The gendarmerie did not wait for the 3008 Hybrid and 5008 PureTech to drive in Peugeot. Quite the contrary: the gendarmes began to order models of the lion brand on a regular basis from the 1950s, with the 203 Break. Back in pictures on this long history.
For a large French administration, buying models from national manufacturers has long been an obligation. Like Citroën or Renault, Peugeot equipped the national gendarmerie very early on. After the Second World War, at the end of the 1940s, 202s, 302s and other 402s joined the ranks of this institution. But these were then requisitioned Resistance vehicles or vehicles from the army fleet. Most often painted black, they equip the troops in dribs and drabs. There is no longer any real visual trace of this period. To see things get more organized, we have to wait until the 1950s. It was with the 203 Break that the era of large-scale orders really began, in particular to motorize the new “road police”.
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Peugeot station wagons long kings
Ideal for transporting all the necessary equipment while keeping room for boarding any offenders, station wagons have long been the “darlings” of the police. Which was pretty good for Peugeot, since the brand has long been a specialist in the genre. After the 203, the 403, 404, 204, 304, 305, 505 and 306 Break will be acclaimed by law enforcement.
Utilities, such as J7, Expert, Partner and Boxer will also be frequently used. The largest of them will even sometimes be used to transport the horses of the Republican Guard, while the smallest will be used by the dog brigades. But the sedans were not completely banned so far: they simply responded to other uses. In particular, they very often ended up in the hands of officers. With, in this case, a dress favoring black or gray rather than the famous “gendarmerie blue”, widespread in the years 1969-1970.
405 T16 and 306 S16 for the BRI
However, the most emblematic vehicles are those of the famous rapid intervention brigade (BRI), renamed ERI (rapid intervention team) in 2015. Created in 1967, the BRI waited until the 1990s before adopting a Peugeot to the first time. But she was able to take advantage of a model that has now become collector : the 405 T16, a muscular family produced in only 1,046 units. Equipped with four-wheel drive, this four-door hid under its discreet dress a boiling four-cylinder 2.0 turbo 200 hp, even 220 hp with overboost. To replace it, at the end of the same decade, it is still at the Lion that the BRI will shop, opting this time for a “simple” compact sedan much less rare: the 306 S16. A little less efficient than its predecessor, with its naturally aspirated 167 hp 2.0 combined with a six-speed manual gearbox, this three-door had the advantage of being lighter, but also less expensive to buy and run. ‘maintenance.
From the time of the 4 x 4 to that of the SUV
Far from these cars used at high speed on the highway, the gendarmerie nevertheless has a whole other facet, much less media. Like the French army, to which it is attached, it sometimes needs to intervene far from the asphalt. In the 1980s, the 4 x 4 P4, twin of the Mercedes G-Class, thus had the honor of being an officer in the mobile gendarmerie squadrons. While the preparer Dangel will supply 504 and 505 station wagons equipped with four-wheel drive for the overseas departments. In 2004, these territories will even see the arrival of an odd 206 revisited by FAM, with increased ground clearance and enhanced traction. But today, the era is more for SUVs… used mainly on asphalt. The last two gendarmerie recruits bearing a Peugeot logo are indeed 5008 PureTech PureTech 130 and 3008 Hybrid 225, equipped with only two driving wheels in both cases.
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