Peugeot 205 T16
This is the road version of Peugeot’s two-times World Rally
champion, the 205 T16. Peugeot built just 200 of these
road-going mid-engine hatchbacks which didn’t exactly bear many similarities
with the regular production 205 of the era.
The car was built upon a stiff tubular
chassis while the heavily modified bodyshell featured a completely bespoke rear
section, with a welded firewall between the B-pillars and the rear subframe
made out of sheet steel and tubes.
The engine is a turbocharged 1.8-litre
four-cylinder unit, which used the cast iron diesel block of Peugeot’s XU
family of engines but with a 16-valve head. Total output was rated at 197 hp
which were sent to all four wheels. The gearbox came from a Citroen XM and it
was mounted transversely.
All road cars were left-hand drive and
finished in grey with a two-tone grey interior, except from the first one
thatwas painted white with rally decals. The car you see here has covered just
12,266 km and it was delivered new in late 1984 to the Peugeot’s
Italian PR department where it was used for press drives.
In 2015, the car received a major
service in Italy which included new shock absorbers, brakes and brake servo. It
was then imported in the UK and it’s described to be in ‘excellent original
condition’.
So, Group B fans with £ 175,000 (US$ 226k) to spare can head to Mark Donaldson in the UK.
