Spotless Peugeot 205 T16 to go under the hammer in September
With only 200 Peugeot 205 T16s built, the iconic hot hatch was rare when it was first released in 1983, and now over 30 years later, it is unsurprisingly even more so.
A spotless example of the 1984 model will be up for grabs at Sotheby's London sale on September 7th. This left-hand drive 205 also has an interesting backstory - at number 152 of the 200 produced it spent its early days as a test car for the Italian motoring press.
The muscle-variant of the everyday 205 was only produced in order to homologate the car for use in the World Rally Championship, whose rules state that the rally cars have to be based on standard road-going cars.
The 197bhp 205 T16 benefits from a rally-grade four-wheel drive system, front and rear independent suspension and four-wheel ventilated disc brakes.
The powerful 1,775cc 16-valve turbocharged four-cylinder engine is nestled where the rear seats would otherwise have been placed, necessitating the widened stance and uniquely large C-pillar arrangement.
The rear of the hatch is unusually hinged halfway along the roofline, allowing quick and convenient access to the engine.
With such a rare example of the road-going rally car, bidding at the auction in September is expected to be fierce.