Today I has mostly been fetching.....

[BrianDamaged]

.........this.

1994 Peugeot 205 Junior, belonged to a mate's Mum who has given up driving at the ripe old age of 90-something. Taxed/MOT'd (just). Best bit? It was free.

It's erm....pink.

Offside wing's well and truly borked. I could swap the gold one on though, they're only bolt-on.

Original dealer sticker in back window (note pre-'01***' STD Code)

Passenger's side looks a bit better as it's still red. Still a sizeable dent in the rear quarter-panel though, just behind the B-post.

Missing door mirror. Again the gold one would be a donor.....

Shame to lose this sticker, but it's in the back window, and the tailgate.......

.....is well and truly crunched.

I've heard of going Green.......

....but that's ridiculous. Looks like someone's been at it with a Brillo pad.

Front bumper's no better, but again it's only cosmetic, and there's a willing replacement lurking in the background.

Inside it's scruffy, but would scrub up well, as nothing's actually damaged....note the T-handle poking up through the floor, rather than the usual spindly gearknob.....yes it's an auto which means there's 1580cc of detuned GTi lump under that bespoke humped bonnet.

 

And here, ladies and gents, is it's saving grace.

Yep. 47,000m from new.

;D

Not only that, it drives like it as well. Tight as a gnat's chuff, and after a momentary hesitation off the line (caused by the blowing exhaust, no doubt) it's bl00dy quick. The power steering and spackamatic box mean it's utter simplicity to drive.

 

So now what do I do? The MOT's due sometime in March, and the tax is up at the end of February so the intention is to swap my insurance onto it and give it a shakedown to see what it's like on petrol (there's even half a tank of gas in it) and (provided it's not too much of a gas-guzzler) what, if anything, it would need to get through another test. Certainly it will need an exhaust unless we can cobble up a legal but noisy replacement.

 

If it's all OK, then my old (and now knackered) diesel-powered 205 will give up it's offside wing, nearside door mirror and tailgate, then I'll drop the 1600GTi alloys on it that are in my shed and wazz round in it for 6 months.

 

While it's never going to be as cheap to run as an oil-burner, it drives commensurate with its low mileage. It just looks.....dreadful. SWMBO just LOVES it. :

 

Of course I might change my mind and frag them both......

[Volksy]

These are awesome little cars, I had an '87 GLD one which looked like that, even down to the pink paint. A good mopping and Machine polish soon got got it back to red. However never take it any where near a carwash or jetwash after, as it will be soon back to pink with the TFR.Mine was unbeleivably reliable, loved it!

[pogweasel]

I would be as happy as a pig in shit to spend a day polishing the tits off that.

[carlo]

Pretty Peugeot:

 

 

Frightful mess:

 

[55bloke]

Dead right Carlo.

[Milford Cubicle]

Gah! The 07/08 series cars are hideous, 607 apart which I have a strange hankering for. Where did it all go wrong?I bet a 205 with PAS and a decent engine in is a nice thing to drive. The only 205 I've driven was a very grotty 1.8D with lead-weighted steering and a floppy gearshift, felt pretty lively apart from that though.

[Andrew353w]

Yea totally agree on the reliability front-those 205s were legendry! I know a las at work who's STILL running an "E" reg 205, with at least 200K on the clock! She says she'll chop it in when something serious goes bang.... but it NEVER does!If I remember my history of Fords, didn't they use a Peugeot based diesel engine in their Sierras? If the mighty blue ovals reckon the Pug engine's ok, recommendations don't come much better than that!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

They did, but that one was the mighty 2.3 Indenor as found in the 504 truck. About 60bhp or something I believe, but capable of 800000000000000000000000000000000000000000 miles.

[carlo]

Gah! The 07/08 series cars are hideous, 607 apart which I have a strange hankering for. Where did it all go wrong?

 

I bet a 205 with PAS and a decent engine in is a nice thing to drive. The only 205 I've driven was a very grotty 1.8D with lead-weighted steering and a floppy gearshift, felt pretty lively apart from that though.

All went wrong the stunningly mediocre 206, a point with which I've bored you all enough times. Those diesel 205s did have rather heavy steering, but it was so precise. I always thought the best 205 was the cooking 1.4 with the TU engine, GR (or XR) it was called. Was really nippy, steering just about light enough, lovely seats and of course it rode superbly and handled well. I think the Auto engine and box made the car feel a little heavy, and the auto choke was quite troublesome as I seem to remember.

 

And how many cars these days go 12 years without any significant restyle, proof of the way Peugeot got it right from the outset.

[Timewaster]

All went wrong the stunningly mediocre 206, a point with which I've bored you all enough times.

Oh I dont know... The other halfs 1.4 HDi is a cheerful enough little thing even if it does require size 4 feet and double jointed knees to drive it any length of time.(I have neither!)

And how many cars these days go 12 years without any significant restyle, proof of the way Peugeot got it right from the outset.

Ford KA?Right with you on the 308. Urrrgh!

[55bloke]

And my other half has a 1.6 206, and it's a very efficient daily driver, city-friendly car. Not a patch on the 25 for motorway cruising mind! And, it's the last of the nicely styled Peugeos, in my opinion, before the styling dept started imbibing magic mushrooms!!

[carlo]

All went wrong the stunningly mediocre 206, a point with which I've bored you all enough times.

Oh I dont know... The other halfs 1.4 HDi is a cheerful enough little thing even if it does require size 4 feet and double jointed knees to drive it any length of time.(I have neither!)

And how many cars these days go 12 years without any significant restyle, proof of the way Peugeot got it right from the outset.

Ford KA?Right with you on the 308. Urrrgh!

True, and Ford seemed to take over Peugeot's mantle in the 90s, as designers of driver's cars with flair.

[dollywobbler]

Love it. There's an easy way to keep the window sticker though - keep the tailgate! 'Parked by braille' look FTW!

[pogweasel]

Agreed, a 205 is something worth hanging onto it seems. My old pa has had one for donkeys years now. Originally it was bought as cheap student transport for my brother but when he moved onto the spinning propellor, pops 'reposessed' it and has been rattling around in it ever since, choosing to opt for the 205 over his Volvo 760 (now recycled) and his Skoda Fav (now covered in 7 years of mildew!). I have tried to prise him out of it with more luxurious, more economical and more 'pensioner friendly' fare all to no avail whatsoever. It seems to require minimal attention in terms of servicing & MoT costs, plus it's cheap to tax (1.4) and fairly frugal. It's not quite (but nearly) as faded as BD's new one but as long as it keeps plodding along, gets the old folks to saimsburys and down to the rellies in Scummerset every now and then I can see that it's a bit daft to substitute it for something else.

[Volksy]

Love it. There's an easy way to keep the window sticker though - keep the tailgate! 'Parked by braille' look FTW!

Or swap the window into the new tailgate, you only need a long bit of string and some washing up liquid to fit it.. They're not bonded after all..

[Richard]

If the pink doesn't come off with T Cut try Cif cream cleaner, it worked a treat on my R9.

[seth]

Pogweasel Pink! Should last you a while with those few miles on it BD. Good not-purchase

[pogweasel]

Pogweasel Pink!

FFS!

[MrRegieRitmo]

If the pink doesn't come off with T Cut try Cif cream cleaner, it worked a treat on my R9.

Cool, will it set dirty grey back to silver??

[reallyloud]

The 205 is probabily one of the best little cheapie cars you buy at the moment, still quite a few around and perfectly happy to cope with modern roads.

 

I had one for a year or so, which was a joy to own.

 

 

It was an early one, essentially a 104 underneath but not a bad thing at all. It didn't even need a 5th gear. All it needed in the time I had it was an alternator and a bit handbrake fettling for its MOT. The car is now mrs Ratdats daily driver. The 106 has similarly enduring traits, and is a hoot to drive in almost any guise.

 

As for the 206, I have the misfortune to be forced to use one on occasions, the driving position and visability is horrific. The front of the car looks like it was styled by one person and the rear styled by another. Its saving grace is that its elderly DW8 diesel engine is pretty much unbreakable.

[Pillock]

I wish this thread would sink down the board. Every time I see it near the top I think the title says "Today I have been mostly feltching...."

[Mash]

 

Oh, that's what that sticker is. My Violet has one in the windscreen but it only has the initials in the corners not the text in the middle. Must be an older version, been there since the mid-70s at least.

 

I can now sleep soundly at nights knowing the mystery is solved!

[BrianDamaged]

I wish this thread would sink down the board. Every time I see it near the top I think the title says "Today I have been mostly feltching...."

Like in that Victoria Wood song?"Birds do it, bees do it,Even educated fleas do it,Let's do it,Let's felch some sp*nk"You'll be singing that all evening. And all day tomorrow.

[BrianDamaged]

Watch this space....it could be a very short ownership period.

 

I'll keep you posted.

[Guest]

Get a clay bar on it, that'll get all the crap shifted no bother. Guaranteed!

[STUNO]

Keep it just how it is but shine it up keep the disabled sticker, try to find a parked by braille sign and you will put a smile on a lot of faces.

[BrianDamaged]

Keep it just how it is but shine it up keep the disabled sticker, try to find a parked by braille sign and you will put a smile on a lot of faces.

I might make my own with a black marker......Did a 36-mile commute in it today with no probs at all, plus I had the inevitable cheers and howls of laughter from my colleagues when I pulled up at work this morning....as one of them put it as he tried not to spray coffee everywhere "This time mate, you have surpassed yourself" That was quite possibly the first time in it's life it's been driven at over 70mph.....considerably more than 70, in fact.......it's quite the little pocket rocket. Rock-steady well into three figures (on a private test track of course).