'Extraordinary' Peugeot 205 GTI | Spotted
Not the only £50k 205 GTI out there - but potentially the best
We’re a long way past the point of the Peugeot 205 GTI’s icon status having been assured. It was too perfect from the get-go, and too many of Peugeot’s subsequent hot hatches not good enough, for anything else to occur. It just took a drastic decline in numbers for many to realise, and now they’re all worth a pretty penny. We know that, you know that, but for those that didn’t, Peugeot will insist on bringing back the 205 whenever possible - see the e-208 GTI reveal as proof.
Here’s a car that has the stats to stand on its own, or at most with a passing mention of the 205, but there always has to be pics of the latest GTI with the classic. And they’re never flattering for the new car. So the lusting and longing for a 205 begins all over again, because you wouldn’t really change a thing.
Indeed where now at the point where the 205 GTI is being treated like a classic British sports car or Porsche 911, with huge amounts of time and money being invested in sourcing and restoring the best. Tolman can’t make Editions fast enough. Once-divisive Dimma builds are now big-ticket collectables. Even MI-16 swaps are in demand for those who care more about the thrill of a great GTI than originality. Four decades on, still nothing quite excites enthusiasts like a 205 GTI. Which Peugeot has just reminded us all of again with its new electric car.
There can’t be many left in the world better than this one, and that really isn’t an exaggeration. The spec is spot on, for starters, a Cherry Red 1.9 that’s late enough to have the galvanised panels while early enough to go without a cat, but that really is just the very beginning of the appeal.
The original owner was fastidious to say the least. It’s easy to imagine every GTI in the late '80s going to a scallywag or a yuppie (or a scallywag yuppie), but there were conscientious owners also. This went back to the selling dealer every six months for a service regardless of how much driving had occurred; and it was never very much, because in eight years it covered just 8,000 miles. Most cars would do more than that between one service, and this would have had 16!
Probably in the prime of its life at that point (1996), the GTI actually then went into storage for the best part of 20 years. But don’t go thinking it was dumped in a barn and forgotten about, as the devoted owner checked up on their little Pug weekly, keeping a handwritten ledger of the car’s condition and any money that was spent keeping it tip-top. The ad reckons it’s ‘one of the most extraordinary records of ownership we have ever encountered.’
The dealer selling it now is the one that bought it from the original owner in 2014, part of their collection for a decade and a bit until last year. And this is where it gets really good, as £15,000 was spent on a restoration; or actually, as they call it, ‘a comprehensive recommissioning programme designed to make the car drive and perform exactly as Peugeot intended in 1988.’ So everything perishable was renewed, the cooling system overhauled and a cavity wax applied underneath, among other things, to make the perfect Peugeot time machine.
Perhaps most encouraging of all, though, is the commitment of the work to making this a 205 GTI to be enjoyed. Because these cars don’t belong cooped up in garages and exhibitions; more than a whole host of classics, it’s there to be driven. As the advert puts it (better than we would, in fact): ‘It is a car that could be enjoyed on a Sunday morning B-road blast, displayed at the finest concours event, or pointed towards the South of France for a grand touring holiday without hesitation.’ The do-it-all classic hot hatch hero that wants for nothing, basically.
Which sounds pretty much irresistible. Yes, it costs as much as a new Golf GTI 50; yes, you’ll probably always worry a little bit about an 8,000-mile, £50,000 205 GTI; and no, it probably won’t thrill quite like a 200hp Tolman build. But as a reminder of why this little car is the icon that it is, we’ve never seen better. Be sure to keep that ledger up to date…
SPECIFICATION | PEUGEOT 205 GTI 1.9
Engine: 1,905cc four-cylinder
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 130@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 118@4,750rpm
MPG: 30ish
CO2: N/A
Recorded miles: 8,200
Year registered: 1988
Price new: £9,295
Yours for: £50,000
Anybody that is dropping £50,000 on it is hardly going to take it on a touring holiday to the South of France unless on the back of a trailer!
Personally I am not a fan of the sunroof as I think it detracts from the lines of the car.
Both fabulous cars for their time, but if (big if) I wanted to revisit one it wouldn't be with 50 grand and it being too nice to thrash around in and chuck miles on.
Someone will probably offer enough to take it and put it away in an air chamber I imagine.
Yes it was the best hot hatch at the time - with mates having all the competition lots of driving each others cars, it proved to be the most fun.
But boy was it fragile. Don t know whether it was a Friday afternoon car but we spent 150% of the purchase price over 2 years on stupid niggles, daft little issues and a snapped cam belt (ouch!) that went way earlier than expected.
Have no desire to revisit the pleasure or pain.
Just checked it’s mot history and surprisingly it soldiered on until 2007 and another 60k miles with a huge mot fail in 06 and again early 07.
I doubt it is sat in storage now…….poor little fecker…..
I have to acknowledge shed loads of people do have shed loads of money and do value things very differently to me. I fully expect someone will scoop this up. Hopefully it will bring them joy. Moreover, hopefully it will see some miles (rather than find itself locked away) so the rest of us get the opportunity to spot it in action and feel all wistful for a moment or two.
Fwiw I didn’t really like them in red at the time but beggars can’t be choosers.
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