Overview

PEUGEOT'S 306 was a popular premium small car pioneer, bolstered by good looks, great handling and keen pricing against the Yen-currency ravaged Japanese.

Replacing the smaller, cultish 205 as Peugeot’s local range opener, the 306 initially arrived in base three-door XR, well-equipped five-door XT (the model featured here) and sporty three-door S16 guises.

A former two featured a 77kW 1.8-litre four-cylinder engine, while the latter had a 116kW 2.0-litre twin-cam unit.

All included a five-speed manual gearbox, power windows, power steering and – from early ’96 – a driver’s side airbag, while most also had air-con.

A four-speed auto was optional, though not in the XR until early ’97.

A 93kW 2.0 heralded the ST sedan and XSi five-door hatch in early ’96.

Both featured the S16’s anti-lock brakes.

A 66kW 1.9-litre turbodiesel XTDT 306 five-door hatch joined the growing range by mid ’96, as did a 1.8 SR sedan in early ’97.