Testing Peugeot's 'Sesame' 1007

The world first saw the Peugeot 1007 as a concept car, the Sesame, way back in 2002, and it struck me at the time that this was a fair idea, but wouldn't make it to production, mainly because of costs. Well, Peugeot proved me wrong and brought it out as the 1007 - and it was immediately surrounded by controversy, because the owners of the James Bond copyright insisted that Peugeot couldn't describe it as a One-Double-O-Seven as they hold the copyright on "007". So you have to call it "one thousand and seven". Which is crazy. For me, "One Double O Seven" is how I think about it, and that's what I'll call it when I discuss it with friends. Message to the James Bond crowd: sue me. Justice But perhaps it's poetic justice, as my friend and fellow journalist Stuart Johnston pointed out the other day, for way back, when Porsche wanted to call their new car a "901", Peugeot stepped in and acclaimed they had copyrighted all the '01' numbers. So out of that was born the Porsche 911, and the rest is history. I wonder, when (or if) Peugeot actually uses the 901 badge, how many people will be able to recall the Peugeot 901 compared to those who instantly recognise Porsche 911! Anyway, I digress. The Peugeot 1007 - distinguishable from the 107 hatchback by the extra zero to denote it's a niche model - is essentially a small but tall hatchback with two sliding side doors. To make it a bit more interesting customers can choose a "mix and match" interior. Customers get a standard trim colour, and can get a spare set of 12 interchangeable interior parts in the colour of their choice, comprising two door and two rear storage box covers, two dashboard mats, four air-vent surrounds and eight seat covers. Cost: R 2 000 a set. Interestingly, the 1007 is as tall as the much bigger Peugeot 307 - itself a tall car in its segment - but shorter than the Peugeot 206, which is a SHORT car in its segment.