Some places are CC magnets. I caught a Talbot Samba, a ‘70s Renault 4, a Harburger Transporter, a K10 Micra, a Méhari and a 2CV in the same village street in southern France over the years. It’s no Eugene, but it’ll do. Here’s another find from this blessed place: this cute little Pug, still very much a daily driver, like the others.
Introduced in 1972, the smallest Peugeot since the ‘20s had a distinguished 16-year career – over 1.6 million were made, including about 365,000 short-wheelbase cars like this one. Yet the 104 had not yet been featured on CC. Always ready to shine a light on the more obscure corners of the automotive world, I had the good fortune of finding this very well-preserved coupé version.
How small can a small car be? Peugeot’s answer, about 45 years ago, was: “Very.” The 104 was very short as a four-door, but it was positively tiny as a short-wheelbase hatchback. But short cars tend to have long lives and the Peugeot 104 was no exception.
Peugeot’s glorious “04” years – FWD on the left, RWD on the right.
The “04” series represents something of a coming of age for Peugeot. The 204 (1965-76) and 304 (1969-80) introduced FWD and ushered in a new era of small Peugeots, including the 104 (1972-88). Alongside this new family of smaller cars, Peugeot kept a line of larger RWD models. The 404 (1960-75) and the lower-spec/LWB 504s represented supreme ruggedness. The mid-to-higher-spec 504 (1968-83) and the 604 (1975-85) received IRS and re-established the automaker in the 2-litre and luxury niches that Peugeot had abandoned since the Second World War.
The other novelty of the “04” series was the introduction of a new 100-series FWD 1-litre car, a true Simca 1000 and Renault 4/5/6 fighter. The 104 had an all-alloy OHC 4-cyl. engine producing 46 hp (DIN), which was about as good as small engines could get in the early ‘70s. Positioned east-west, the little four was tilted 72°, lying almost horizontally toward the bulkhead, which enabled the spare wheel to fit over the engine/transmission block. The all-round independent suspension used coils, not unlike the 204/304’s setup, as well as front disc brakes and rack-and-pinion steering.
The 1973 brochure showing two of the 104’s weaker points…
It was not without its faults. The lack of a rear hatch was bemoaned by many – so much so that Peugeot devised a proper hatchback for the four-door saloon by 1977. The 104 was the first post-war Peugeot to completely forego the increasingly passé column-mounted gearstick; alas, perhaps because of this relative inexperience, the gearbox linkage was deemed substandard and the interior beyond drab. And just as they had done with the 204, Peugeot launched their new lowest-price car at a pretty steep FF 12,200 in late 1972: you could get a Simca 1100 saloon with 60 hp and a proper rear hatch for a few hundred Francs less, or a plain-Jane Citroën GS for a few hundred more.
To justify its price, aside from its very modern drivetrain, he Peugeot 104 had two secret weapons. One was the use of space, which was incredibly good. Four people and a few pieces of luggage could fit in the 104 saloon without difficulty. The saloon managed to fit four decent-sized doors in a total length of only 358cm long (141 in.) with a 242cm (95 in.) wheelbase. This was the shortest European four-door saloon at the time, a fact often repeated in contemporary literature.
The second secret weapon, revealed at the October 1973 Paris Motor Show, was the “Z” car. This was Peugeot parlance for an ultra-short version of the 104 that, at least initially, was called 104 Coupé. The main difference was in the dramatic 20cm reduction of the wheelbase, which transformed the 104 into a true city car.
Peugeot chiefly aimed the 104 Z at DINKY-types and older folks: the coupé was given a much improved interior and distinctive headlamps to justify its price being over FF1200 more than the 104 saloon. A full range was soon developed, from the super-stripper ZA Commerciale (sold without rear seats) to the hot hatch ZS, which had a bigger 66hp 1.1 litre engine.
The sacrifice of the rear seats, which were all but symbolic, was the inevitable trade-off of the shorter wheelbase. The diminutive Pug was at best a 2+2, but it proved influential on the rest of the 104 range. New engine options were usually tested on the coupé first, and it was the only one to receive the fire-breathing 92 hp 1360cc Peugeot XY engine, on the 1979-only ZS 2; the saloon and lesser ZS made do with calmer versions of this motor.
Peugeot put a 1.4 litre engine in the 104 S (above, 60hp) and ZS (72hp) from 1979
The coupé also had an esthetic influence. The 104 Z’s headlamps soon began appearing on higher-spec 104 saloons and ended up conquering the whole range. The 104 was styled, as virtually all Peugeots were in those days, by PininFarina and is credited to the hand of Paolo Martin, of Rolls-Royce Camargue and Fiat 130 fame. It isn’t easy to design a very small car, and this is a pretty good example of how to do it well.
Source: Wikicommons
Peugeot (and, presumably, PininFarina) tried to see what the 104 would look like with a sticky-out rear, which negated the car’s smallest-European-saloon selling point and upset the design’s balance quite a bit. A 104 wagon was also tried out, but Peugeot reasoned that the 104 Break would mostly exist at the expense of the 304 and 305 Break. So the 104 Z was the only production variant. Well, the only one with a Peugeot badge, anyway.
For the 104 was born, fortuitously for an economy car, just before the First Oil Shock of 1973 and the 1974 buyout of Citroën. The 104 coupé wasn’t selling too well, but Peugeot stuffed the Dyane’s 600cc flat-twin into a SWB 104 body and stuck a new grille with two chevrons on it, creating the Citroën LN/LNA (1976-85, top left). The 104 saloon’s underpinnings (and 4-cyl. engine) were also used to create the 1978-88 Visa (bottom left), which proved that it was, indeed, very difficult to design a pretty small car. In 1981, the now nine-year-old 104 was called upon yet again to serve as a base for the Talbot Samba, now that Simca had been taken over. The 104 coupé was stretched just enough to provide a bit of legroom at the back, necessitating a heavy restyle that hardly disguised the Peugeot DNA underneath. Interestingly, the Samba cabriolet (bottom right) was credited to PininFarina, who thus put their signature on a bastardization of their original design.
It’s intriguing that the 104 carried on as the Peugeot de base for so long, but the whole Talbot debacle screwed up Peugeot’s plans. As long as the Talbot and Citroën versions of the 104 were still in demand, why shouldn’t Peugeot carry on the original as well? The birth of the 205 on 1983 and the Citroën AX in 1986, along with the winding down of Talbot, signaled that the end was nigh.
Still, the 104 had just had a revised grille for the whole range in 1983, finally matching the large rear lights that had arrived in 1978 on the Z (and 1980 on the saloon). The dashboard was also revisited, in a manner of speaking: the 104 just borrowed the Talbot Samba’s more modern-looking effort. Peugeot played the high-end city car card until the end with the “Style Z” version, which was introduced as a limited edition in 1983 and carried over in subsequent years before becoming a full-time high trim level by 1986. The smoky grey (Gris fumé, in Peugeot parlance) colour seen on this car was the most common on this model, complete with go-faster stripes and the obligatory sports steering wheel.
By the time the Style Z came on the scene, the 104’s engine was back down to only one choice: 1124cc giving out 50 hp (DIN), but now mated to much better a five-speed gearbox. The 104 kept this engine until the end, in the summer of 1988. Our feature car is one of these final 104s – either 1987 or 1988.
I’m not quite sure why the 104 was the only Peugeot since the 203 never to propose a Diesel option. Certainly, the car’s underpinnings were compatible with Diesel engines, as is proved by the existence of Diesel Sambas and Visas. Another singularity of this little car, I guess.
The Peugeot 104 was a risky move on Peugeot’s part. The car’s price would necessarily limit its success, and indeed, compared to the VW Polo, the Renault 5 or the BMC Mini, sales were relatively modest. Peugeot’s average annual production hovered around 120,000 in the good years, plus 20,000-odd of the SWB version. (The best year for the 104 was 1977, with over 190,000 units made.) That was decent enough, but thanks to the 350,000 Citroën LN/LNA, 275,000 Talbot Samba variants and the 1.2 million Citroën Visas, the investment Peugeot put into their groundbreaking small car bore more fruit than initially envisaged.
Though not quite the hit that it might have been, the 104 has an important place in Peugeot’s modern history by introducing the modern city car in Peugeot’s range, which would later include the highly successful 106 (1991-2003), the 107 (2005-14) and the current 108. An important car, yes; a competent car, of course. And If I hadn’t seen so many of these growing up, I might even find it interesting…
Terrific article. While the 104 4/5-door was always a bit meh to me, the Z 3-door was a cute little thing. I found a picture of the proposed notchback sedan – a Jetta before its time? Perhaps it’s for the best that this thing never saw production. The Citroen LN/LNA deserves its own story for what appears to be an act of desperate badge-engineering.
I have to say, I like the wagon too. It looks almost like it could be Japanese – there’s more than a slight whiff of late ’60s Mazda Familia about it
I agree. The 104 wagon is not bad looking at all.
The saloon is almost like a smaller Fiat 131 Mirafiore.
That’s got a fair chunk of Fiat 128 in it as well!
Yes, I see Fiat 128 in this, maybe it’s the wheels and the colour. I don’t think it’s too bad.
The wheelbase cars are famous for customer for buying. Good fortune and finding good version from online. The shining and good career to be used for this. It is good as small engines could get in the early. deemed substandard and the interior beyond drab are available in that car. It is getting more expenses for making the spare. Thanks for given for this post
Peugeot made a deal with Renault : Peugeot would not launch a 3-door hatchback 104 and Renault would not launch a 5-door Renault 5, this is the reason why the 104 ZS series took so long.
The car in the pictures is a Mk2, the first 104 ZS ( which were meant to be a baby GTI or Abarth) had hughe 504-styish headlights.
Jean Todt, ex- Peugeot Sport team manager, ex- Ferrari F1 team manager, and President of the FIA at present, started his motorsport career in a 104 ZS rallycar as a navigator.
The 104 was a rather expensive small car, the same money bought you a lot more tin in the form of a Datsun 120 Y or an Opel Kadett or Ford Escort and the 104 had quite a modest powerplant in standard form.
Another problem was the tilted engine, you could not reach anything under the bonnet, all important components were situated between the block and the firewall which made repairs quite costly.
The R5 was sexier with its polyester shield bumpers, appealing to a younger audience , so was the A 112 by Autobianchi just to name two competitors, ‘t was n’t until the super cute 205 appeared that Peugeot could make its mark on tis car segment.
As I said with the 504 and the 404 : The 205 did everything better than the 104 had ever done. This gap was even bigger then the one between the 504 and 404 Peugeots.
Especially in two groups or niches : Diesel and GTI this is where the 205 really excelled in.
The body-engineered Talbot Samba was not a real success, they had a nice GTI-ish version and the convertible was cute, but the Citroen LN really was MWEH this was a lousy piece of lazy French crappa non-engineering with its 2CV engine in a 104 Z body, it was the favorite transport means of all the scrooges of this world !
Peugeot made a deal with Renault : Peugeot would not launch a 3-door hatchback 104 and Renault would not launch a 5-door Renault 5, this is the reason why the 104 ZS series took so long.
I don’t know where you got this from. It doesn’t really chime with reality: the 104 Z came just one year after the 104 saloon. And the main reason for Renault not offering a 5-door R5 was to avoid cannibalizing sales of the R4 and R6. When the R6 died, the 5-door R5 appeared. Simple as that.
I will support your assertion about the Citroen LN, though. Nasty, cheap and lazy. But from a sales perspective, it made a lot of sense and helped Citroen out of the hole they were in.
The Z was introduced in 74, the normal 104 in 72, the article was in a French magazine which was about the rather late launch of the R5 5-door version where an ex-Renault executive was quoted, and my expression was not 100% correct, Peugeot would not launch a hatchback version of the 104, they avoided this by calling the 104 ZS a Coupe, my whole family wanted me to get one as a young man, I stuck to Autobianchi’s A112 and later an Innocenti Cooper 1300.
Peugeot and sporty cars were not an issue, although I always liked the charming French MGB Gt’s in the shape of the 204 and 304 Coupe.
But they lacked the roaaarrrrrr and rawness of the B type GT.
And you could not get a decent alloy wheel in those days for hardly any French car thanks to the 3-lug wheel arrangement and if you did ‘t was expensive Dunlop, very expensive Delta Mics or unaffordable Gotti’s.
I kind of like this, and especially like the unique headlight shape. The 4 door seems to predict the shape of the VW Golf just a bit.
This thing has the “suitcase” engine. I believe BMW had a stake in the engine factory and took the engine to get into the 4 cylinder motorcycle market. By lopping off a pot they had a 3 cylinder version too.
I like the looks of the 104 models. But Rammstein spelled out very well we never considered buying one for our family: It was a rather expensive small car. Too, our Renault 4 TL provided us with what we needed and was replaced with another R 4.
Thanks for this enlightening article!
I don’t know for sure, but I’d be skeptical that the BMW K Bike engine was related to this one. First, it wasn’t launched until 1984 … a long delay. And, it was longitudinal so I think the architecture as well as actual parts would all be very different. Also, DOHC.
Edit: well, I checked Wikipedia and apparently the prototype BMW K Bike, in 1977, did use a 104 engine modified with a 90° output. But there’s no mention of BMW being involved in the development of the original engine. However, as a former K100 owner this was news to me so thanks for bringing this up.
The story I heard the BMW engineers took the 104 engine, mounted it longitudinally in a frame and basically bolted the existing BMW R series transmission and shaft drive to it. There may be pictures of this test mule somewhere but none of the articles have any that I have seen. The production K engine is unrelated to this one
Fascinating stuff about BMW’s use of the 104’s engine in their test mule! News to me. The 104 engine was probably just light and compact enough for the job.
IIRC, there were attempts to make bikes with Citroen’s flat-twin and flat-4 back in the ’70s as well. “Car engines that found themselves mounted on bikes” would make for an interesting CC post…
In the 1970s, these cars (Peugeot 104, Renault R5, VW Polo, Fiat 128, VW Golf) were fuel efficient and space efficient.
Everybody is crying about global warming.
40 years later, with today’s computers and engine management systems, cars of this size, which are USEFUL and have a lot of UTILITY (unlike the Smart car, which isn’t), weighing 2000 lbs or less, would really help reduce the use of oil and cut exhaust emissions.
To get to the magic sub-2000 lb curb weight, cars that are under 2000 lbs and get 35 city/50 mpg highway in the current US EPA test cycle, should have a waiver most mass-adding safety requirements, like crashworthy-ness and air bags. Just seat belts, padded dashboards and door panels and roofs.
We all have to breathe the air, and live with this world’s climate. Cars like an updated Peugeot 104 (or Fiat 127 or orig VW Golf, or whichever one you prefer) would serve Americans’ needs and make a significant dent tailpipe emissions.
Put in my waiver and put a $2 tax on gasoline. It would also help reduce traffic congestion.
It won’t happen, of course, but I think it’s a great idea!
And I almost forgot…..good history on the Peugeot 104, thank you!
Maybe the Fiat 127 next?
Yep, the 104’s curb weight was 760 kg (1675 lbs) — unimaginable these days.
Would love to do the Fiat 127, but I have to find one and photograph it… A trip to Italy is long overdue, but not currently on the cards for me. If there’s one in Bangkok, I hope I’ll find it.
The Fiat 127 is another car that looks like a hatchback that wasn’t one when it was launched. Admittedly they put that right much quicker than Peugeot did with the 104.
The original Honda Civics too were available with a hatch, but a silly little boot was standard.
I guess Toyota 1000 and Datsun cherry was Japanese answer to this French beauty.
Sorry, but not really. Both of those Japanese cars preceded the Peugeot by at least a couple of years.
Were Italians smaller at the time?
Hehehe! Didn’t pick up on that. How weird.
The French Gremlin! It’s the only other car that I know of that was developed the same way: cut the wheelbase and rear end to make a drastically shorter car. Except that the 104Z works a lot better for me.
Maybe not quite as drastic but the Hillman Husky was effectively a short Hillman Audax estate wagon.
And the Chrysler Sunbeam was a (not drastically) cut down Avenger/Plymouth Cricket
Had the Gremlin had a true hatchback….we’d be talking about how innovative it was…
Interesting that it started out as a (tailess) saloon. While most people now think that the ’70s was the era of small hatchbacks in Europe it was nowhere near clear cut at the beginning of the decade.
Nice article. When I think of North American vehicles with rears that appeared overly truncated upon launch, besides the Gremlin, I immediately think of the Dodge Shadow / Plymouth Sundance, and the original Chevy Astro van. The extended version of the Astro/Safari did wonders for their looks. While the Shadow would have looked considerably better balanced in profile with a few more inches of trunk.
I have to hand it to you, Tatra87, for finding the most obscure of obscure French cars and writing about them! I have forgotten some of them even though I grew up in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Excellent and informative article as always! Do keep looking for more of obscure French cars!
It appears that with this little car the Peugeot name was successfully carried through the tumultuous 1970s and 1980s, where cutthroat policies set manufacturers up in arms over one another a la Talbot. I had previously thought that the 205 series was the smallest Peugeot ever made, but it looks like I was proved wrong. Can you blame me when French cars don’t exactly flow like the Seine River here in the U.S.A.? Ah…c’est la vie…
Nice find and nice account – thanks! I’d forgotten they lasted until 1988, but I guess the Visa did too.
I recall LJK Setright describing the 104Z as being the only car for which removing rear doors and reversing into a wall was part of the manufacturing process.
I had my first major breakdown in a 104 – Mum had a 104S five door (I can’t remember how she ended up with it, tbh) when the temperature went up and up, but without a temp gauge I didn’t realise. Ended up parked by the road with a load of steam, a puddle and what turned out to be failed head gasket. It did it once more and was then swapped for a Chrysler Horizon.
I remember that odd dash as well – the easiest way to adjust the fan speed was to put hand through the steering wheel
I recall LJK Setright describing the 104Z as being the only car for which removing rear doors and reversing into a wall was part of the manufacturing process.
Excellent. That way, they could do crash-tests and sell the cars afterwards. Ha!
Loved this comprehensive piece on a car from a different part of the world than my little corner. I always enjoy the glimpses of Europe you provide in your great pieces – they tide me over until I can scrape up the funds to go travel abroad again.
It’s funny how your piece trailed Paul’s AMC Gremlin rerun by only a couple of days. The 104 Coupé, especially in profile, reminds me of the Gremmie in concept if not in execution.
When I went to Paris as an 8 year old kid, I had bought a scale model of a 104 sedan. Sadly, I didn’t take good care of it and it ended up in the “scrapyard” of my Matchbox & Hot Wheels cars, dying an undistinguished death.
Please keep up the good work. The global perspective of CC is one of my favorite things about this site.
Thank you for your very kind words, Joseph.
Yes it is funny how Gremlinesque this 104Z is. Only so many ways to cut a hatchback body, I guess. AMC were there first by about 3 years, so perhaps PF took note of the Gremlin when designing the 104Z.
Tatra, I love your articles. You always fill in gaps in my automotive knowledge, and often gaps I didn’t even know I had with your Deadly Sins series. I almost want to ask if you take requests for articles (Opels? Executive saloons?) but I actually love not knowing what Tatra article will come next… Always a surprise and always fascinating. It’s great that we have some European contributors on here, so CC is pretty much consistently covering at least three continents’ worth of cars every month.
I knew of the 104 but I knew little about it. You make a good point about Peugeot really hitting its stride in the 70s with a comprehensive and competitive range of products. The Z is really quite a looker and the positioning is fascinating… I would’ve expected a cut-down version to have a lower price tag, not higher.
Merci, Monsieur William. I love writing for CC because it forces me to look into areas of automotive history that I’m not necessarily familiar with. I welcome requests, but they has to have an angle, a thread.
Re: the Z’s positioning, I suppose Peugeot knew that, given the price, the limited popularity of two-door cars in many corners of Europe (especially France) and Peugeot’s image, going up a notch was their best hope.
Though there was the ZA, the ultra-stripper. It sold for a lot less due to the 2-seater configuration: it had a lower VAT as a delivery coupe. But the ZA was not a common sight — the Citroen LN Entreprise (same but with a flat-twin) was even cheaper to purchase and run, so it sold a bit better.
Tatra87 – thanks so much for this. I often (possibly here on CC, I tend to repeat myself) muse that the 104 would be a candidate for the most varied small car platform (were it possible to measure such a thing). How many other cars’ diaspora boast 2 and four cylinder, air-and-water-cooled cars, a four door convertible, 3 Group A rally cars (or is it more? You’d know) and a long-running van?
also I’ve read (possibly in a Citroen club magazine) that the LN/LNA involved substantially more work than just an engine swap
I got a 104 in 1979 – drove from Glasgow to Greece and back in it. Never missed a beat.
Did all the work on it myself , some service items like the distributor were awkward to access but generally I didn’t find it a difficult car to work on.
British climate killed it at 150 K miles – still had it’s original clutch
A quality effort as ever, Msr T.
I had no notion the Visa was derived from this car, (nor the Talbot, come to that). Btw, don’t be mean about how the Visa looks, which it cannot help. As it happens, I’m rather partial to it, even that sooky-fat-baby-bottom-lip-faced early one shown here. (Yes, I know it makes me weird, and yes, I’m being treated, albeit without success, but I digress).
As it’s not a car familiar to me except from o/s magazines and photos, it’s interesting, and it has to be said you’ve done a great job of making something dull for you into a thing of interest for us. There’s a bunch of Holdens from my growing up about which I’d struggle to be similarly enthused.
You’re right in saying it’s hard to make a nice-looking cheap little car – and nice it is – and it’s a tad wry that it is the work of Paolo Martin whose Camargue also proved comprehensively that it can be hard to make a nice-looking expensive huge one!
Once I put aside those sweet French driving dynamics the 104 surely possessed, this car is not as good as what Japan had just begun to sell at the same time. I owned a ’73 Civic in ’86. Same weight, length of 138 inches, adequate room for 4 (except in Italy maybe). Everything on it was of high quality, including the stylish dash. It had a superb gearchange, excellent handling from fully independent suspension, an easily-serviced 1.1 litre engine that you could lug around like a big six if feeling lazy or rev hard when inclined (with the lazy mode not blocking traffic). It could sit on 80mph, top 90, and still return 40mpg or so. It did not break down, electrically or otherwise. I am a hopeless sucker for all French cars and have the bank balance to prove it, but respectfully, they have never made a car of Japanese quality, and in ’73, were not ahead in the design either.
A most minor niggle to raise is that Pug 504 was only ever fitted with a floor shift in Aus, which means a postwar-Pug with floor shift was available from 1970.
Why, thank you kindly, Mister Baum.
I’m sure the Civic was a good car, but its looks let it down a tad (in my view, of course. But then the Visa also seems to exemplify our opposing tastes…)
As to the floor shift, I’m not disputing that some Pugs had it prior to the 104: the last 404 Cs had it first in 1968, followed by the 504 C in 1969 and some 504 saloons and the 304 C by 1970.
My point was that the 104 was the first Peugeot since the ’40s to have a floor shifter one from the get go, and never had a column shifter.
The French clung on to the column shifter for a surprisingly long time, by European standards. And Peugeot clung on longer than most French carmakers.
I’m sure the Civic was a good car
That’s a generous comment, from a European. 🙂
It has been very interesting to me as someone who is originally from Europe and kept up very closely with the European car scene while living in America the huge difference in perceptions and opinions about Japanese cars in Europe and America.
There is no doubt in my mind that although it’s a generalization (which I dislike) the classic European chauvinism/nationalism that tends to raise its head quite often was/is a very substantial aspect. I’ve long meant to write a post about that, but it’s a tricky subject.
Let’s just say that while the Europeans might have been feeling superior as to certain dynamic qualities of their cars (which 90+% of the drivers never exploited), Japanese car owners were without a doubt enjoying a massively superior level of reliability. There are plenty of stats to confirm that, as well as years of Auto, Motor und Sport long-term tests, which most European cars, especially French ones, did miserably on in comparison to the Japanese cars (and of course the MBZ W123).
But the European manufacturers saw the threat, and got their shit together and improved reliability to stave off a full-fledged Japanese invasion, but for the most part they only just closed the gap to one extent or another. Good enough to keep consumer’s bias for European cars intact.
Americans are just more open to…immigrants; or were so until more recent years. The Honda Civic was an absolute milestone car, although its rust resistance was very poor, it’s one shortcoming. But then that was the case with lots of European cars at the time too.
Justy, you bring up an excellent point about the Civic. It was shockingly roomy for its overall length, and really could accommodate four adults reasonably well. Of course it was designed as a proper four-seater from the get-go, and not a cut-off sedan like the 104Z, which really was a lot like the Gremlin.
on the chauvinism thing – I’d be interested to see if there are (m)any examples of French or German law enforcement / other govt. agencies running anything other than their respective countries’ output. Though that could reasonably be explained to an extent by the product being the most suitable to the local conditions.
back to the 104/Civic – does anyone know if the booted versions continued alongside the hatchbacks at all (as per the Fiat 127) or were they entirely replaced?
The 104 ZS2 was the one to have. 1360 cc, 10.5:1 CR, twin sidedraft Solexes, 93 DIN HP. Only 1000 were made in early 1979 and few survive in 2021 due to it being a Group 2 homologation special and heavily rallied. The ZS2 was a match for the Renault 5 Alpine and first Golf GTI in performance, but cooler than either.