PEUGEOT 205 GTI

Year of manufacture 1989 Recorded mileage 158,385 Asking price £6950 Vendor Arun Holdings, Bordon, Hampshire; 07790 016214; www.arunholdings.co.uk

WHEN IT WAS NEW Price £6245 (1984) Max power 130bhp Max torque 119lb ft 0-60mph 7.6 secs Top speed 123mph Mpg 36

This 205 was thoughtfully put together as a road/track-day car in 2014, but only 1000 miles ago, and appears pleasingly stock from the outside. The shell received a six-point weld-in rollcage and new sills before repainting, then was reassembled using an 80,000-mile 2-litre 16-valve motor from a 306 GTI-6, plus its front brakes. The five-speed transmission remains because the 306’s six-speeder would have compromised steering lock. The full spec is on Arun’s website, but essentially it’s full of good bits including adjustable Gaz dampers and a Group N exhaust that passes the 98db noise test for track days.

The body is straight and solid, with decent paint and just a tiny bit of surface rust starting on one sill seam, plus a nick out of the left-rear plastic wheelarch finisher. The rear underfloor is well undersealed, and the spare-wheel basket has gone, replaced by a rally-style post inside. The wheels are refurbished 1.9 GTI alloys with well-treaded, 2015-dated Michelin Pilot Sport 3s.

The interior remains mostly standard, retaining carpets and door trims, but now with Cobra recliners. There’s no rear seat or parcel shelf, though they could be reinstated. An OMP steering wheel replaces the factory item, and there are three extra ancillary gauges in the radio slot, though they are not connected.

The motor is a neat installation with custom header tank. The oil is golden, the coolant residue greenish. It is very well sorted and, as you’d imagine with 167bhp pulling 875kg, a hoot to drive. It’s short-geared and free-revving (we only went to 6000rpm, but it was still pulling hard) with taut, pointy handling – the rear subframe bushes have been left stock to retain that delicious Peugeot neutrality/adjustability, but much of the precision is down to the stiffness added by the rollcage. The powerful brakes have a super-short pedal action and fabulous feel. Oil pressure was at the two-thirds mark, temperature at the one-third mark and the fan cut in promptly when we stopped.

It would be hard to replicate for the money and will be sold with a fresh MOT and the NOVA paperwork done, so UK registration should be a formality.

SUMMARY

EXTERIOR

Nice and tidy, with only the odd small ding

INTERIOR

Stock dashboard and trim; bucket seats and harnesses

MECHANICALS

A thoughtful blend of choice bits

VALUE ★★★★★★★★✩✩

For Goes, handles and stops well

Against It’s only a two-seater; currently Irish registered

SHOULD I BUY IT?

We wanted to. Like a 1.9 GTI, but on a really good day, and still civilised enough to go to the shops in