The Peugeot Partner B9, introduced in 2008 and updated with a Phase 2 facelift around 2015, reached its final model year in 2018 before the all-new third-generation Partner arrived in late 2018. Among the most prominent operators of this generation was the Gendarmerie Nationale, which deployed Partner vans as light utility and patrol-support vehicles across France and its overseas territories. Norev has captured this working role in die-cast metal at 1:18.
The second-generation Partner, known internally as the B9, was a joint platform shared with the Citroën Berlingo of the same era. The Phase 2 facelift brought revised front-end styling and updated powertrain options, with Gendarmerie fleet procurement favouring BlueHDi diesel variants for their operating economy. The 2018 model year represents the last examples built on this platform, a generation that served French public services for a full decade.
Bleu et Jaune: France's Official Gendarmerie Livery
The Gendarmerie Nationale's livery is not a design choice — it is mandated by French interior ministry regulation. Light vehicles carry a two-tone blue body with broad yellow reflective lateral stripes and bold 'GENDARMERIE' lettering along the flanks. This scheme makes the Partner instantly identifiable in urban and rural contexts alike, and it is precisely this regulated, documentary quality that gives the livery its appeal to collectors of institutional and emergency-service vehicles.
Norev's 1:18 Scale Model in Die-Cast Metal
Norev, the Lyon-founded French model maker with a long heritage in producing French commercial and passenger vehicles, renders the Partner Gendarmerie in die-cast metal at 1:18. The choice of die-cast construction delivers the weight and surface detail expected at this scale, and Norev's cataloguing of commercial vans at 1:18 remains a relatively niche segment — making a liveried institutional variant a genuine gap-filler between civilian van models and dedicated emergency-vehicle collections.
In the Display Cabinet
The Partner Gendarmerie pairs naturally with Norev's broader French public-service range at 1:18, including Police Nationale patrol cars and emergency-service vehicles, to build a coherent French institutional diorama. For collectors already holding Peugeot 308 or 508 Police Nationale pieces, this van completes a working fleet scene. It also holds a specific generational interest as one of the last B9-platform examples before Peugeot's 2018 model transition — a logical bookend to any Peugeot institutional collection.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Gendarmerie Nationale livery on this model?
The livery follows the French interior ministry regulation: a blue body with broad yellow reflective lateral stripes and 'GENDARMERIE' lettering along the sides — the standard scheme for Gendarmerie light vehicles.
What generation of the Peugeot Partner does this represent?
It represents the second-generation Partner (B9 platform), Phase 2 facelift, in its 2018 model year — the last year of this generation before the all-new third-generation Partner launched in late 2018.
Who makes this model and what material is it made from?
The model is produced by Norev in die-cast metal at 1:18 scale, as part of Norev's modern commercial-vehicle range.
What other models does it pair well with in a collection?
It pairs well with other Norev 1:18 French emergency-service and institutional vehicles — Police Nationale patrol cars, SAMU ambulances, and sapeurs-pompiers models — to form a French public-service diorama.
