Peugeot 205 Rallye | Spotted
The LHD-only, homologation special hot hatch that isn't a Delta Integrale...
Nobody can fail to have noticed the astonishing asking prices attached to homologation specials right now. Almost anything roadgoing and related to motorsport, in fact. E30 M3s and Delta Integrales have been there for a while, of course, but now the best Audi Quattros, Subaru Imprezas and Mitsubishi Evos seem to be well on their way also. You might see £40k being asked for an automatic 190E 2.5 16. Even the GR Yaris, despite approximately four million having been sold, is clinging onto its value as fiercely as it does the tarmac. As interest seems to wane among enthusiasts for modern motorsport and modern cars, so the fervour surrounding older stuff intensifies.
Which is a shame, because these cars are all absolutely stellar to drive in their own way - yet as they become worth so much more, inevitably the fear will creep in about using them as intended. An E30 track car made sense when they were £20k (or less); a rather different prospect when they’re five times that. So how about this as the ultimate palette cleanser? A Peugeot 205 Rallye, the left-hand drive one explicitly designed for Group N competition, as light as choux pastry and perhaps the rawest of all Peugeot's stripped-out specials. Which is saying something.
The asking price is £12k, too, or less than most of the GTIs that you see for sale these days. A lot less, too, than anything else with tangible motorsport pedigree. Left-hand drive might make it a little less convenient in the UK than a GTI (or the RHD Rallye that was offered), but nobody tends to complain about that when it comes to M3s or Integrales. Plus, to be frank, if you’re struggling to see out of a 205, or park it, the problem isn’t really the car.
Far from a cynical motorsport cash-in, the Rallye was unashamedly focused. As with the 106 Rallye that followed (a car very similar in ethos and performance), this 205 was to be as fast as a 1.3-litre, naturally aspirated Peugeot could be. So it weighed less than 800kg, revved to the moon and needed constant gearchanges. The stroke of the twin-carbed 1.3-litre TU was just 69mm, with peak power of 105hp made at 6,800rpm; 88lb ft was made at 5,000rpm, which are probably numbers never written down on PH before. A shorter final drive was fitted to take advantage, to keep the Rallye buzzing along where it was happiest, but that also meant 70mph in fifth needed 4,500rpm. You want hardcore? You got it.
The fizz of that engine would have ensured a memorable experience; with a chassis that borrowed a lot of bits from the 1.6 GTI, driving a Rallye was properly manic - a true junior rally car for the road. Which is what did it for most of them, cars either converted for full competition or crashed. The bonnet pins on this one are said to be for light pods never fitted, before you say anything. And while there’s not a tonne of history from its early life in Europe, this particular Rallye has been in the UK, used and enjoyed, for a decade now. Just a few hundred miles and three years ago, the 205 had more than £4,500 spent to bring it back to its best.
It’s still going to want extended TLC, because it’s a 37-year-old French car that was designed to be driven everywhere on the door handles, but the incredible lightness and simplicity that makes it such a joy to drive should help with running it also. Hardly like a Rallye is going to be hard on brakes, for example. While this isn’t going to be a classic with modern sensibilities, something to be used on a really regular basis, those drives when they do come are going to feel so special.
Will the Rallye appreciate like the other left-hand drive homologation cars? Probably not now, as it approaches 40; it’s known and appreciated by too few people. The GTI will be the one to have, as a driving device and collector's item, for most people. Great news, then, for those that just want to thrash around in the ultimate lightweight pocket rocket…
SPECIFICATION | PEUGEOT 205 RALLYE
Engine: 1,294cc, four-cyl
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 103@6,800rpm
Torque (lb ft): 89@5,000rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1989
Recorded mileage: 39,601 (indicated)
Price new: N/A
Yours for: £12,495
Much want though
I'd ditch the rear seats, put some buckets in the front and it would be perfect.
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