Peugeot 508 GT review: disturbingly pretty

I start to worry about the rot in my brain when I find that I’m excited about the lascivious lines of a family sedan.

It’s a looker: the Peugeot 508 GT

There is nothing sick, sad, twisted or even unusual about finding a Ferrari or an Aston Martin head-swivellingly attractive. Personally, however, I start to worry about myself and the rot in my brain when I find that I’m excited about the alluring looks and lascivious lines of a family sedan.

I was going to call the Peugeot 508 GT I’m talking about here a “common” car, but of course it is anything but. Look at it, and while you wonder at how any vehicle that costs less than $60,000 could be so disturbingly pretty, ask yourself, have you ever seen one before?

Part of what set me back on my heels on first spying it in a car park was that I truly felt like I was seeing something unique – not just a car worthy of having its portrait painted, but one I’d never spied in the wild. According to the pleasant people at Peugeot, there were 204 of these svelte and sexy vehicles sold in Australia in 2020, a big jump from 109 the previous year, but it seems all are hidden away somewhere, possibly in private art galleries.

Just in case you think I’m over-swooning about its looks, my daughter – who normally won’t raise an eyebrow for anything less than an Italian supercar – declared it genuinely “fancy-schmancy”.

There’s something just so right about its proportions – modern yet classic, defiantly sedan slim (Peugeot calls it a “Fastback”; you can also choose a Sportswagon) – in a world of obese SUVs.

Inviting: inside the cabin.

Everything about it was perfect, then, until someone pointed out that the “t” had somehow vanished off the Peugeot badge on our 508 (I suspect my teenage son, who is often waxing lyrical about “spilling T”, whatever that means).

There are some cruel and caustic people in the world of motoring journalism, and not all of them are me. Some of these scurrilous scribblers are fond of doling out droll advice such as “Never buy a car that ends in ‘o’,” which initially sounds like bad news only for Volvo and Alfa Romeo. The punch line is that the list to avoid includes “Peugeot, Renault and Citroën-oh”, which reflects the fact that the French are famous for liberté, égalité and fraternité, but not so much for reliabilité. Taking the “t” off Peugeot is only going to make these nasty people deliriously happy.

Fortunately, aside from quirky but always interesting looks, French cars are also famous for many positive attributes, including ride quality in particular, and liberal doses of driver involvement.

The 508 has plenty of stylish space for a family of four, with lots of leather, genuinely comfortable seats and plenty of modern tech touches (including self-parking and a charcoal and pollen filter), yet it makes do with a mere 1.6-litre engine. Thanks to turbocharging it manages 165kW and 300Nm, which allows for a 0 to 100km/h time of 8.1 seconds.

This is not particularly fast, yet it feels brisk and almost exciting in the perky Pug, which makes a lot of growling, take-me-seriously noises, like a very small dog with a large attitude.

The 508 also responds best if you select manual mode and use the perfectly positioned shift paddles behind the steering wheel. It really feels like it wants to be driven, pushed and enjoyed.

Again, this is very much in line with the French way. I remember receiving a long lecture from a French Renault engineer once on why Australians are obviously mentally defective because we buy so many automatic cars, while his compatriots – much like the Italians – are still married to the idea of dancing with both feet on the pedals.

Svelte: the 508 GT from the back.

The steering of the 508 is a visceral thrill, too; sharp, pointy, precise and tactile. It’s a feeling that’s helped by the typically tiny Peugeot steering wheel, which is barely larger than a 50c piece, but feels race-car-like in your hands.

The trade-off, and again quirkiness comes to the fore here, is that while the wheel is small it sits precisely where I don’t want it, almost entirely obscuring the speedometer and other dials. Perhaps this is a cunning trick to make you feel like you’re going faster than you are.

Back in 2012, Peugeot introduced what some might call a design flaw, but it calls “i-Cockpit”, and despite my complaints it has stuck with it. The company argues that having the instruments up high keeps them in your line of sight and that, because the wheel is small, you can, and should, drop it down lower, out of the way.

If you like your steering wheel up higher, rather than in your lap, you are, how you say, “wrong”, as a Peugeot PR person once helpfully explained to me.

Still, it’s not enough to pour cold Evian on my amour for this pretty Peugeot, and I challenge anyone to find another car that’s this attractive at a price as tempting as the 508 GT’s $57,490 sticker.

Sure, it’s a sedan, and no one buys those any more – which is why you may never have seen this vehicle before. But just look at it. Aren’t you glad I showed you?

PEUGEOT 508 GT

ENGINE: 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo (165kW / 300Nm). Average fuel 6.3 litres per 100km TRANSMISSION: 8-speed automatic, front-wheel drive

PRICE: $57,490

STARS: Four out of five