Peugeot 305

The Peugeot 305 is a medium-sized car that the French automaker Peugeot produced from 1977 to 1989, offered as a four-door saloon, a five-door estate and a three-door van derivative. It was unveiled in November 1977 and, although it was close in size and price to the discontinued 404, it was named 305 because it was developed from the running gear of the 304, which left the motoring press puzzled about why it was not the 405. The first petrol engines were 1290 cc and 1472 cc units and a 1548 cc diesel followed four months later, with the Break estate arriving in March 1980. A facelift at the Paris Salon in late 1982 brought the new XU series engines with a five-speed gearbox, and later models added the XUD diesel engines also used in the Talbot Horizon. It was the first of the 05 generation of Peugeots, which lasted until the end of 605 production in 1999.