Peugeot 205 celebrates 40 years. He won with customers and in motorsport

In the first post-war decades, Peugeots fulfilled the role of family cars or limousines, while Renault (R4) and Citroën (2CV) were experts in minivans in France. The first swallow in the lower class was the model 104, introduced in 1972.

The impetus for the development of a new small car came in the late 1970s, when Chrysler’s European plants, i.e. Simca and Talbot, and the British Rootes group with Hillman found themselves under the wings of the “French lion”. Their production was not only united under the Peugeot brand over time, but the new owner also used some proven and newly developed solutions.

One of the consequences of the merger was the Peugeot 309, originally developed as a replacement for the Talbot Horizon in the lower middle class, from 1985. But the “two hundred and five” came as the very first car with a new design concept.

The richly glazed body with the typical long and straight hood was designed by the factory design department under the direction of Gerard Welter. His team won an internally organized competition. The Italian Pininfarina studio was later tasked only with the design and production of the cabriolet version.

For the first time, Welter’s 205 introduced some distinctive features that were later used on other models, notably the radiator grille with horizontal slats and the strip between the taillights. The interior design of the 205 was designed by the well-known automotive designer Paul Bracq.

In addition to design, it also brought 205 innovations in technology. For the first time for Peugeot, the designers here used a torsion bar for the construction of the rear axle, which meant more space in the interior.

It was also the first Peugeot equipped with the new XU engine family. In particular, the XUD7 diesel engine is worth mentioning, a four-cylinder with a volume of 1769 cc and a power of 60 hp. Thanks to this drive, the Peugeot 205 became the first French small car with a diesel engine, and above all the first diesel car to offer performance equivalent to its petrol counterparts, but with much lower fuel consumption (3.9 l/100 km on average).

During the 15 years of production, the Peugeot 205 has seen a wide range of engines under the hood: from the old gasoline engine of the 1950s to the 130-horsepower nineteen in the GTi version. In terms of diesels, in addition to the mentioned XUD7 atmospheric engine, there was also its turbocharged variant and the XUD9 atmospheric diesel with a volume of 1.9 liters.

Deviating from regular production was the homologation special Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, which was created in a limited series of approximately two hundred units only so that the car manufacturer could use the 205 in car competitions. It had a mid-engine, turbocharger, 200 horsepower, four-wheel drive and accelerated from zero to one hundred kilometers per hour in six seconds.

It became the basis for the competition special of the legendary Group B, which operated from 1981-1986. But apart from its appearance, engine location and wheel drive, it had little in common with a road car. In its original design, the engine gave about 320 hp, in 1985 came the Evo 2 version with 450 hp.

Peugeot quickly became a highly successful team with the sharp 205, with Timo Salonen in 1985 and Juha Kankkunen winning the overall World Championship a year later. In the same years, Peugeot also won the Constructors’ Cup. And when they could no longer compete in regular rallies, the factory sent Peugeot 205 Turbo 16s to the Paris-Dakar race, which Ari Vatanen (1987) and Kankkunen (1988) won with them.

Ordinary drivers could get close to the famous Finns in the top variants of the 205 GTi (sixteen or nineteen were produced), a slightly cheaper version called the 205 Rallye. The feeling of luxury could be experienced by the owners of the Roland Garros variant, named after the famous tennis tournament, which received dark green metallic and white leather seats. Also interesting is the Junior version, which had denim seat covers.

The Peugeot 205 was produced until 1998, when it was replaced by the 206 model. A total of 5.278 million copies were produced. Thousands of them also drove on Czech roads – a few hundred modestly equipped 1100s were already sold in Tuzex before 1989, the rest mostly arrived as used cars from the West.