Eurovans

the van sold in North America

The Eurovans are a family of passenger automobiles from the Citroën, Peugeot, Fiat and Lancia marques that were produced at the jointly owned Sevel Nord factory in France. The term Eurovan was not used by the brands themselves in sales literature, but rather by the motoring press to refer to the vans collectively. It was launched in March 1994, and production ceased in November 2010 for the Fiat and Lancia models, and in June 2014 for the Citroën and Peugeot siblings. They are considered to be large MPVs. The Eurovans differ little technically and visually, being a prime example of badge engineering. They share mechanicals and body structure with the Sevel Nord light commercial vans, the Citroën Jumpy (Dispatch), Fiat Scudo and Peugeot Expert. The first generation Eurovans were marketed as the Citroën Evasion (Citroën Synergie in the UK), Fiat Ulysse, Lancia Zeta and Peugeot 806. The second generation models were all renamed, except the Fiat Ulysse, with the nameplates now Citroën C8, Lancia Phedra and Peugeot 807.

The first generation Eurovans were introduced in June 1994. They are smaller than American vans, like the Chrysler Voyager, which is also available in Europe. Like the Toyota Previa, and American minivans, they had sliding rear side doors, a trait they share with their commercial siblings. While the Voyager also came in "Grand" versions with elongated body and wheelbase (and the Espace followed suit in 1997), the Eurovans only came in one size. The Eurovans were almost identical, the differences consisting in different grilles, lower tailgates/taillights, wheel covers/alloy wheels and exterior and interior badging, as well as different trim levels. In October 1998, the Eurovans were mildly facelifted. Inside, the gear lever was mounted on the dashboard rather than on the floor, and the handbrake is on the door side of the driver's seat, which allowed for the removal of middle console and opened up a passage between the front seats. The seating configurations included two fixed seats (swivelling on some models) in front and three individual removable seats in the middle row, along with optional two individual removable seats or a three seater bench in the third row.

The first generation Eurovans utilized PSA's XU/XUD engines, regardless of brand. They were later replaced by the PSA EW/DW engine. All were mated to five speed manual transmissions, apart from the 2.0 16 valve EW petrol engine, which had an option of a four speed automatic. Name Fuel Volume Output Torque Engine code Notes1.8 8vPetrol at 5750 rpm at 2600 rpmXU7Not available for Lancia Zeta, phased out in 20002.0 8vPetrol at 5750 rpm at 2650 rpmXU10 2CNot available for Lancia Zeta, phased out in 20002.0 16vPetrol at 5500 rpm at 4200 rpmXU10 J4Phased out in 20002.0 16vPetrol at 6000 rpm at 4100 rpmEW10 J4Optional automatic transmission; replaced all previous petrol engines in July 20002.0 8v TurboPetrol at 5300 rpm at 2500 rpmXU10 J2TEPhased out in 20001.9 8v TDDiesel at 4000 rpm at 2250 rpmXUD9Phased out in 2000, not available for Lancia Zeta2.1 12v TDDiesel at 4300 rpm at 2000 rpmXUD11Phased out in 20002.0 8v HDi/JTDDiesel at 4000 rpm at 1750 rpmDW10ATEDPSA's new HDI engine, billed JTD by Fiat in spite of that; introduced in January 2000 to replace both previous diesels2.0 16v HDi/JTDDiesel at 4000 rpm at 1750 rpmDW10ATED416 valve version of HDi engine, introduced in 2001

The Evasion was badged Synergie in the RHD markets of both the United Kingdom and Ireland. However, the car maintained the Evasion name in New Zealand. In October 1998, the Citroën Evasion got a slight facelift, including a larger logo and a restyling of the front grille and rear bumper. More than 120,000 Evasion/Synergie were produced.

The 806 was named according to Peugeot's "x0x" system, where the first digit indicates model series (vehicle size/class) and the last indicates the generation, with a central zero. The largest Peugeot series then available was the executive saloon 605, so Peugeot chose 8, potentially leaving room for an in between model. The Eurovans were launched when Peugeot was replacing the "x05" with "x06" models, so it was appropriately labeled "806".

The Fiat was named after Ulysses, the Roman name for Odysseus, the hero of Homer's Odyssey. Like its siblings, the Ulysse range received a facelift in October 1998.

Following the traditional naming theme, Lancia named its variant with the previously unused Greek letter Zeta. With its big chrome grille, the Lancia served as the "premium" Eurovan, not available with base engines and exceptionally well equipped, with prices up to 20% higher than corresponding versions of other Eurovans. The Zeta was not marketed in the UK.

In 2002, the second generation of the Eurovans was launched. The 807 itself was launched in June, followed by the C8 in July. The Citroën C8 and Peugeot 807 also got two light facelifts: the first one in February 2008, and the second one in 2012. To highlight the launch of the V6 engine, Peugeot presented a design study called Peugeot 807 Grand Tourisme at the 2003 Geneva Motor Show. Despite the fancier four passenger interior and some mechanical and visual tuning, the car was essentially a top of the line 807.

The engine range comprised again of different versions of the PSA EW/DW engine, paired with either five speed manual or four speed automatic transmissions. A six speed manual option was added in the United Kingdom in the end of 2004. Additionally, top of the line versions came with the PSA ES V6. All diesels were PSA's HDIs, but Fiat models used JTD badging. Name Fuel Volume Output Torque Engine code Notes2.0 16vPetrol at 6000 rpm at 4100 rpmEW10 J4Later replaced by the new 140 PS version of the same engine2.0 16vPetrol at 6000 rpm at 4000 rpmEW10 AReplaced the 136 PS version; not available for Fiat or Lancia2.2 16vPetrol at 5650 rpm at 3900 rpmEW12 J4Not available for Fiat or Lancia3.0 24vPetrol at 6000 rpm at 3750 rpmES9Added in 2003, only available with automatic transmission2.0 16v HDi/JTDDiesel at 4000 rpm at 1750 rpmDW102.0 16v HDi/JTDDiesel at 4000 rpm at 2000 rpmDW102.0 16v HDi/JTDDiesel at 4000 rpm at 2000 rpmDW10 BTED42.2 16v HDi/JTDDiesel at 4000 rpm at 2000 rpmDW12 TED4The engine code used in Eurovans is 4HWOnly available with manual transmission, in 2005 changed to six speed2.2 16v HDi/JTDDiesel at 4000 rpm at 1500 rpmDW12From 2008, a new 2.2 bi TURBO

Citroën chose to put the minivan in line with its new naming theme, where models were called Cx (x being a number roughly corresponding to the relative size of a given model), hence the Citroën C8.

The 807 replaced the 806.

Fiat retained the Ulysse name for its second generation. The direct successor was the Fiat Freemont.

As the new Lancias didn't use Greek letters in the 2000s (until the Lancia Delta was reintroduced in 2008), the new minivan was called Lancia Phedra, in honour of the Greek mythological figure Phaedra. The successor was the Lancia Voyager.