Your quiet cruising could be enjoyed behind a variety of four- and six-cylinder engines, including 2.2 and 3.0-litre petrols and 2.0 and 2.7-litre diesels. Of these, it was the 2.7 twin-turbo 24-valve diesel that best suited the 407’s character, its thumping 1900rpm, 330lb ft deluge of torque working to great effect with the six-speed automatic that this version always came with. The diesel V6 was largely developed by Ford in a joint venture with PSA, yielding oil-brining V6s for Peugeot, Citroën, Land Rover and Jaguar, and a diesel V8 for Ford to use in its American pick-ups. At the time, it was reckoned to be one of the best big diesels out there.
You could also have a 208bhp 3.0 petrol V6, initially with a slightly uncooperative automatic, later with a manual – this combination being one of the rarest 407 Coupes of all. But a manual transmission, which was usually teamed with the four-cylinder engines too, didn’t do much to make a sports car of this Peugeot despite its many dynamic merits.
These included impressive resistance to body roll, terrific roadholding and distinctly unTrumpian directional stability. But it didn’t feel especially agile, and attempting to trim its trajectory with the throttle was as effective as this technique would be in the cab of a high-speed train. It cornered and cornered well, the 407 Coupe, but you were very distant from experiencing the frisson of delicately charging bends at the edge of adhesion, once a Peugeot speciality.
