1.
United Kingdom
–
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
2.
Twickenham
–
Twickenham is a leafy suburban area of south west London, on the River Thames in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames 10 miles southwest of the centre of London. It has a town centre and is famous as being the home of rugby union, with hundreds of thousands of spectators visiting Twickenham Stadium. The historic riverside area is famous for its network of 18th-century buildings and pleasure grounds and this area has three grand period mansions with public access, York House, Marble Hill and Strawberry Hill House. Another has been lost, that belonging to 18th-century aphoristic poet Alexander Pope, excavations have revealed settlements in the area dating from the Early Neolithic, possibly Mesolithic periods. Occupation seems to have continued through the Bronze Age, the Iron Age, the area was first mentioned in an 8th-century charter to cede the area to Waldhere, Bishop of London, for the salvation of our souls. The charter, dated 13 June 704, is signed with 12 crosses, the signatories included Swaefred of Essex, Cenred of Mercia and Earl Paeogthath. In Norman times Twickenham was part of the Manor of Isleworth – itself part of the Hundred of Hounslow, Middlesex. The manor had belonged to Ælfgār, Earl of Mercia in the time of Edward the Confessor, the area was then farmed for several hundred years, while the river provided opportunities for fishing, boatbuilding and trade. Bubonic plague spread to the town in 1665 and 67 deaths were recorded and it appears that Twickenham had a pest house in the 17th century, although the location is not known. In 1633 construction began on York House and it was occupied by Edward Montagu, 2nd Earl of Manchester in 1656 and later by Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon. 1659 saw the first mention of the Twickenham Ferry, although ferrymen had already operating in the area for many generations. Sometime before 1743 a pirate ferry appears to have started by Twickenham inhabitants. There is speculation that it operated to serve The Folly, a floating hostelry of some kind, several residents wrote to the Lord Mayor of the City of London. In 1713 the nave of the ancient St Marys Church collapsed, the process generates an extremely unpleasant smell, which caused objections from local residents. The area was soon home to the worlds first industrial production facility for gunpowder. There were frequent explosions and loss of life, on 11 March 1758, one of two explosions was felt in Reading, Berkshire, and in April 1774 another explosion terrified people at church in Isleworth. In 1772 three mills blew up, shattering glass and buildings in the neighbourhood, the powder mills remained in operation until 1927 when they were closed. Much of the site is now occupied by Crane Park, in which the old Shot Tower, mill sluices, much of the area along the river next to the Shot Tower is now a nature reserve
3.
Car
–
A car is a wheeled, self-powered motor vehicle used for transportation and a product of the automotive industry. The year 1886 is regarded as the year of the modern car. In that year, German inventor Karl Benz built the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, cars did not become widely available until the early 20th century. One of the first cars that was accessible to the masses was the 1908 Model T, an American car manufactured by the Ford Motor Company. Cars were rapidly adopted in the United States of America, where they replaced animal-drawn carriages and carts, cars are equipped with controls used for driving, parking, passenger comfort and safety, and controlling a variety of lights. Over the decades, additional features and controls have been added to vehicles, examples include rear reversing cameras, air conditioning, navigation systems, and in car entertainment. Most cars in use in the 2010s are propelled by a combustion engine. Both fuels cause air pollution and are blamed for contributing to climate change. Vehicles using alternative fuels such as ethanol flexible-fuel vehicles and natural gas vehicles are also gaining popularity in some countries, electric cars, which were invented early in the history of the car, began to become commercially available in 2008. There are costs and benefits to car use, the costs of car usage include the cost of, acquiring the vehicle, interest payments, repairs and auto maintenance, fuel, depreciation, driving time, parking fees, taxes, and insurance. The costs to society of car use include, maintaining roads, land use, road congestion, air pollution, public health, health care, road traffic accidents are the largest cause of injury-related deaths worldwide. The benefits may include transportation, mobility, independence. The ability for humans to move flexibly from place to place has far-reaching implications for the nature of societies and it was estimated in 2010 that the number of cars had risen to over 1 billion vehicles, up from the 500 million of 1986. The numbers are increasing rapidly, especially in China, India, the word car is believed to originate from the Latin word carrus or carrum, or the Middle English word carre. In turn, these originated from the Gaulish word karros, the Gaulish language was a branch of the Brythoic language which also used the word Karr, the Brythonig language evolved into Welsh where Car llusg and car rhyfel still survive. It originally referred to any wheeled vehicle, such as a cart, carriage. Motor car is attested from 1895, and is the formal name for cars in British English. Autocar is a variant that is attested from 1895
4.
Magazine
–
A magazine is a publication, usually a periodical publication, which is printed or electronically published. Magazines are generally published on a schedule and contain a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, by a price, by prepaid subscriptions. At its root, the magazine refers to a collection or storage location. In the case of written publication, it is a collection of written articles and this explains why magazine publications share the word root with gunpowder magazines, artillery magazines, firearms magazines, and, in French, retail stores such as department stores. By definition, a magazine paginates with each issue starting at three, with the standard sizing being 8 3/8 ×10 7/8 inches. However, in the sense a journal has continuous pagination throughout a volume. Some professional or trade publications are also peer-reviewed, an example being the Journal of Accountancy, academic or professional publications that are not peer-reviewed are generally professional magazines. That a publication calls itself a journal does not make it a journal in the technical sense, magazines can be distributed through the mail, through sales by newsstands, bookstores, or other vendors, or through free distribution at selected pick-up locations. The subscription business models for distribution fall into three main categories. In this model, the magazine is sold to readers for a price, either on a basis or by subscription. Paid circulation allows for defined readership statistics and this means that there is no cover price and issues are given away, for example in street dispensers, airline, or included with other products or publications. Because this model involves giving issues away to unspecific populations, the statistics only entail the number of issues distributed and this is the model used by many trade magazines distributed only to qualifying readers, often for free and determined by some form of survey. This allows a level of certainty that advertisements will be received by the advertisers target audience. This latter model was used before the rise of the World Wide Web and is still employed by some titles. For example, in the United Kingdom, a number of computer-industry magazines use this model, including Computer Weekly and Computing, for the global media industry, an example would be VideoAge International. The earliest example of magazines was Erbauliche Monaths Unterredungen, a literary and philosophy magazine, the Gentlemans Magazine, first published in 1731, in London was the first general-interest magazine. Edward Cave, who edited The Gentlemans Magazine under the pen name Sylvanus Urban, was the first to use the term magazine, founded by Herbert Ingram in 1842, The Illustrated London News was the first illustrated magazine
5.
Chariot
–
A chariot is a type of carriage driven by a charioteer using primarily horses to provide rapid motive power. Chariots were used by armies as transport or mobile platforms, for hunting or for racing. The word chariot comes from the Latin carrus, itself a loanword from Gaulish, a chariot of war or one used in military parades was called a car. In ancient Rome and some other ancient Mediterranean civilizations, a required two horses, a triga three, and a quadriga four. The critical invention that allowed the construction of light, horse-drawn chariots was the spoked wheel, the earliest spoke-wheeled chariots date to ca.2000 BCE. The use of chariots peaked around 1300 BCE, Chariots had lost their military importance by the 1st century CE, but chariot races continued to be popular in Constantinople until the 6th century. The domestication of the horse was an important step toward civilization, an increasing amount of evidence supports the hypothesis that horses were domesticated in the Eurasian Steppes approximately 4000-3500 BCE. The invention of the used in transportation most likely took place in Europe. Evidence of wheeled vehicles appears from the mid 4th millennium BCE near-simultaneously in the Northern Caucasus, the earliest vehicles may have been ox carts. Starokorsunskaya kurgan in the Kuban region of Russia contains a grave of the Maikop Culture. The two solid wooden wheels from this kurgan have been dated to the half of the fourth millennium. Soon thereafter the number of burials in this Northern Caucasus region multiplied. As David Anthony writes in his book The Horse, the Wheel and Language, in Eastern Europe and it is a clay pot excavated in a Funnelbeaker settlement in Swietokrzyskie Voivodeship in Poland. The oldest securely dated real wheel-axle combination in Eastern Europe is the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel, horses were introduced to Transcaucasia at the time of the Kura-Araxes culture, beginning about 3300 BCE. Prior to that, horse bones were not found, during the Kura-Araxes period, horses seem to become rather widespread, with signs of domestication. It is widely believed that wheeled transport was invented in Mesopotamia, nevertheless, recent archaeological evidence seems to indicate otherwise, pointing to Neolithic Europe. At the same time, in Mesopotamia, some intriguing early pictograms of a sled that rests on wooden rollers or wheels have been found and they date from about the same time as the early wheel discoveries in Europe and may indicate knowledge of the wheel. The earliest depiction of vehicles in the context of warfare is on the Standard of Ur in southern Mesopotamia, the hybrids were used by the Eblaite, early Sumerian, Akkadian and Ur III armies
6.
Renault 20/30
–
The Renault 20 and Renault 30 are two executive cars produced by the French automaker Renault between 1975 and 1984. The most upmarket and expensive Renaults of their time, the two cars were almost identical with regard to sheet metal and mechanicals, the R30 was the larger-engined, the interior specifications differed substantially however with the Renault 30 having a higher specification in all models. Over 622,000 R20s and 145,000 R30s were produced in Sandouville near Le Havre, the 20 variant won 1978 What Car. Launched in March 1975, the Renault 30 TS was the first Renault with a larger than four cylinders since before World War II. The vehicles hatchback styling was derivative of the extremely successful Renault 16, the Renault 20 was essentially a replacement for the discontinued Renault 16, albeit in a rather larger body shell. Under the bonnet, the R20 had the smaller four-cylinder 1647 cc engine rated at 90 PS, other technical differences between the 20 and 30 were that 20 used drum brakes at the rear wheels,13 inch wheel rims, and a smaller 60-litre fuel tank. The 20 came in three different trim variations, L, TL and GTL, the two cars were effectively two badge engineered versions of the same car with separate numeric classification. The R20 received an all-new 2068 cc diesel engine in November 1979, both the 20 and 30 were advanced in terms of safety, featuring front and rear crumple zones as well as side impact protection. Reliability issues, such as niggling mechanical faults plagued both cars throughout their lifetimes, rust was another major concern, as a response Renault improved rust protection and began offering a five-year warranty against rust on 1 January 1982. In response to this, the R20TS was introduced, and used a new four-cylinder 1995 cc overhead camshaft engine rated at 109 PS, the new 2. 0-litre engine was universally regarded as a big improvement. The following year saw the introduction of the R30 TX, a more luxurious fuel-injected version of the R30 TS, by late 1981, all 1. 6-litre R20s were discontinued, leaving the LS2.0 as the smallest model in the range. In 1980 the NG1 five-speed transmission was switched for the longer-geared, in July 1980, the 2. 2-litre fuel-injected R20 TX was added to the range, followed by the R30 Turbo Diesel one year later. The R30 Diesel Turbo has the trim of the R30 TX, albeit with unique alloys, in a few markets this engine was also available as an R20. The range was facelifted for the 1981 model year, production of the 20 and 30 ceased on 16 October 1983 to make way for the Renault 25. A specially prepared Renault 20 Turbo 4x4 driven by Bernard Marreau won the Paris-Alger-Dakar Rally in 1982, the R30 TS had power-assisted steering, four round Quartz-Iodide headlights, electric front windows and central locking. October 1975 - Introduction of the Renault 20, in L, TL and GTL specifications, with the smaller four-cylinder 1647 cc engine, All three variations of the R20 had two rectangular headlights instead of the four round ones like on the R30 TS. The L had very basic trim and no hubcaps, the TL had a better equipment level, while the GTL had much the same equipment level as the TS. Automatic transmission was optional on the R20 TL and R20 GTL, quartz Iodide Headlights optional on all R20 models
7.
Volkswagen Golf Mk2
–
The Volkswagen Golf Mk2 is a compact car, the second generation of the Volkswagen Golf and the successor to the Volkswagen Golf Mk1. It was Volkswagens volume seller from 1983 and remained in production until late 1992, the Mk2 was larger than the Mk1, its wheelbase grew slightly, as did exterior dimensions. Weight was up accordingly by about 120 kg, exterior design, developed in-house by VW design director Schäfer, kept the general lines of its Giugiaro-designed predecessor, but was slightly more rounded. All told, about 6.3 million second-generation Golfs were built, the second-generation Volkswagen Golf was launched in Europe at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1983, with sales beginning in its homeland and most other left-hand drive markets soon after. It debuted in March 1984 on the right-hand drive British market and this model was meant to come to the US as well, and prototypes were made, but it did not come to be. Ford had switched to front-wheel drive hatchback format for its MK3 Escort in 1980, however, the likes of Fiat, Renault and Volvo had all entered the small family hatchback market by the end of the 1970s. The hatchback bodystyle had also become popular on cars produced outside Europe, in 1985, British motoring magazine What Car. awarded the Golf Mk21985 Car of the Year. It sold well in Britain, peaking in 1989 with well over 50,000 sales as the 11th best selling car, during the life of the Golf MK2, there were a number of external style revisions. Notable changes to the looks of the Golf MK2 included the removal of windows in the front doors. The most notable was the introduction of so-called Big Bumpers, which were introduced in the European market with an August 1989 facelift and they were available in the US from August 1989 as well, as part of the Wolfsburg Edition package. They were not standardized until January 1990 and this Golf was marketed for the first time with that name in the United States and Canada. James Fuller, head of the Volkswagen brand in North America, the GTI body kit became available on a non-injection Golf and was sold as the Driver trim level in Europe. While the GTI remained a level in the Golf lineup in Europe, in some markets. Volkswagen also produced their model in Yugoslavia, in a factory at Vogošća near Sarajevo, the MK2 was produced from 1985 with a yearly production of 25,000 units until the outbreak of war in 1992. This model was produced only for the six Yugoslav republics, with a rear badge JX, C and CL and TAS badge on the front grille, engines were 1.3,1.6 petrol and 1.6 diesel. The MK2 Golf remained in production until the launch of the MK3 model in August 1991, continental sales began that autumn, but the MK3 did not take over from the MK2 on the right-hand drive British market until February 1992. The Golf Mk2 was available as a 3- and 5-door hatchback, the 2-door and 4-door sedan variants of the Golf Mk2 were marketed under the Volkswagen Jetta name. No cabriolet version was developed from the Mk2, instead, the Mk1-based convertible continued to be produced, trim levels included base, C, CL and GL and initially a range-topping Carat model, later a GT version was also on offer
8.
Volkswagen
–
Volkswagen, shortened to VW, is a German automaker founded on May 28,1937 by the German Labour Front and headquartered in Wolfsburg. It is the flagship marque of the Volkswagen Group and is the largest automaker worldwide, Volkswagen is German for peoples car, and the companys current international advertising slogan is just Volkswagen. American English pronunciation is approximately volks wagon, for vehicle timeline tables, see, Volkswagen. Volkswagen was originally established in 1937 by the German Labour Front, in the early 1930s, the German auto industry was still largely composed of luxury models, and the average German could rarely afford anything more than a motorcycle. As a result, only one German out of 50 owned a car, seeking a potential new market, some car makers began independent peoples car projects – the Mercedes 170H, Adler AutoBahn, Steyr 55, and Hanomag 1. 3L, among others. The trend was not new, as Béla Barényi is credited with having conceived the design in the mid-1920s. Josef Ganz developed the Standard Superior, in Germany, the company Hanomag mass-produced the 2/10 PS Komissbrot, a small, cheap rear engined car, from 1925 to 1928. Also, in Czechoslovakia, the Hans Ledwinkas penned Tatra T77, Ferdinand Porsche, a well-known designer for high-end vehicles and race cars, had been trying for years to get a manufacturer interested in a small car suitable for a family. He felt the cars at the time were just stripped down big cars. He wanted his German citizens to have the access to a car as the Americans. The Peoples Car would be available to citizens of the Third Reich through a plan at 990 Reichsmark —about the price of a small motorcycle. Despite heavy lobbying in favor of one of the existing projects, thus, Hitler chose to sponsor an all-new, state-owned factory using Ferdinand Porsches design. The intention was that ordinary Germans would buy the car by means of a savings scheme, however, the entire project was financially unsound, and only the corruption and lack of accountability of the Nazi regime made it possible. Prototypes of the car called the KdF-Wagen, appeared from 1938 onwards, the car already had its distinctive round shape and air-cooled, flat-four, rear-mounted engine. The VW car was just one of many KdF programs, which included such as tours. The prefix Volks— was not just applied to cars, but also to products in Germany. On May 28,1937, Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagens mbH, more than a year later, on September 16,1938, it was renamed to Volkswagenwerk GmbH. Erwin Komenda, the longstanding Auto Union chief designer, part of Ferdinand Porsches hand-picked team, developed the car body of the prototype and it was one of the first cars designed with the aid of a wind tunnel—a method used for German aircraft design since the early 1920s
9.
Audi
–
Audi is a German automobile manufacturer that designs, engineers, produces, markets and distributes luxury vehicles. Audi is a member of the Volkswagen Group and has its roots at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, audi-branded vehicles are produced in nine production facilities worldwide. The modern era of Audi essentially began in the 1960s when Auto Union was acquired by Volkswagen from Daimler-Benz. After relaunching the Audi brand with the 1965 introduction of the Audi F103 series, Volkswagen merged Auto Union with NSU Motorenwerke in 1969, the company name is based on the Latin translation of the surname of the founder, August Horch. Horch, meaning listen in German, becomes audi in Latin, the four rings of the Audi logo each represent one of four car companies that banded together to create Audis predecessor company, Auto Union. Audis slogan is Vorsprung durch Technik, meaning Advancement through Technology, however, since 2007 Audi USA has used the slogan Truth in Engineering. Audi, along with BMW and Mercedes are among the luxury automobile brands in the world. Originally in 1885, automobile company Wanderer was established, later becoming a branch of Audi AG, another company, NSU, which also later merged into Audi, was founded during this time, and later supplied the chassis for Gottlieb Daimlers four-wheeler. On 14 November 1899, August Horch established the company A. Horch & Cie. in the Ehrenfeld district of Cologne, three years later in 1902 he moved with his company to Reichenbach im Vogtland. On May, 10th,1904 he founded the August Horch & Cie. Motorwagenwerke AG, after troubles with Horch chief financial officer, August Horch left Motorwagenwerke and founded in Zwickau on 16 July 1909, his second company, the August Horch Automobilwerke GmbH. His former partners sued him for trademark infringement, the German Reichsgericht in Leipzig, eventually determined that the Horch brand belonged to his former company. Since August Horch was prohibited from using Horch as a name in his new car business, he called a meeting with close business friends, Paul and Franz Fikentscher from Zwickau. At the apartment of Franz Fikentscher, they discussed how to come up with a new name for the company, during this meeting, Franzs son was quietly studying Latin in a corner of the room. Horch. in German means Hark. or hear, which is Audi in the imperative form of audire – to listen – in Latin. The idea was accepted by everyone attending the meeting. On 25 April 1910 the Audi Automobilwerke GmbH Zwickau was entered in the register of Zwickau registration court. The first Audi automobile, the Audi Type A 10/22 hp Sport-Phaeton, was produced in the same year, followed by the successor Type B 10/28PS in the same year. Audi started with a 2,612 cc inline-four engine model Type A, followed by a 3,564 cc model and these cars were successful even in sporting events
10.
SEAT
–
SEAT, S. A. is a Spanish automobile manufacturer with its head office in Martorell, Spain. It was founded on May 9,1950, by the Instituto Nacional de Industria and it is currently a wholly owned subsidiary of the German Volkswagen Group. The headquarters of SEAT, S. A. are located at SEATs industrial complex in Martorell near Barcelona, SEAT today is the only major Spanish car manufacturer with the ability and the infrastructure to develop its own cars in-house. The plant was opened by King Juan Carlos of Spain on February 22,1993, a rail connection between SEATs Martorell and Zona Franca complexes facilitates vehicle and parts transportation between the two sites. In Wolfsburg, Germany, in the middle of a lake inside the Autostadt, in its 60 years, there was only a short period from 1953 to 1965 when the firm produced its cars exclusively for the domestic Spanish market. Until the early 1980s, however, most SEAT exports were sold with Fiat badging, as a response to SEATs bid for independence, Fiat committed themselves to selling 200,000 SEAT-built cars a year from 1981, compared to 120,000 the year before. At the end of 1983, just after SEAT had won its legal battle with Fiat, in Europe, they were represented in West Germany, Belgium, France, Italy, Austria, and Greece. The UK, Ireland, and various Scandinavian markets were planned to be added in 1984 and this was in spite of the company only being able to export the Ronda, with the Fura to follow. Its core market remains Europe, while the most successful market outside of Europe in terms of sales for SEAT is currently Mexico, in Europe the brand has been launched in almost 40 countries across Northern, Western, Southern, Eastern Europe and Russia. In the years to come SEAT plans expanding in even more markets, SEATs further expansion plans in more markets outside of Europe have yet to be realised. In the past the company was considering a launch in the United States although this move has never been carried out. SEAT has been present in the Russian Federation since 2007, In India all Volkswagen group brands are assembled or imported except SEAT, Spain is the worlds eighth largest producer of automobiles and its car market stands among the largest in Europe. In this period there was only limited car production and only a few low volume local manufacturers catering mainly to the end of the market. The situation greatly deteriorated with the Spanish Civil War of 1936 to 1939, the lack of interest shown by the foreign firms in the weakened post civil war Spanish market opened an opportunity for local interests. The initial Banco Urquijos project aimed at running the S. I. A. T, with the rest of Europe having entered the World War II, and Spain itself in ruins from its civil war, the project was delayed but not abandoned due to its strategic importance. The favoured bidders were Germanys Volkswagen and Italys Fiat, Fiats collaboration with the French company Simca proved Fiats ability to manage complex international projects. In Italy, Fiat dominated the market for vehicles under 12 horsepower, in 1947, the Banco Urquijo group had revived the S. I. A. T. The Banco Urquijo group, although a minority share holder, looked forward to assuming a role in the future as soon as the company was privatesed
11.
Peugeot 305
–
The Peugeot 305 is a small family car produced by the French automaker Peugeot from 1977 to 1989. It was offered as a saloon, five-door estate. It therefore would have been natural for the new car to be called the 405, instead of being called the 405, the new car was called the 305. When it made its press début in November 1977, the press were initially confused as to why it was called a 305 rather than a 405. It was similar in size to its French competitor the Renault 18, across Europe it competed with cars like the Ford Cortina/Taunus, Vauxhall Cavalier/Opel Ascona and Simca 1307/Chrysler Alpine. At Paris 1980, the sportier 305 S with twin carburettors and 89 PS was introduced, after the 1982 facelift, the top model became the GTX, with 105 PS. The 305 was the first of the 05 generation of Peugeots, despite the performance limitations of the smaller engine, the gearbox in all 305s was excellent, with extremely precise and light gear changes. The 305 combined a front-wheel-drive car with an excellent and durable gearbox, on the downside, there was no fifth gear provided but, especially at motorway speeds, the four gears gave the 305 the maximum power it needed in fourth. Peugeot was reported to have said that the car had no difficulty reaching 95 mph if pushed to the limit and its key competitors were the Ford Escort, Volkswagen Golf & Opel Kadett/Vauxhall Astra, but it was actually considerably larger than most other cars in its class. In fact, it was almost as large as the Ford Cortina and these were the same as used in the Talbot Horizon, a model acquired in 1979 when Peugeot took over Chryslers European division and rebranded it as Talbot. The facelifted series 2 models arrived at the Paris Salon in late 1982, to keep the 305 competitive with newer designs like the Ford Sierra and the new version of the Vauxhall Cavalier/Opel Ascona. However, the GL / GR and van models continued to use the earlier XL/XR series engines with four-speed gearbox for a few more years. Sales of the 305 were strong in France and most other countries where the car was sold, the problem was eased in January 1986, when Peugeot launched the 309, a replacement for the Talbot Horizon which took some of the pressure off the larger 305. In Britain, its competitors were the Ford Cortina MK4, Vauxhall Cavalier MK1. It was launched around the time as its key French rival. Later in its life, it was competing with newer rivals including the Ford Sierra, MK2 Vauxhall Cavalier, Austin Montego, Renault 21. In 1979, the 305 won 1979 the What Car, production of saloons ceased in 1988, following the launch of the slightly larger and more powerful Peugeot 405, which was a much stronger seller in the United Kingdom. Production of 305 estates ceased in 1989 and vans a few years later, the diesel engine fitted to the phase 2305 was capable of over 50 mpg
