Peugeot of the decade

Public opinion might not count for much in an elective dictatorship such as our own, but car-makers care obsessively and constantly about the opinions and feelings of their customers. So there's a fair chance that if sufficient numbers of people write to Peugeot and tell them to make their RC Z coupe, the company will do exactly that.

At Geneva 2008, the RC Z was Peugeot's first hands-down winner of the prize for most beautiful car in show since the ravishing Pininfarina 407 coupe appeared 10 years ago.

Based on the standard Peugeot 308 with modifications to the suspension and engine, the RC Z is an in-house Peugeot design which knowingly alludes to the past work of fancypants European design houses such as Zagato. Curvy and powerfully drawn, with a rear-end that looks as if it might be coming right at you, the RC Z's bonnet line rises through its windscreen and continues through its roof in a sweep of declarative simplicity that betokens a true artist's hand. Big headlamps and bulgy bumpers combine with its feline delicacy to form a mix-and-match gender bender of aesthetics.

According to reports from the few who have driven it, the RC Z also seems to perform as well as it looks, with driving dynamics that may not match a sports car but equal most racy hatchbacks.

All in all, therefore, this may be the most desirable Peugeot of the decade and one of the few in modern times to live up to the company's honourable past. But Peugeot is shilly-shallying about manufacturing it because they are not convinced it will sell enough to make a profit.

It is up to us to persuade them. The moment has arrived for a Chartists' rising. ·