The extravagant styling, created in-house, has hints of Ferrari's 575M Maranello about it, with a few neat little flourishes such as the side-exit exhausts, exposed inlet trumpets, and vast windscreen that flows up and over the roof. Peugeot's stylists claim that the 907 is 'modern with a classic twist... a nod to the great coachbuilders, and embodies one of the great engineering dreams of combining a large capacity engine within a classic shape'.

The 907 clearly shows how desperate Peugeot is to reinvigorate its flagging image as the maker of sporty and exciting cars. Already this month we've driven the 407 Silhouette concept (p33 of this month's issue); that car, shorn of its wide motorsport wheelarch extensions and skyscraping rear wing, is the basis for the 407 Coupe, expected to be announced officially next summer. There's even a chance that Peugeot will produce the mid-engined Silhouette in very small numbers, to generate extra publicity for the mainstream coupe. The same is unlikely to happen with the 907.