Would have had a Goodwood over just about anything else back in the day. Looked great in the showroom. Wasn't the hissing from the sunroof closing because it was sealed by a couple of vacuum hoses that ran down the A pillar?

Thanks for the post, real memory-lane stuff for me, I even remember some of the press articles you posted (... how sad is that ), I remember poring over these and other articles in the late 80s trying to choose which variant of Pug GTi to go for, 205 or 309. The former was the looker, the latter was the better overall package. I even drove to dealership to put a deposit on a 309 before convincing myself as i walked in that a 205 was a better option.

I eventually had 2 205s and loved them both, great fun ..... albeit I do recall a few 'don't lift...., don't lift' moments in fast corners). Still had had an admiration for the 309 though, managed to talk my father-in-law to buy an SRi (model down from the GTi) which appeared a very capable package as well.

The road trip memories were nostalgic too, we used to do the same, in Pugs, Golfs and 16v Clios, normally chasing around the country watching the BTCC..... Happy days

I had a gun metal grey 309 GTi on a E plate. My first proper car and I still remember the excitement of the day i got it from the car dealer and drove it and it was mine. I sold it to a gypsey for £100 as I was desperate to get rid of it and it was perfect apart from a broken starter motor

Ah thank you very much! I tried everything!

It was a lovely thing and so clean, the insurance assessor paid back the same amount I paid for it even though I had totalled it, due to the fact the alloys were mint and he surmised the rest of the car was mint prior to the prang.

I miss it to this day...

Got to go against the grain here unfortunately but I never liked my Goodwood I owned many years ago, it was probably only 5 years old at the time as well. Mine was the twin of Carlos V8's car above and was a late 130 BHP leaded engine version, it never felt quite right handling wise and frankly I should have sold it on as soon as possible instead of persevering with it.

I was sucked in by the magazine reviews that were always glowing about the car which sounded exactly "my sort of thing", especially remember John Barkers long term car which sold it to me. Awful in traffic (although I realise this can be fixed now) it used to wind me up every time I got stuck in the commute which the occasional back road blast didn't compensate for. Totally agree with the shells being less than stiff and you really feel the thing flex more so than other Pugs I'd had.

What made it worse was my wife had a 306 XSI at the time and that was everything I wished the Goodwood had been, final kick was the horrific depreciation it suffered. Maybe I had a bad one (one owner full history 50K miles) I don't know but it was without a shadow of doubt my least favourite car I've owned.

I once bought an 8-owner, dented & scraped 140k mile example from some dodgy bloke next to a dog track in Glasgow. Despite the car's dubious provenance it was mechanically A1 and was a hoot to drive. It had that fantastic laser-sharp old-school throttle-response; just touching the throttle pedal had the revs instantly leap. Other than a dodgy Supplementary Air Device (it was a Pug GTI after all) the engine was a torquey peach. I was also a fan of those Speedline wheels that it shared with the 205 1.9.

It wasn't just mine that did that then!

Ultimately I thought that both the 205 & later 306 GTis just pipped the 309 for handling. My 309 didn't seem to lift-off oversteer much. On airfields I used to barrel into corners at speed with the suspension loaded-up and come straight off the throttle, but next to bugger-all happened at the back when I did that. Maybe the setup was knackered!

Awesome write up s m, worthy of being it's own post on the site.

Always liked the 309, including it's styling, good to see a few Phers are keeping some going.

I had a 309 automatic in maroon ! Hated it a first but it never went wrong and beat a disco in the snow up the steepest hill in my hometown. The disco owner told me to turn back as she wouldn't make it. she made it without a slide or a skid best car I have had in the snow totally bullet proof. I love old pugs in general and Citroen's but never liked the Renault for some reason.