Glorious Peugeot 309 GTI Goodwood for sale
A 309 GTI is rare enough already, and then there's the Goodwood...
A race track special edition must always sound like a good idea. There’s nothing much more evocative in the car world than motorsport, after all, nothing quite so effective at separating enthusiasts from their money. The names - think Silverstone, Bathurst, Motegi, Jarama and so on - tend to sound a lot sexier than just ‘Special Edition’, or something along those lines, and each track layout almost always makes for a good boot badge. That’s half the job done already. Throw in some extra kit, a new paint job and maybe even a free track day and job jobbed - last few units shifted no problem, hopefully with a bit of profit as well.
Everyone has their favourite, from Jaguar F-Type Reims to Astra VXR Nurburgring, but we’ll bet it would take a fair while before anyone mentioned the Peugeot 309 GTI Goodwood. Largely because its entire existence was pretty strange; remember back in the early 1990s, Goodwood was a dormant race track. Its transformation into the historic motorsport mecca that it now is didn’t begin until the first Revival in 1998; no competition had existed on it since 1966. While a notable track day venue, it seemed an odd place to name a car after, especially as Peugeot didn’t really have any great history there. No wonder the Goodwood was a UK-only special edition…
Buyers weren’t exactly enamoured 30-odd years ago; they’d never really taken to the 309 GTI like the smaller 205 (which didn’t get Goodwooded, making the move even weirder), and a more expensive one in Pinewood Green with a no-cost-option wood wheel and leather interior didn’t change their mind. Though the final ones were built in 1992, ahead of the 306’s arrival, some Goodwoods weren’t registered until 1994. It’s reckoned 398 were made across two series, which actually sounds like quite a lot, but back when every maker had a hot hatch (and every buyer wanted one) it’s not very many at all.
With 309s not loved like the 205 and the Goodwood not really helping matters, many fell into disrepair over the years. Think about it - when did you last see a 309 GTI of any description? It’s most certainly another one of those great old cars that’s totally fallen off the radar. That very fate must nearly have befallen this one; in 2013, back when a good one was £2k, this 309 GTI was on 130,000 miles and just about scraped through its MOT with advisories for rust, an oil leak and a few other bits. Stuff that would have cost a fair bit to fix, basically, when the car wasn’t worth very much.
Plenty would surely have got rid, but this one was rescued and restored, back on the road eight years and a thousand miles later with a new lease of life. It’s been sparingly used since and still looks great for the work as a result, the wheels and paint in particular coming up very nicely. It’s been in the collection of the selling dealer, and has an MOT so see you through a whole summer of fun. Perhaps even a track day in West Sussex, if the rest of the car is up to snuff.
When there are even 106 GTIs now for sale at £15k, £12,500 for a restored 309 Goodwood doesn’t look totally daft. It’s never going to have the cachet of a 205, sure, but it’s going to offer up the same sort of thrills for less money. And never underestimate the appeal of rarity when it comes to a classic car also; nothing turns heads at the village summer fete like something nobody else has. And a green Peugeot 309 GTI with a wooden steering wheel is surely going to be one of those…
1.9D
Jeez i hated it.
Seats were so uncomfortable. No thigh support.
I'm sure when I closed the door the roof rippled as if it was made of clingfilm.
Nice bright green seatbelts.
Not sure I liked anything about it.
Replaced with a Diesel Astra Estate which I did quite like.
On the subject of 309s in general, another work colleague had a 309 'Look', which was an absolutely poverty spec version with white plastic wheel trims. I always thought the badge should have said 309 'Nothing to see here'.
Goodwood in 3dr is uber rare as most were 5 drs. But the 3dr was always the better looker.
£12500 looks a steel for one in that condition.
As for when I last saw a 309 ,,,,,,, couple of months back and it was an uber rare Gti 16 in France, those lucky buggers got the Mi16 engine standard from the factory
I remember taking it to France in a camping holiday and the French loved it, Im not sure but don't think they got the higher spec models
ks.Contemporary reviews loved the handling of them, with some considering it to be one of the best front wheel drive cars to drive at that point.
The goodwood I looked at was also a 3 door and, I thought, looked fantastic, price was £12-14kish iirc.
I’ve always had a soft spot for the 309, could never understand the lack of love for them as I thought they were great looking and driving cars, though the 1.3 of my wife’s was rather asthmatic.
My wife kept her older car and didn’t buy the new one, I couldn’t afford the goodwood unfortunately.
ks.Contemporary reviews loved the handling of them, with some considering it to be one of the best front wheel drive cars to drive at that point.
That green colour is lovely, similar to what you occasionally see on current Peugeots.
ks.Contemporary reviews loved the handling of them, with some considering it to be one of the best front wheel drive cars to drive at that point.
Back in the day we had a customer who bought one of the ex-Silverstone Racing School ones and ran it as a daily. It had over 200K on it, and goodness knows how hard the first of those must have been. It was totally reliable, requiring only routine servicing and obvious consumables. I drove it a couple of times and it felt tight, solid and didn't rattle.
Still want to talk about French build quality?
ks.Contemporary reviews loved the handling of them, with some considering it to be one of the best front wheel drive cars to drive at that point.
Far less reverse-hedge parking ability and slightly more 'daily' refinement than a 205.
Yes, they were a tad flimsy (it was a new Talbot Horizon until the last minute) and it lost the 205-prettiness during the 'stretch' but a lot of c-segments looked a bit frumpy back then; the MG Maestro was no Rover R8....
Of course, that meant secondhand, they were excellent VFM.
To be honest it really wasn't very good and quite comprehensively it is the least missed of any of the cars I've owned including mundane stuff. Regretted buying it quite quickly but persevered with it, should have been my type of car but just wasn't. We'd had a few Peugeots before and since (including a 1.6 309) so it wasn't an anti Peugeot thing but just didn't like it at all.
May have been better with the later engine rather than the leaded/super unleaded only version I had but I was left sorely disappointed by the ownership experience and simply the way it drove. My wife had a new 3 door 306 XSi at the time, now that was a sweet driving Pug that was worthy of the praise it got, one car I'd cheerfully own again.
They were indeed meant to handle very well but as a previous 205 owner I could never get over the looks of the thing (basically the rear) which if I described it as "unresolved" would be very kind to it indeed.
Hard pass, but I guess try finding another.
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