(first posted 12/20/2011)
Some cars are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon ’em. (Malvolio, Twelfth Night. Sort of.)
The unassuming Peugeot 205 was not born into greatness. Following a spending spree in the 1970s, Peugeot found itself in control of Citroën and Chrysler Europe, and unsurprisingly they were both money pits. By 1980, Peugeot was no longer profitable. Fortunately, and somewhat astonishingly given that the dread hand of Chrysler was tangentially involved, Peugeot’s fortunes were about to be revived by a car quite unlike their usual offerings. The Simca-derived Peugeot 205 won WhatCar?’s ‘Car of the Year’ in 1984, and was declared ‘Car of the Decade’ by CAR magazine in 1990, at least according to Wikipedia.
Fun small cars are what we’ve come to expect from the French, but it’s worth remembering that in the early ’80s, Peugeot was known for building larger, comfortable cars like the 404 and 505, and needed a competitor to fight the Renault 5. The 104, built from 1972 onwards, was worthy but showing its age. A replacement was needed, and the 205 was an instant hit on its arrival in 1983.
The 205 lived more or less unchanged for 15 years, lent the whole Peugeot family its styling language, and defined a generation of hot hatches. Given that it was styled in-house in the early ’80s, the 205 looks remarkably fresh. Certainly better than Peugeot’s recent stuff, inspired by putting deep-sea fish into a blender.
Boggo versions of the 205 such as this are sadly overlooked. This example sports (hah!) the 60hp 1.9 non-turbo diesel engine – probably more than enough to overpower the skinny front tyres in the battle for traction. My eyes bugged when I saw this Pug has been to Thruxton of all places, as I initially assumed it had actually been raced. It turns out the friendly owner runs a historic racing series, and the diminutive 205 is not actually his track slag. Despite having access to all sorts of exciting race beasts, he daily drives this 205 along with a 1995 Toyota Celica.
Doubtless it doesn’t go at much more than a leisurely pace, but I’m sure the owner would enjoy the absurdly long suspension travel on the track. Hot laps could be completed with a box of unbroken eggs on the passenger seat.
F1 technology! No wonder he took it to Thruxton. Although I have to wonder why the rally heritage of the two-time world champion 205 Turbo 16 wasn’t plastered all over the rear window. The 205-based T16 won two Group B championships in 1985 and ’86, the last years before that PCP-flavoured class was shut down for good. Four hundred horsepower in such a short wheelbase must have been terrifying.
Although the T16 bore about as much resemblance to this poverty-spec example as bottle rocket does to the space shuttle, it still speaks volumes about the solid fundamentals in this humble hatch. Small wonder that they remain popular despite being so disposable.
Even 28 years after its first introduction, the 205 remains a decent daily hack. Cheap to fix, the slower versions can be had for pocket change, and thanks to a curb weight of around 800kg, they’re frugal and huge fun. The owner reports that it makes a great daily workhorse and is popular with his 9-year old son, who has mystifyingly named it ‘the Stinkbug’. Somehow it seems fitting.
Peugeot spent some serious francs on the fully independent suspension – it’s so compact it barely intrudes into the passenger area, it’s well-damped, and there’s plenty of feedback, though very ’80s in flavour. It’s very much an update of the classic Austin Mini formula, although the Mini’s devious rubber cones were a little more communicative. A friend of mine had three 205s, he enjoyed them so much. Two were crashed and the other broke (I should point out that this is an observation about the driver rather than the car).
The low curb weight obviously appealed to his inner Timo Salonen; a shame, then, that the 205’s biggest downside is its crashworthiness, which is not unlike being wrapped in tinfoil and put in a machine press.
With more than 5 million made, the 205 was a real hit, just when Peugeot needed it most. Many are still around, as they rarely rust. Those that remain take me back to a time when hatches, and hot ones in particular, were more involving. This isn’t to say that the lift-off oversteer of the GTi is something that I need in my life, but hey, it beats the progressive understeer engineered into almost all cars these days.
It would be a stretch to call the 205 under-appreciated (the GTi is legendary), but a little more recognition of the basic car’s intrinsic goodness would be justified. It seems unfair that I could find the money to afford one simply by cleaning my couch – an ignominious end to a car that defined its class in its heyday.
I still really like the family face from Pugs of this era. Boxy but sleek (to my eye, at least) at the same time.
Right there with you Mr. Tactful. Pugs from the 80s and 90s were really nicely styled… understated but kind of quietly sleek.
Their styling started losing its way around the (2001) 307, which is still not a bad looking car to my mind (especially in 3 door form) although its proportions are less tidy than its predecessors. From then on Peugeots seemed to get increasingly fat, unbalanced and fish-faced… which is a shame
Happily just as Peugeot lost its styling mojo its sister company Citroën regained theirs, so at least we still have stylish French motors of some stripe.
To my eyes 3dr 206 is the most elegant supermini ever.
btw, have you ever seen a saloon 206? A proper abomination: http://paultan.org/2005/08/30/peugeot-206-sedan/
I don’t think these ever sold in the States, does it?
Anyway, I welcomed these European CCs. There are many European cool and interesting autos. I hope this is just the first of many to come.
Hi James, nice write-up of a familiar little car. Look forward to seeing more old European iron as you find it.
Funny you say they rarely rust, I guess that must be because there is so little snow and consequent grit on the roads in UK. Over here in Eastern Europe they rusted like few other vehicles, even compared to those which were absolutely famous for rust like Opel Kadett E.
That non turbo diesel must be extremely frugal in such a light car, I remember diesel Citroen AX which was probably sister car to 205 was widely publicized for low fuel consumption records at the time.
I should clarify – yes they rust, but because they don’t have any bad rust-traps designed in, they get off pretty lightly. I think from 87-ish onwards, they were part galvanised, too.
You’re right about the fuel consumption! This one has a 5-speed and the mileage is probably interstellar.
It was the smaller (but heavier!) 106 which shared the AX’s floorpan and incredibly frugal 1.4 and 1.5 TUD diesel engines.
The 205 used a 1.9 XUD engine which wasn’t quite so economical.
I will vouch for the 205’s rust resistance. Lots of winter salt on British roads, especially in the north, and the 205 and 405 are the most rust-resistant cars I’ve seen from the era.. Certainly better than newer Peugeots.
Thank you for an enjoyable and educational piece. It is always good to experience the voices and experiences from overseas, and to learn something about cars that were never available in the US. Glad to have your contributions.
My first car was a 1990 Peugeot 205 Roland Garros. You could get this car with leather, A/C and a two-barrel carburator 1.4-litre engine good for 80hp. Good for the city, not bad for long travel
Unfortunately, its transmission died miserably 🙁
Nice piece on a car I always had very positive feelings about, despite not being intimately familiar with it. The 205 really became quite a legendary little car. And yes, the more recent Peugeot styling trends have been hard for me to swallow. Hopefully, they’ll find their way back.
Speaking of finding, I’m looking forward to whatever you find next. Austin Allegro? Princess?
I’m not going to spoil it, but I’ll give you some clues on the two I’ve planned to write next: One has three wheels but ISN’T a Robin Reliant, and the other is a well-known 4×4…
A CC of Piagio Ape would be such fun 🙂
I always wanted one of these — lived in Britain when they were new — and recently noticed this 205GTI for sale in Canada. Unfortunately the improbability of being able to register it in the California Republic and find an au pair mechanic shatters the dream …
http://www.targetautosales.ca/Stock/PGN-03/PGN-03.html
Oh my, I think I just figured out what my next “toy” might wind up being!
I just have to find a way around that pesky 25 year rule..
Great GTI print ad!
I was looking at PUG 1905 diesels for some time and ended up with a Xsara which is based on the larger 306 still it only weighs 1100kg and has 90hp with the legendary independant suspension and passive rear wheel steering its an absolute blast to drive and very efficient on diesel. 206s are getting rare now and still command high prices in NZ. If your waiting for Allegros and Princesses to be found Paul they are about here though thankfully not common now I was surprised to park next to a mint Mini Metro Mayfair at the local supermarket last week, New Zealand isnt the outdoor museum it used to be 20 years ago but its amazing what is still in use here we probably have more old live English cars than England.
Owned a 205 1.8 diesel a few years back. Bought it as emergency transport after my Ford Focus commited suicide by eating its timing belt.
Was prepared to hate every minute spent driving it, but quickly grew to like it a lot. The ride was remarkably comfortable, the engine was much more willing than you might expect, with loads of midrange torque. The steering was light, direct and accurate.
The car was 11 years old, 164000 on the clock, cost me £135. Owned it for 18 months and put just short of 10000 miles on it. Totally reliable except for a clutch cable – the old one didn’t break, it just became ‘sticky’.
Great little cars.
Maybe England also has more old Peugeots than France. I’ve run across several different Englishmen who drive them.
Great contribution – I’m ready for more.
Nice work James, and definitely one of the all-time greats. GTi’s are mostly in long-term ownership in enthusiast hands here these days, I think I last saw a 205 a month ago at a local rally, a 1.6 Si rally car although it was not competing.
The 205 really is small, and the GTi really performs due to the traditional “big engine in small car” recipe of dropping the 1.9L engine from the 405 into the 205. This made the engine bay so tight that when they sold the 1.9 GTi here in Australia they had to choose between power steering or air conditioning because both would not fit in (AC was chosen of course), although the last year or two saw this rectified.
Great to have an English contributor! I have a model of one of the winning T16s above my computer. Great car, one of my childish desires.
These really are good cars over here in the UK, and are at their ‘old lady apex’ with plenty of immaculate low mileage cars coming up for sale due to owners vacating this mortal coil. Regarding rust, I certainly haven’t seen any that have been rotten- and the UK is one of the worst climates for rust, as most drivers have summer-only tyres and councils salt the roads whenever it gets below 50 degrees.
The only thing that lets you know its French is the trim quality- truly shocking, far worse than an X-car, and on par with the Yugo. Everything is extruded from that horrid plastic that old star wars toys are made of. You will find in the glovebox of every 205 a stash of snapped off plastic bits that were formerly attached to the car. For all of that, however, they were quite robust mechanically, although early ones had an engine canted almost horizontally, which made servicing a nightmare.
I had one of these – yes, it felt frail but nothing fell off the one I owned. Things wore a bit, things rattled but they stayed attached. Star Wars toys were made of pretty good plastic, by the way. Peugeot didn´t use anything that nice. It was a blue-grey PP which peeled as it aged (door handles) or got a bit brittle (dashboards). The seat cloth wore out faster than socks worn as slippers. But the ride quality, the handling, the steering and the space for four (really). What a car.
Very nice article James, and I am looking forward to the next one. The dealer where I bought my V50 in Moline, IL sold Peugeots from 1985 to the end of US sales in 1991, but all I remember seeing at the time were 505s and later on, 405s. They were fairly thin on the ground around here, but I really liked the looks of the 405. I still have a Majorette diecast model of the 405 Mi16.
Nice writeup. One thing haunts me though. I cannot find any proof of the fact that the chassis was Simca derived. I am no expert but it would think it is actually Peugeot 305 based. The setup might have been inspired by Simca but Renault were also onto the space saving torsion spring setup in those days with their 5 and earlier 4 and16. It was a French thing. Anyway I am intrigued by this remark and would love to be in the know.
I don’t see any Simca influence in the 205, it is pure Peugeot – almost at their best. ( it wasn’t really built to last – I haven’t seen one in a long long time).
There is no Simca at all. Front suspension and engine were Peugeot 104 derived and rear suspension was inherited from Citroen (same as Oltcit / Axel).
One of my favorite parts of the 1985 movie “Target” (Matt Dillon and Gene Hackman) is the car chase scene in a rented Peugeot 205 GTI. The GTI showed some action with Hackman behind the wheel.
Too bad the 205 was not sold in the US.
It kind-of reminds me of a miniature early ’70s AMC Gremlin. But it looks OK for an econo-hatch. Certainly better than the ‘fish-in-a-blender’ styling shared by many makes today!
Peugeot would never have marketed this car in the US. And a glovebox full of broken plastic bits wouldn’t have endeared the car to American buyers.
In 1983, we did get a Plymouth Horizon with an optional 1.6 Simca engine.
Happy Motoring, Mark
To call it an econo-hatch misses the point and fails to do it justice. The 205 is one of the greats. It’s the sort of car you would see parked on the street in the wealthiest parts of British cities.
I assume you’re referring to the GTi, not the 60hp diesel version featured here, which would qualify as an econo-hatch.
Happy Motoring, Mark
Nah, I meant the 205 in general. The GTi more power and a few bells & whistles but it’s still also a cheap hatchback.
A Peugeot 205 GTi has just been sold for £31000 at Auction. This a world record price for the 205 GTi,which goes to show that even these days they are still very well regarded.
Having driven them in the day it was a great little car. Pity small cars aren’t like this today, they all have to drive and handle like German cars. Consequently few cars ride as well as the 205.
People now think if a car shakes you to bits it handles well,when all it does is create more business for osteopaths.
It looks like “cute.”. And FUN.
That ad, though…It downplays both. Makes it look like an early USA-spec Ford Escort. Ugh….
Excellent writeup; this is a car I’d love to drive someday, small though the chances are. You’re absolutely right about the crashworthiness issue, though. I saw a video where one of these was dropped on its roof and came out flatter than a crepe. Still a hoot to drive, I’ll bet, but go carefully.
Excellent handling and performance even for today in the 1.9 GTI version and if you want to go mad the 16 valve unit drops right in. Not particularly pleasant to work on with the larger engine as very cramped but it was just possible, unlike the modern equivalents. We gained much more in safety since then at the cost of weight and it shows; I don’t think there is one hot hatch with the agility of the 205 on the market these days (even if they will leave it behind on straight line acceleration).
My 1992 english version 205 RALLYE – a brilliant little car.
Production run of 700 sent to England (450 in Alpine white and 250 in Express yellow).
Not sure where you’ve got ‘Simca derived’ from. The front end was Peugeot 104 derived and the rear end was Citroen Oltcit / Axel derived.
I remember these cars. There were many racing around Germany and The Netherlands when I was there. That rear quarter window was a common sight. It was the most often seen Peugeot during the 1990s. I learned to like French cars, but I never had an opportunity to spend any time in a 205, common as they were back then.
“Stinkbug”? Not mysterious to me. It’s a diesel.
Is the SIMCA connection the Peugeot 309 which was based on the 205, but with a longer rear overhang, glassier hatch and in the UK usually fitted with the nasty tappety SIMCA engine? The 309 was intended to replace the Horizon as a Talbot, but Peugeot gave up on Talbot as a separate brand.
My Dad had a couple of Peugeot 205, the first was a 1.9 non turbo diesel van, which was just like the feature car except the rear side windows were metal and no rear seat. Dad worked for himself and could claim more against tax by driving a van than a car. It was incredibly noisy and the glovebox didn’t contain broken trim, it contained a rattle can of silicone to try and quieten the trim rubbing and rattling against itself.
The steering was much heavier than it should have been for such a light car, hence the skinny tyres. The XUD had a narrow power band, but there was no rev counter so it was hard work to drive on a busy main road.
Dad liked it though, he swapped it for a hatch version.
I drove the most basic version of all: a 1.0 litre four-speed manual stripped out for the Irish market. It had no clock and the paint was like a single layer of emulsion. That said, it was a hoot to drive – I could throw it about with abandon and make the most of the roadspace. It had superb steering (unassisted) and a wonderful ability to sail over rotten roads – we had plenty of them in Ireland in 1990-something). The seats might have had nylon-sock upholstery but they were incredibly comfortable over long distances. The point here is that the basics of the car were excellent. I miss it terribly.