More To The "0" In 407 Than Meets The Eye

More To The “0” in 407 Than Meets The Eye

"Two pilots and three flight attendants spent an entire day trying to figure out how to open the trunk and there must be a joke there somewhere."

It appeared the arriving rental car was THE last available car in Amman, Jordan. Even a last minute Internet search showed no availability except at the airport which might was well be in Iraq. Somehow Avis of America, via the Internet, let us reserve a compact mystery car in the magical Kingdom of Jordan.

Having been in the airline business for over a decade, I'm no stranger to the term, “overbooked” and “compensation.” After a bit of debate over the difference between a confirmed reservation and an actual car, out of thin air a Peugeot 407 showed up. Being quite possibly the last rental in Amman, I could complain little but my travel partners and I took our time marking the pre-check list with every nick, scratch, misaligned bumper, broken light and missing wheel cover we could fine. Were it not for the Avis sticker on the back, you'd swear this was someone's private car, grade school geometry book on the back window shelf included. There were no weapons or bodies in the trunk so all was well enough and after filling up both sides of the discrepancy sheet, we were off, all five of us.

The 407 was introduced in 2005 and moved up the size chart from the 406 and one of my favorites, the 405 from the 90's. That 405 came in a 16 valve version that rocked the small sedan world as a family rocket with French style. Unfortunately the 407 gained weight, size and softness, turning it into my grandma's Buick Century of years past. Only, this was my grandma's car with a stick shift.

I've been blessed in life with great manuals. Short throws, precise engagement and well balanced ratios are marks of a well designed manual. The various trucks I've driven from Jeeps to pick-ups are forgiven as they serve other purposes than down shifting and powering out of turns. I'm quite sure a proud and nationalist French man designed this 407's manual in the shape of France.

First gear is in Normandy, perhaps reflecting the great beach battle of WWII. Second gear is down in the eastern Pyrenees, putting my elbow into the left knee of the rear-center passenger. Ironically, first gear was tall for a sea level location and second was short for a mountainous region. Third was the sweat spot in Paris, fourth enjoying some sun (and another knee) in Nice with fifth gear sticking it to the Germans in Berlin. It was that far away. Clearly this proud transmission engineer enjoyed the countryside as getting to said regions and cities involved twisty country roads instead of straight auto routes. That said, clutch engagement was smooth allowing for lazy shifts to keep the passengers happy despite multiple rowing to keep pace with the dramatic elevation changes near Amman.

The French know how to do suspensions. Not in the sense of Nurburgring grinding or g-force face contortions, but in the sense that the full passenger load never felt heavy in down hill turns. Even with speed bump unawareness and surprise emergency lane changes when the car in front decides to make a cross road exit in the middle of the sand, the folks in back never complained about the ride and Jordan loves their speed bumps and humps. I'll admit the numerous radar traps kept speed to a maximum of 60mph, but when trying to appease four passengers (and not scare the hell out of them), a confident and comfortable car is in order. Like my grandma's Buick, or this 407.

With only 2.0 liters of petrol (not diesel...shock for a French car) I really don't need to mention the lack of power. The hills required a lot of touring France with the stick shift and with all the passenger weight, one shouldn't be surprised reaching 60mph was a bit of a miracle going uphill. I don't think the economy was all that good either, but then the gas gage didn't move after a fill up until a second start up. The speed control was inop since it was missing the on/off button on the stalk. Radio volume control was difficult as that knob was missing too. We wouldn't be charged extra for excess miles since the digital odometer readout was burnt out with only a few characters illuminating. But, the A/C rocked us cold, even at the bottom of the above water earth by the Dead Sea.

Being French, but not Citroen, quirks are sure to abound and I'm not talking about quality issues. Two pilots and three flight attendants spent an entire day trying to figure out how to open the trunk and there must be a joke there somewhere. We searched the car over for a release button. We tried different key positions in the door. I even looked under the hood to see if there was a baguette to pull for a trunk release. We spent the day lowering the split rear seat to access items in the trunk. Towards the end of the day we concluded we must have a valet key and the actual key has a remote for the trunk. It was the only solution. Arriving back at the hotel, security asked us to open the trunk to search it. I said, “Best of luck to you!” Mr. Security went back and without pause pressed inside the “0” of the “407” emblem and up went the trunk. Nom de Dieu!

Yes, there is far more in the “0” of the 407 than meets the eye. It's a comfortable desert cruiser that my grandmother would be proud to own. I could stop here and go all ugly American on a French product, and we did, especially over the deceptive trunk, but the success of the 407 lies in that it kept moving and didn't overheat. Consider the situation: 99 degrees, 3000 ft hills, nearly 900lbs of passengers and full on aircon the entire day. Even the camels were in a bit of awe.