You could have predicted it. Through 206 and 207, and now with the 208, Peugeot has sought desperately to recapture the magic of a car whose success took it somewhat by surprise back in the 80s. It never has. And
the 208 GTI
That shouldn't come as a great surprise. Modern cars simply have to be built to different, and often better, standards than they were way back when. Recapturing the magic of the 205 GTI was never going to be possible.
205 was great, but its time has passed
What made the 205 great was its rawness, its physicality. The paper-thin metal and plastics, the free-breathing engine, the lack of damping or electronics between driver and machinery. It wasn't the lift-off oversteer that made the 205 so enjoyable per se; it was the way you could feel, adjust and control it. Modern hot hatches
have the capacity to be enormous fun
, but in a different way. And we should be keeping that in our minds, front-centre, rather than harking back to times past.
That's a lesson Peugeot would do well to learn. The appearance of an immaculate 205 on the 208 GTI's launch event over in France showed that the company desperately wants to link its new baby back to its glorious past. Likewise the nods to the 205 in some of the new car's badging and styling cues. Mistake. It instantly raised expectations that stood no chance of being met.
So it's time for us all to draw a line under the 205 GTI. The sooner we do that, the happier we'll be - and the more likely we are to appreciate its successors on their own merit.