Here’s a French curiosity that makes zero sense on paper, zero sense in reality and yet somehow managed to burrow under the skin and warm the cockles of any cold heart. The Peugeot 508 SW PSE (or Peugoet Sport Engineered if you want to follow the company line) is a hybrid performance estate that doesn’t particularly major on outright pace, nor does it offer the sort of driver engagement more conventional sports wagons offer. The real kicker? It’s just shy of £56,000.

This may come as a surprise then, but the 508 PSE hasn’t been a runaway success. Not in Britain, at least. There were 101 cars registered in the UK as of the end of 2022, according to HowManyLeft. That number may have crept up a bit in the subsequent five months, but probably not enough to turn the PSE into a roaring success after two-and-a-bit years on sale. That’s probably mostly due to the pricing, but also perhaps due to confusion around what the PSE actually is. Take the opportunity to actually spend a bit of time with one, though, you’ll quickly learn that the enigmatic estate is a surprisingly satisfying performance car.

I did just that a few years back and, admittedly, I didn’t gel with the 508 PSE immediately. Though a combined 360hp from a 1.6-litre turbo four-cylinder with hybrid assistance isn’t Earth-shattering even on paper, I had hoped for more of a ‘shove’ from the two electric motors under acceleration. The eight-speed automatic gearbox was decent enough when left to its own devices, but the paddles on the back of the steering wheel were more of a distraction than an enticing means of changing gear for yourself.

A quick drive outside a dealership then will reveal a competent, if slightly lethargic sports estate. But show the PSE a set of bends, and a surprisingly capable chassis reveals itself. While the steering is devoid of feel, the PSE is quick to respond to steering inputs. Adaptive dampers let you roll around in suitably French fashion in comfort mode, but flicking over to sport sharpens the ride up considerably without compromising on rolling refinement. This is a 1,875kg estate car and yet, somehow, it’s completely flat in the corners. Granted, the Michelin Pilot Sport 4S rubber does its fair share of the heavy lifting, but there’s no denying Peugeot Sport worked a fair amount of wonders on the 508.

It looks the business, too. Some may argue that the flicks along the skirts are a touch tacky, and those stickers look as though they’ll peel off after a thorough wash – but isn’t that part of the Gallic charm? Besides, French performance cars always look better when all the stickers begin to fade and peel, right? Okay, so the lime green-on-grey scheme isn’t nearly as evocative as the Peugeot Talbot Sport colours, but they tie PSE’s motorsport exploits with the wild 9X8 hypercar to its road offerings neatly enough. 

‘Great’, you’re saying – ‘but it’s still expensive.’ Well, not so much. A year on from rolling off the forecourt – and after just 4,000 miles of electrified exuberance – this 508 SW PSE is up for £43,557. That’s an almighty discount. Don’t forget it’ll be cheap as chips to tax and it’s a PHEV, too, which means up to 26 miles of battery power – potentially enough to make it very cheap to run indeed. Probably no amount of charm would’ve made the PSE an easy sell when new, but it’s well on its way to being a much more compelling secondhand purchase…

Engine: 1,598cc four-cylinder, turbocharged plus two electric motors
Transmission: eight-speed automatic, all-wheel drive
Power (hp): 360@6,000rpm (combined)
Torque (lb ft): 384@2,500 (combined)
MPG: 141
CO2: 46g/km
Year registered: 2022
Recorded mileage: 4,000
Price new: £55,795
Yours for: £43,557