Pininfarina is known for designing some of Italy's most beautiful cars. From Lancias and Fiats to Alfa Romeos and Ferraris, the Turin-based design house and coachbuilder has maintained decades-long collaborations with many domestic automakers. However, one of its longest partnerships was actually with a carmaker from a neighboring country: Peugeot.
Pininfarina founder Battista Farina worked with Peugeot even before establishing his company in 1930. As early as the late 1920s, he created bespoke bodies for the Quadrilette lineup of small and affordable cars. As the decades went on, the collaboration evolved beyond design work. Pininfarina began building cars for the lion-badged brand, starting with the 404 convertible, the first Peugeot assembled by an external company.
The enduring Franco-Italian duo arguably reached its peak with the 406 Coupe, launched at the 1996 Paris Motor Show. A few months later in Geneva, Peugeot and Pininfarina set their sights on Germany’s luxury trio. The 1997 Nautilus concept targeted the likes of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi. Well, at least conceptually.
It was among the final attempts to compete with high-end sedans like the S-Class, 7 Series, and A8. The subsequent in-house 607 never truly rivaled the Germans, and that remains true for more recent offerings such as the smaller 508 and the little-known DS9. Although Pininfarina had experience designing large sedans for Peugeot, the Nautilus sat on a higher pedestal than the 605 and other earlier three-box saloons.
But despite its smooth surfaces and Alfa Romeo-esque hidden door handles, the car had a fundamental issue: It rode on the bones of the 605, a model Peugeot introduced in 1989. Pininfarina refined a large executive sedan that it had designed a decade prior, attempting to project it into the future.
The person leading the design team wasn’t Italian. Ken Okuyama, of Ferrari Enzo fame, penned the Nautilus, grafting a fastback profile onto an aging sedan. When it debuted at the 1997 Geneva Motor Show, Peugeot called it "an exciting stylistic exploration of the high-class sporty saloon."
The talented Japanese designer managed to conjure the illusion of rear-wheel-drive proportions, even though the car remained front-drive like the 605. The concept was substantially larger than its donor vehicle, stretching to nearly 197 inches (five meters). It featured an imposing wheelbase and sat on elegant 19-inch wheels with alternating blue and silver spokes.
Its crisp design, long hood, and swoopy roofline made the 605 look severely outdated. Pininfarina decluttered the sides by replacing conventional mirrors with cameras and integrating the door handles into the pillars. Overall, the Nautilus looked nothing like Peugeot’s 1990s lineup, injecting a deep sense of modernity to help the brand climb toward German luxury territory.
Just as the rear light bar hinted at what was to come, the simplified interior with dual screens was ahead of its time. The concept also hails from an era when large luxury sedans could still have manual gearboxes, as shown by the aluminum shift knob next to a quirky red hazard-light button. Although it still had analog dials, Pininfarina made them feel more futuristic by hiding the gauges behind a retractable lid when the car was stationary.
Although the Nautilus didn't make it to production, its front fascia seemingly previewed future Peugeot designs like the 407 launched in 2004. Its expansive panoramic roof foreshadowed production models such as the 308 wagon’s glass roof in the early 2000s. The car’s overall shape might have also influenced the Ken Okuyama-designed fifth-generation Maserati Quattroporte revealed around the same time.
Beneath the all-new bodywork sat the same naturally aspirated 3.0-liter V-6 borrowed from the 605. It produced 197 horsepower, sent to the front wheels through a five-speed manual gearbox. With the concept weighing more than its donor car due to its more substantial size, performance was unlikely to have been impressive.
Truthfully, the Nautilus was never intended for production; it served as proof that Pininfarina could envision a flagship Peugeot. Not long after the large luxury sedan debuted, the two companies parted ways, with Peugeot opting to bring styling in-house.
As for another flagship in the mold of the Nautilus, it’s unlikely. Between Alfa Romeo and Maserati, parent company Stellantis already has brands better suited for a high-end, large sedan tailored to those who haven't caught the SUV bug yet.
1997 Peugeot Nautilus concept
