As a gearhead living in the '80s, a time of economic boom, the car industry was awash with performance cars to tempt drivers. From the big boys, Porsche and Ferrari competing for the fastest production car, lower down the pecking order Peugeot with their 205 GTi created one of the most important sports cars of all time.
What Peugeot had done like so many other carmakers was genius, take a small family hatchback and stuff a bigger engine under the hood, the resulting light-weight hot hatch the delivered all the thrills a gearhead could want without the stupid high asking prices. The 205 GTi became an instant hit, not the first hot hatch, or even the fastest and most powerful, but for many fans the best of its generation.
Those qualities lending themselves particularly well to junior racing series and even works prepared rally program, Peugeot's engineers had created the perfect sports car for everyday drivers, fast, agile, and affordable.
10 Timeless Appearance
A truly great car never ages, the 205 GTI launched back in 1983 still looks contemporary today. In place of the more common angular styling of its major rivals, Peugeot's softer approach is responsible in part for the 205 GTi's timeless appeal.
Bumper to bumper, measuring a deceptively small 3.8 meters, short overhangs reinforcing the 205 GTi's small sports car appearance with the ability to seat four kept Peugeot's pocket rocket in production for 10 years before production ended in 1994. Although the French carmaker did build other small fast hatches, none proved quite so popular.
9 Which Engine Option Was Better?
Depending on model year, Peugeot offered two engine options for the 205 GTi with differing power delivery characteristics. Early cars equipped with the revvy 1.6-liter XU5J produced 105 hp with updated heads and larger valves arriving in 1986 upped output to 115 hp.
Introducing a larger 1.9-liter unit in 1986 not only increased output to 130 hp but also transformed how the 205 GTi delivered its power. Smaller engines needing more revs, while the later XU9J unit produced its power in a lazier torquier manner. Which is best is purely down to personal choice.
8 Optional Upgrades
Peugeot's approach to keeping things affordable stretched to the 205 GTi's interior, the dashboard, and binnacle largely stock from lesser 205's save for a few touches of color and revised materials. Simple and functional, the fewer add-ons the better in terms of build quality.
Optional upgrades at the time were pretty thin on the ground, remembering the 205 GTi undercut its major rivals by as much as £1500, meant the options list basically consisted of a leather trim upgrade.
7 Performance Bargain
Hot hatches are all about affordable performance, here, the 1.9-liter 205 GTi's reigned supreme, its more powerful engine delivering a top speed of 127 mph, passing 60 mph in 7.8-seconds for the bargain price of £10k. Unfortunately, Peugeot never supplied the 205 GTi to US dealers, leaving the brand to focus on premium sedans instead.
Despite the huge numbers sold and cheap sales prices, the 205 GTi is no longer the absolute performance bargain it once was, a mint example selling at auction as recently as 2016 fetching a record £40k asking price.
6 Easy Maintenance
The 206 GTi, like all hot hatches of the time used a simple front-engined front-wheel-drive layout, which although cheaper to build would mean a time-intensive engine and transmission removal procedure in the event of any serious issues.
Luckily, Peugeot nailed the all-important durability concern that plagued all French cars of the '80s. The 205 GTi with nothing more than routine maintenance and oil changes every 6,000 miles would still be running long after production ended.
5 205 T16 Homologation Special
In the 80s, regular production cars with the help of a few FIA-approved modifications set the World Rally Scene alight, and luckily for gearheads, those same rules required carmakers to sell 200 examples to the public. The 205 T16 then shares an uncanny resemblance to the GTI, the same basic design clad in a widebody kit complete with additional vents and grilles.
Firstly, the name, T16 or Turbo 16 in recognition of its turbocharged 16-valve motor which produces 197 hp driving all four wheels instead of the familiar front-drive design. And then there's the placement behind the driver's seat for improved weight distribution and sharper handling. Over time competition-spec cars gained more power, the T16 Evo 2 boasting between 450-550 hp giving a 0-60 mph of 3.3-seconds.
4 Lift-Off Oversteer
Literally, anyone could master the 205 GTi's predictable handling, a well-sorted chassis, and all-around independent suspension delivered endless grip levels provided you didn't push the limits too far.
Arriving at a corner too fast and lifting off the gas mid-corner produced some serious tail-out power-off oversteer thrills, the solution was simply to apply more power and let the chassis sort things out.
3 Soft Top Option
The original hardtop 205 is pure Peugeot created in-house by Gerard Welter and would go on to transform the French carmaker's fortunes, selling over 5 million cars in its lifetime, the GTI though remains the one most gearheads fondly remember.
However, Pininfarina does have little to do with the success story, but not for the reasons most give credit for. If the original was an all-French creation, then the less common 205 CTi would be a thoroughly Italian affair. Fresh off the production line, Peugeot shipped bare bodyshells to Turin, where Pininfarina would surgically remove the roof, adding a folding soft-top and associated cross bracing. Beneath the skin, the GTi's core remained, albeit gaining a few pounds in extra weight.
2 Dimma 205 GTi
Giving the 205 GTi a widebody kit along the lines of the fearsome T16 is one way to stand out from the crowd. However, Dimma Design wasn't just another after-market kit maker, rather a fully custom-fitted body upgrade comprising wider arches at both ends, roof-mounted spoiler nicely finished out with Dimma designed alloys.
The quality speaks volumes, Peugeot giving their approval in 1984 leading to one of the most sought after 205 GTi special editions.
1 The Benchmark For All Hot Hatches
Close on thirty years since production ended, the 205 GTi remains the greatest hot hatch from the '80s a claim that despite several attempts even Peugeot couldn't match leaving little hope for other manufacturers.
At one point in time or another, every hot hatch ever made has been judged by the 205's standards, and is still the benchmark dyed in the world critics use today. Whether this is just a misty-eyed touch of nostalgia or genuine belief makes no difference, Peugeot late to market took the hot hatch scene by storm and never relinquished its hold until 1992.