Peugeot 306 S16: You Know You Want To

Live out your Gilles Panizzi fantasies on road with this heavily (and expensively) modified 306

While the temptation when thinking of 90s rallying is Impreza v. Evo and McRae v. Makinen (because those battles were immense), it's easy to forget a class of cars that just occasionally spooked the 4WD WRC cars.

Bring the noise

Yes, F2. Or technically, the cars competing in the FIA 2.0-litre World Rally Cup. Of course these FWD machines weren't close to the WRC cars on loose surfaces, but on tarmac they became formidable adversaries. They were also terrifically exciting to watch, legendary drivers like Bugalski, Panizzi and Delecour flinging cars this way and that across the tarmac. See here for proof.

Interestingly, despite the most successful F2 car being the SEAT Ibiza - it won three consecutive titles from 1996-1998 - it's a formula that's largely remembered for the French cars. Clios, Xsaras, Meganes, Saxos, that sort of thing. Watching one of those defeat the 4WD cars (as Philippe Bugalski did on the 1999 Tour de Corse) must have made for some incredibly proud French people.

And, of course, there was the 306 Maxi. Now we should point out from the start that this is not a genuine 306 Maxi; it's an S16 with a very expensive (£8K in 1996!) Dimma body kit fitted. And that fantastic livery. Beyond that though it has plenty more very expensive parts to make what must be one of the most exciting road and track 306s around.

The engine now makes the best part of 200hp thanks to a ported head, new cams, a remap and an exhaust. Oh yes, and it's on throttle bodies for some proper induction racket. The engine, along with the suspension and front Brembo calipers, was done before this owner acquired it. Then he's got rather busy with his own stuff... It's been stripped, lightened and restored, now featuring an OMP cage to match a Maxi car, seats and harnesses to FIA spec, plastic windows (!), custom wiring with an external cut off, bigger brakes, better tyres, a lighter flywheel, a digital dash and, of course, a hydraulic handbrake. Because what's a rally car, replica or not, without a hydraulic handbrake?

So where do I plug my iPhone?

It remains road legal too, meaning there's nothing to stop you driving it to a sprint or a track day, thrashing about in it all day long and then driving it home again too. Sounds rather fun, doesn't it?

All this does come at a price though. We'll let you be the final judges of the asking figure here, but it does seem more than you might expect. There's no doubt that an awful lot of time, effort and money has gone in to this project, however that investment is so seldom rewarded when it comes to selling up. The perils of modifying! Still, if a 205 GTI can sell for more than £30,000, where's the harm in chancing your arm when pricing another Peugeot hot hatch?

Whoever ends up with this Maxi-lite will surely have an absolute ball driving it. To some people you might look like a bit of a berk in a widebody 306 with a livery, but not to us. Get your surname and nationality in vinyl on those rear windows and enjoy!

PEUGEOT 306 S16
Price: £17,000
Why you should: 200hp 306 S16 with a hydraulic handbrake!
Why you shouldn't: £17K 306 S16 with over 100,000 miles!

See the original advert here.