Peugeot 405 Mi16
Peugeot hid a four-cam, sixteen-valve engine inside the clean shape of a family saloon and created an early modern European sports sedan.
1988 France Peugeot 405 Mi16 · Spanish Coches · CC BY 2.0
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
The 405 range went on sale in France in 1987, with the Mi16 at its sporting edge. In 1988 the wider 405 family won European Car of the Year by an overwhelming jury vote. The Mi16 combined the everyday four-door body with a 1.9-litre engine using four valves per cylinder and a 160 ch DIN rating. Later catalyst, four-wheel-drive and 2.0-litre cars must not be folded into this early French specification.
Look a little closer.
Fifty-four of the 57 European Car of the Year jurors gave the 405 their highest score for the 1988 award.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Four valves per cylinder were the headline technology
Peugeot's own retrospective singles out the Mi16's four-valve-per-cylinder system when explaining its 160 ch output. Four smaller valves can provide more total opening area than two larger ones, helping the engine breathe at high speed. That is why the Mi16 badge marks more than trim: it identifies a mechanically distinct sixteen-valve version of the 405 saloon.
Source: Peugeot / Stellantis Media · Six Peugeot Car of the Year winners ↗The road car and the desert racer only shared a name and silhouette
The 405 badge soon appeared on dramatic Peugeot Sport machines for Pikes Peak and the Paris–Dakar. Peugeot describes those competition cars as derivatives whose mechanical basis came from the mid-engined 205 Turbo 16. The front-engined, front-wheel-drive Mi16 road saloon therefore should not inherit the rally-raid coupe's turbocharged engine, four-wheel-drive system or victories.
Source: Peugeot / Stellantis Media · Six Peugeot Car of the Year winners ↗Where these facts come from
- Peugeot / Stellantis Media · Six Peugeot Car of the Year winners
- Peugeot / Stellantis Media · 405 Mi16: le 16 valvole fanno volare la berlina del Leone
- Archives Catalogues Automobiles · 1988 French Peugeot 405 brochure record
- La Centrale · Peugeot 405 Mi16 1987–1992 French specification
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed 2026-10-02.