of Paris showgoers, it was presumably consigned to a dusty storage unit somewhere, or maybe a museum if it was lucky, right? Erm, no. The 907 was actually a fully functional car, one that Peugeot would later give journalists demo rides in and test at high speed. The company reckoned it was good for 180mph and 0-60mph in around four seconds.

So was there ever a plan for Peugeot to go after Aston and Ferrari in the highly competitive Driving Down To Monaco And Making A Grand Entrance At Casino Square segment? Well, if there was, it was nixed at the very first stage.

Truthfully, the main purpose of the 907 was to get more eyes on the Peugeot brand. Makes you wonder why they bothered making it a working car, but who knows – maybe some of the company’s learnings informed the highly successful endurance racing programme it would launch a few years later, which had equally little to do with any of the road cars it was building at the time save for using a diesel engine.

As for the 907, the last we heard, it was living a pampered life at Peugeot’s museum in its hometown of Sochaux, a reminder of the parallel universe where the company decided to try and beat Ferrari and Aston at their own game.