Peugeot 106 Rallye

The mothballed Pug is back on the road, but at what cost?

THE SALE OF MY EUNOS ROADSTER HAS led to a flurry of activity for the Rallye in recent weeks. At the end of last year it went into hibernation, courtesy of Matthew Hayward from our sister title Octane, sharing space with an amusingly rapid Saab and a motley crew of old Citroëns, but on the day the Eunos drove away a couple of months ago I was straight round to repatriate it.

That first drive was a joy, reminding me of how strong the eight-valve 1.6 feels and how much the steering wriggles and relays its messages. At the same time, that and subsequent short drives to keep fluids flowing were a reminder that now the Roadster is gone, I should really give the Pug some proper attention.

The list was, I figured, fairly short. There was a knocking at the front end that suggested worn engine mounts, a further intermittent knocking

from underneath from the new exhaust, and several minor niggles, such as a broken spring in the driver’s-side door handle and a general scruffiness apparent when you’re within 15 paces of the car.

Other than approving noises from previous MOT testers and people who’ve worked on the car, I’ve not yet had the Rallye properly inspected, so I booked it in with Brackley-based Pug1off for a proper check-up to see what’s what.

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t quite expecting it to spend an hour on the ramps, nor the full A4 page I received of things that need attention, but that’s what you get when you visit a specialist rather than the average grease monkey.

Thankfully, very little of it – including the bits involving the repeated use of the word ‘corrosion’ – needs imminent attention, particularly for a car that is largely restricted to fair-weather use and is permanently garaged. What I’d imagined to be a problem with the engine mounts was actually the front top mounts knocking, but more pressing is play in the rear axle, which will require a new rear beam (a common Peugeot malady). It would also make sense to get the corrosion around that area fixed while the beam is off.

The problem with this is cost. It’s hard not to imagine the work breaching four figures – previously a speciality of the Roadster – which is a number I was rather hoping to avoid with this car. By the time you read this I’ll have either bitten the bullet or run away screaming, so we’ll see how it goes…

Date acquired August 2017 Total mileage 112,908 Mileage this month 307 Costs this month £0 mpg this month 42.3

‘I wasn’t quite expecting a full A4 page of things that need attention’