Sohini Sen
Digital

Viral Now: The Return of Peugeot 's Bond

The French car-maker has remade a 30 year old TV ad. The new, revamped version has struck virtual gold. The film has fetched 6.3 million views on YouTube in little over two weeks.

Peugeot, the French car brand, is celebrating 30 years since the debut of its classic hatchback, the 205 GTi. To celebrate the occasion in style, the team has remade an advert for the product that was originally aired on TV three decades back. The new avatar of the ad has a lot more zing, twists and high-end computer generated graphics.

Viral Now: The Return of Peugeot 's Bond
Viral Now: The Return of Peugeot 's Bond
The new ad was uploaded on YouTube on October 1, 2014, and since garnered over 6.3 million views. The full version of this commercial will be aired in cinemas abroad while shorter edits will be released on TV.

The original video made 30 years ago is in French. It shows a red GTi being dropped into a snow-clad mountain, from where it is chased down by a monstrous plane. Bombs are dropped, escape routes planned and yet the savvy driver - who reminds one of James Bond - manages to reach his lady love, in one dashing piece.

The new film, aptly titled 'The legend returns', is based on similar lines, with a few tweaks. The plot is the same and the new protagonist is as attractive as the previous one. The ad starts with the same (original) GTi being airdropped onto the mountain... but then the new GTi 208 quickly overtakes the old one. And that's where the fun begins.

The best scene is probably the one in which the driver takes a massive leap over the helicopter - yes, over it. It's a well taken shot that can either awaken or forever silence the daredevil in you.

Peugeot launched the GTi 208 at the recent Paris motor show to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the hatchback. The new car has a 208 metric horse-power, which is where its gets its name from.

According to reports, every model from this special anniversary collection will be individually numbered on a plate above the centre of the windscreen inside the car.

The original 205GTi was unveiled in 1984 and quickly became a hot favourite among the upwardly mobile youth... those who wanted to rise up in motor ladder but couldn't afford a Porsche yet.

Have news to share? Write to us atnewsteam@afaqs.com