Peugeot 309 GTI Goodwood: PH Carpool
From the scrapheap to a star turn on Peugeot's Festival of Speed stand for rare hot hatch 'ugly duckling'
Car: 1993 309 GTI Goodwood
Owned since: September 2013
Previously owned: "XR2 Mk1, 205 1.9 GTI, Golf GTI Mk2, Clio 172, Audi A2, BMW E46 330Ci, E46 M3 convertible."
Currently own: "Z4 M roadster, R56 Mini Cooper S, 205 1.9 GTI, 205 1.6 CTI."
Takes a true fan to see the potential in this...
"The car was facing being scrapped or stripped for parts when I went to look at it. I had wanted one since the late 1990s and lost out on buying one many years ago. Time and car interests move on and I chanced upon this car only a few miles from home nearly two years ago. To say it was in a sorry state is the biggest understatement ever.
"With a promise that I could not strip the car to make a good profit, I became the 10th owner for the price of a pair of high-end running shoes. I had planned a quick turnaround with minimal replacement of parts but over the next 18 months the car has been restored to concours standard."
What I wish I'd known:
"Sourcing parts for my 205 GTI/CTI has, until recently been relatively easy. Even most 205 trim parts that need to be obtained as used parts are moderately easy to locate. I presumed the same with the 309 and I was wrong, in a big way.
As ever, things spiralled out of control a bit
"Thankfully, I had great support from a fellow enthusiast who could locate parts across Europe and without these, the project would have stalled. As an example, I bought a new 309 GTI windscreen from a dealer in Austria and only one other new genuine screen was listed worldwide. It is like the 309 GTI has been erased from the memory of most of the people on the planet. To my surprise, this is supported by the not totally accurate HowManyLeft.com which shows just a few hundred 309 GTIs and only 120 or so Goodwoods remain from the original 398 made in 1991. To put it into context, there are over 5,000 205 GTIs still left on the roads."
A rare beast, saved from near-extinction
"The boxy old fart image grows on you, I promise. When is the last time you saw one on the road? I haven't seen one in years apart from at Peugeot Sport Club UK's annual gathering, 'Pugfest'.
"Because the car is rare to start with and has been fully restored, it is at the moment unique and whilst I want to ensure I use it, it will be garaged for nine months of the year to keep it in top condition. As a novice mechanic I really enjoyed the restoration project , I only wish I had the time and funds to restore my 205s too."
Things I hate:
"The fact that, even as a 205 obsessive, the 309 GTI is derided as it looks like the 205 GTI's ugly sister. Many people take a look at a 309 GTI with its boxy 1980s lines and lose interest, but they have not driven one. The views based on the contemporary roads tests lead me to believe that it will handle even better than my 205 GTI."
Rescued from Shed status
"Not many places since it was 'finished' - it currently needs an MoT as the restoration was only completed in late June. It featured at the 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed on the Peugeot UK 'Moving Motor Show' stand as part of the 308 GTI world premiere.
"To say I was like a kid on Christmas morning when I realised it was going to be on the stand was an understatement. The reactions were very positive overall, with a few people asking 'What is that doing here?' Most people, including some of the press reports I read afterwards, presumed it was Peugeot UK's car or it has only done a tiny mileage."
What's next?
"Just more finishing off really, with little tiny bits to do and then bed it in gently like people used to do with older cars. Then I need to decide should I use it in the summer months (I think I will) or garage it and use it for shows only (yawn). I may fit heated seats as my 205s have these and I love them and they will be a bigger benefit too with the car's full black leather. I am looking forward to using and showing the car at the NEC in November as it was very well received at Goodwood and many fellow petrolheads love the nostalgia of the 1980s hot hatch era."
Want to share your car with PHers on Carpool? Email us at carpool@pistonheads.com!
In France they had the Gti-16 version (engine from the 405 mi-16) that my french brother in law had. Went like stink with 160bhp.
From memory the 309 Gti's handled better than the 205 (which was supported in UK tests at the time IIRC).
I love these and had a 1988 version in about 1996 (not a Goodwood obviously), which despite being fairly neglected in its previous life was still great to drive.
I too saw past the 'ugly duckling' lines and actually loved the front end with the four foglights/driving lights?
My one and only niggle was having to buy a whole new tool set, as none of my existing spanners which I had amassed for my previous Fords seemed to fit the Pug. That said though, it was a whole new ball game from those previous Fords, but in a good way.
The first one was a 309 gld that I kept for far more years than I should due to it going on forever and being superb on fuel.
I bought the 309gld with just over 100,000miles on it and sold it with just over 250,000 miles with very little going wrong inbetween. (apart from servicing and the steering column bushes wearing out due to the lack of power steering it was quite reliable)
I had already modified the 309gld with koni suspension all round & it handled far better than it should.
When the time came to get a new car I had already decided I wanted something with a little more go than the diesel 309 (not hard at all as the non turbo 1.9 xud engine wasn't exactly powerful) the logical move was to get a 309 GTI and swap the koni suspension over.
That's exactly what happened.
I enjoyed my time with both the 309's and both served me well and the 309gti is one of those cars if I found one I would have another one without much thought as a weekend fun car.
The 309gld was in this blue colour
The 309gti was in this lighter metallic topaz blue colour
Just my experience having owned a 309GTi and driven a mates 1.6 205GTi.
ETA: If that makes any sense. I know what I mean anyway.
Both great cars.
If the owner has any build pics that could be added to this thread I for one would love to see them
I wondered if your car was Peugeot's own but I thought their's would be LHD and I remember the mileage not being low.
Great work on the restoration!
Got a pic taken with it:
https://instagram.com/p/4bE7hZBb5G/
Such balanced, flowing handling that was miles ahead of the competition. And then it had a lovely ride and more feel through the PAS, than anything then and probably since.
It's a real shame we never got the 309 GTi16 with it's beautiful alloy block motor.
A lovely restoration, fantastic!
Even the humblest of 309's were a pleasure to drive and really went were you pointed them.
The flying squad had a 309 GTi that really did fly in their hands. Shame about the build quality, but it did over 100,000 hard miles with them before being retired.
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