Peugeot’s best concept cars so far

This remarkable concept has gone down in legend as one of the coolest show cars ever, and unfortunately also one that - more tragically - never made it to the reality of production.

Although even a Peugeot riding high on the success of the 205 hatchback at the time might have struggled to sell a real-world mid-engined sports car with exposed mechanical bits at the rear and a front end that looked like a runaway extra from Top Gun (and which surely must have influenced the design of the US-made Vector supercars of the 1990s).

Still, those exposed mechanical bits did see some real-life work, as the 600hp mid-engined layout, with four-wheel drive, was shortly to be found powering the real-life Peugeot 205 T16 Group B rally car (and its limited-run road-going equivalent), taking titles and terrifying spectators amid the World Rally Championship’s wildest era. The Quasar name was eventually used too... as a special edition of the Peugeot 405 Estate.

How about a V12-engined coupe instead?

A few years later, Peugeot could once again have made a big, cool, stylish coupe, and if it had translated the 907 concept to production, as apparently very nearly happened, then we could have had an all-time great.

The 907 was a huge, dramatic, long-nosed coupe whose length was needed to hold a massive 6.0-litre V12 engine. Yes, a V12 Peugeot, based on two existing Peugeot V6 engines mated to a common crankshaft - and I say it again for emphasis: it nearly happened.

There was even a proposition to make a production-ready version of the mighty V12 diesel engine which would eventually go on to propel the Peugeot 908 racing car to victory at Le Mans, but of course as with so many great concept ideas, that one failed to get past the accountants.

That would have been fitted, transversely and rear-mounted in the back of a Peugeot 980 RC saloon, which would have given the French brand a genuine Mercedes-Maybach rival. Would have, could have, should have been amazing.

Legendary style never goes out of fashion

Even closer to production reality was the Peugeot E-Legend concept, which, with electric power underneath, took the original Pininfarina-designed Peugeot 504 Coupe as its inspiration and which could have been the best-looking Peugeot road car of all time.

Sadly, to this day, it remains a concept, but there are still occasional quiet mentions that the E-Legend idea could be dusted off for a modern-day electric flagship model. Keep hoping...

Le Mans inspiration for regular Peugeots

Sometimes, though, concept cars aren’t so much about the shape, or the powerplant, but they’re about materials. Take the Peugeot Onyx. Shown at the 2012 Paris motor show, the Onyx is one of those concept cars that’s not only dramatic, it’s also just stunningly beautiful.

It’s an incredibly low-slung machine, almost as if you’d asked the guy who designed the Stealth Bomber to work out what a car should look like. Powered by the 3.7-litre V8 diesel engine from Peugeot’s then-current Le Mans racer, it was never going to make it to production, but you can see how the slim radiator and clean lines influenced the likes of the second-generation Peugeot 308 and the first-gen 208.

Of possibly more importance was the colour. The Onyx was, as per the name, mostly finished in jet black, but it also had a dramatic splash of bright, polished copper, which ran at a sharp angle across the middle of the bodywork.

This was supposed to age with the car, adding a weathered patina that would be unique to each car. Copper panels never made it to production, but a few years after the Onyx, Peugeot did introduce a ‘Coupe Franche’ paint option for some of its sportier models, which included half-black, half-red paintwork with the dividing line running at a sharp angle, clearly inspired by the Onyx’s copper.

A couple of years before the Onyx, Peugeot had shown off the SR-1, which had similar, if slightly less dramatic, design cues, which again clearly influenced the later Peugeot 308 and 208. We mention it here because it was also a pioneer of plug-in-hybrid power, and mostly because it was just downright gorgeous.

If the Onyx and the SR-1 were in some ways relatively sensible concepts, which could in a perfect world have made it through to production (if only...) that’s one thing, but Peugeot - generally one of the more sensible car makers - is not above the occasional wild flight of concept car fancy.

Peugeot can do weird, too

How about the Peugeot EX-1? On the face of it, an electrically powered two-seat roadster, with three wheels (one at the rear, two at the front) isn’t all that weird.

We mean, it’s weird, definitely, but not outrageous. That is until you go to open the door... And then you find that the EX-1 has rear-hinged doors (fair enough...) that also include the seat (what?).

Yes, it’s true - to strap into the EX-1 you essentially sit into the door pocket and somehow, from that point, close yourself and the door into the car.

We’re not sure why that would be a good thing, nor what brand of Beaujolais the design department was quaffing that day, but the EX-1 was actually a runner - not only a runner, but a fast runner with 340hp from two electric motors and a kerb weight of just 750kg.

The EX-1 set a number of electric car records back in 2022, designed in part to help celebrate the 200th anniversary of Peugeot itself.

And a little more recently...

Bringing us right up to date is the Peugeot Polygon concept, shown off in 2025. Now, at first this looks like a pure concept, a silly flight of the designer’s fancy.

Looks closer though - the overall silhouette gives us a big hint of what to expect from the upcoming new Peugeot 208 and 2008, and while the big gullwing doors almost certainly won’t find their way into dealerships, the revolutionary ‘Hypersquare’ steering wheel will, complete with its oblong shape and internally-rotating grips.