If you’re a nerdy automotive fanatic who loves sizzling hatchbacks, there’s a superb probability your mind particularly focuses in on the French selection. Citroën, Peugeot and Renault have all put out dozens of stupendous sizzling hatches through the years, starting from tame, inexpensive fashions to mid-engine Group B specials.
One of essentially the most revered of all of them is the Peugeot 205 Rallye, and now a Peugeot dealership in Switzerland has provide you with its personal trendy homage, a particular version primarily based on the 208 hatch known as the 208 Rallye.
The authentic 205 Rallye first debuted in 1988, a homologation particular created by the Peugeot-Talbot Sport staff for competitors within the Group N and Group A rally sequence. It took the 205 XR’s 1.1-liter inline-4 engine, bored it out to 1,294 cc and fitted it with twin Weber carbs and a brand new crankshaft. The Rallye was additionally given the upgraded brakes, dampers and is derived from the 205 GTI, and it was stripped of practically all facilities to pare curb weight all the way down to a scant 1,750 kilos.
At first each 205 Rallye got here in white, with squarer fender flares, superior Peugeot-Talbot–coloured decals, sport seats, pink carpets and seatbelts, and a rad set of 13-inch white metal wheels. Later mannequin years noticed the addition of different colours and a few engine upgrades, relying on market, and over 4 years of manufacturing greater than 30,000 have been constructed.
The 205 Rallye was adopted by Rallye variations of the 106 and 306, however the 205 has all the time reigned supreme. You don’t need to take it from me, both. Our trade colleague Andrew Frankel describes the 205 Rallye as essentially the most enjoyable front-wheel-drive automotive he’s ever pushed, and the 205 Rallye beat the Porsche 911 R in a Chris Harris comparability check:
That brings us to the fashionable automotive, which I first noticed because of a tweet from Jack Harrison at Autocar:
This new particular version was dreamt up by Garages Hotz SA, a dealership in Val-de-Travers, Switzerland. In addition to being impressed by the 205 Rallye, the fashionable 208 additionally acts as a tribute to the fortieth anniversary of Peugeot’s 205 Turbo 16 that dominated European rally.
In retaining with the spirit of the unique 205 Rallye, the brand new 208 Rallye is predicated on a low-spec automotive, however sadly it doesn’t have any precise efficiency enhancements. Its 1.2-liter inline-3 engine places out 100 horsepower and is mated to a six-speed handbook. At least it’s fairly light-weight for a contemporary automotive, weighing in at underneath 2,700 kilos, and it ought to attain 60 mph in underneath 10 seconds.
I’m actually simply right here for the styling, anyway. The 208 Rallye will solely be supplied in white, and Garage Hotz has painted the fender flares, darkened the sunshine covers and given it stripes and decals that carry again the Peugeot-Talbot colours. Best of all, there’s a set of white 16-inch steelies that simply look unimaginable. The inside will get a bit of recent carbon-look trim and a few pink accents, however in any other case appears to be like the identical as the usual 208.
Garages Hotz will apparently solely be promoting 50 of the brand new 208 Rallye at a value of round $28,000, a pair grand greater than the equal customary 208. This particular version is the type of factor the auto trade desperately wants extra of, a playful design bundle that makes you actually need a automotive – paying homage to a beloved older mannequin is only a bonus.
Source: jalopnik.com