In this new Retrospect, we put a special Frenchman in the spotlight. Exactly ten years ago, we were preparing for our first driving test with the Peugeot RCZ.
Once in a while we can count on a special model from the French corner. Take, for example, the Citroën Xsara Picasso or C4 Cactus and the Renault Avantime or the Wind. Peugeot will make its appearance in the summer of 2009. Cars like the Audi TT are allowed to wet their chest, because the RCZ is coming! Peugeot will be showing the car for the first time at the 2007 IAA in Frankfurt. The 308 RC Z is the concept car that is the first variant of the new 308 series. Later that year, the first rumors go that the exceptionally lined coupé would actually come, but it will then take at least another year and a half before the first spy images confirm this.
On August 17, 2009 Peugeot actually shows the car and the RCZ manages to surprise many enthusiasts. The top model of the cool coupe gets the 1.6 THP with 200 hp. The RCA Hybrid4 will follow a month later at the IAA: a concept of a hybrid diesel. It just doesn’t come from a production version. Peugeot does come with a “normal” diesel: the 2.0 HDi with 160 hp. Although the car shows up in the summer, we have to wait until the spring of 2010 to get acquainted with the RCZ while driving. Today, exactly ten years ago, we are preparing for this and we have to do it with the first moving images of Peugeot itself! You can find the final test here.
After a facelift in 2012, a real RCZ R with 275 hp joins the regular petrol versions with 156 or 200 hp. At the time, the RCZ R entered the books as the most powerful street car Peugeot ever built. In the fall of 2013, it will be announced how much that party will cost: € 47,800.
Hereafter, only sad news follows, because after late 2014 it becomes known that Peugeot is not working on a successor for the RCZ, the plug is pulled out of the car a year later. Until then, 1,112 RCZs have yellow license plates in the Netherlands.