Peugeot 205: Books - History and Models

Peugeot 205 - The Complete Story

A definitive guide to the Peugeot 205, the unassuming car that saved Peugeot in the 1980s and went on to become a rally-winning legend. With technical specification details and a full production history from 1983-1999, Peugeot 205 - The Complete Story is an ideal resource for enthusiasts of the car that is now considered an automotive classic.

With some previously unseen photographs, the book covers:
- The M24 project - the genesis of the 205
- The legendary 1.6 and 1.9 GTI models
- Rallying success for the Peugeot Talbot Sport 205 T16, including two wins at the World Rally Championships
- The popular CTI convertibles and other special editions
- Advice on buying, maintaining and modifying 205s today
- An exclusive interview with rallying legend Ari Vatanen.

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Peugeot 205 GTi

Launched in 1983, the Peugeot 205 entered a highly competitive market, with cars such as the Renault 5, VW Polo, Ford Fiesta, Opel Corsa, Austin Metro and Fiat Uno setting high standards. The Peugeot 205 pushed quickly to the front of the pack.

This book covers the engineering and design features that made the 205 so special. Within a stylish design, it offered a variety of lively petrol and diesel engines while the suspension, with MacPherson struts at the front and torsion arms with trailing arms at the back, offered excellent ride and handling. Soon the first GTI version was produced with an eager free-revving 1600 engine.

In 1986 a 1900 version was introduced. The book also covers the rally versions of the car for Peugeot Talbot Sport and its continuing success in amateur motorsport today as well as the CTI Cabriolet and special editions.
Drawing on his personal experience of driving a renovated Peugeot 205 GTI, Matthew Corrigan also provides advice on restoration, parts, used-car values and other ownership tips.

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Peugeot 205 GTi - All models, including CTI (1984-1994) - Essential Buyer's Guide

The Essential Buyer's Guide carefully describes the 205 GTI models that enthusiasts love to drive and own, from the pioneering 1.6 GTI, through to the 1.9 GTI, and CTI cabriolet.

When you consider a potential purchase armed with this book, it's just like have a Peugeot 205 expert by your side. Weak points, rust traps, and potential mechanical defects are all laid bare by an expert for the would be buyer. Clear 205-specific photos illustrate problem areas and good points too, as well as model variations. Buy the right car at the right price.

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Peugeot 205 T16 Group B Rally Car Enthusiasts' Manual (1983-1988)

The Peugeot 205 T16 is the legendary Group B turbocharged four-wheel-drive rally car produced by Peugeot between 1983 and 1988. 205 T16s won 16 World Championship rallies between 1984 and 1986 in the hands of Ari Vatanen, Timo Salonen, Juha Kankkunen and Bruno Saby, and lifted both the manufacturers' and drivers' titles in 1985 and 1986 in the hands of Timon Salonen and Juha Kankkunen respectively, against strong opposition from Audi, Lancia, Ford and Austin-Rover.

The car was used to extraordinary effect by Peugeot as a marketing tool for the 205 road car, and the project lifted Peugeot to become a mainstream manufacturer to rival the established brands worldwide.
Today, the appearance of 205 T16s is always eagerly anticipated at historic rally events, and motorsport retrospectives such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

This manual chronicles the design, anatomy and operation of the 205 T16, with input from many of the drivers and engineers involved.

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Peugeot 205 T16 (Rally Giants)

This is the complete story of the Peugeot 205's rallying history, told in all its glory by expert motoring historian Graham Robson, as part of the `Rally Giants' series.
Four-wheel-drive had been authorised in rallying from 1979, but for a time no serious car-manufacturer even tried to harness it to their cars. Although it was Audi who produced the world's first rally-winning four-wheel-drive car - the Quattro - it was Peugeot who designed, developed, campaigned and won with the first truly sophisticated four-wheel-drive Group B Car - the 205 Turbo 16.

It was the first truly great, purpose-designed, Group B car. Determined to win at almost any cost, Peugeot hired Jean Todt (who would later transform the fortunes of the Ferrari F1 organisation) in 1981, and set him an ambitious target.
His dream car had to be running in 1983, homologated in 1984, and capable of winning World Championships by 1985. Nothing, no excuses and no lack of application, was to get in the way of that.

Apart from being obliged to use the silhouette of the still-secret new 205 road car, Todt was able ask for anything. Getting approval for whatever he needed and fast-tracking the engineering of the four-wheel-drive rally was not an issue in reaching one simple objective - victory!
This book tells the detailed story of all the cars, the influences, and the personalities behind a magnificent success story.

Packed with illustrations, technical details, facts, figures and successes of this innovative car, this book is a must for any rally fan.

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Peugeot 205, le best-seller de Sochaux (Autofocus)

The Peugeot 205 is the car that saved the Lion brand from probable bankruptcy. The best-selling Peugeot until its replacement (the 206, which would break this record), the 205 remained an icon of the 1980s and is now the spearhead of the "youngtimer" movement.
While the GTI version is cult and now achieves high ratings, the other versions (convertible and limited series in particular) are also very popular with young enthusiasts or those who passed their driving test on this iconic popular saloon.

All aspects and all versions will be studied here, thus allowing us to trace an important commercial career and high-level sporting successes.

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Peugot 205 - La géante du Lion (Top Model)

In the early 1980s, Peugeot, which had bought Citroën and Chrysler Europe, was on the verge of death. In the mid-1980s, the Lion had moved away from it. Between the two? A car, a miracle: the Peugeot 205.
Marketed in France on February 24 1983, the 205 succeeded the 104. It would become the second best-selling Peugeot of all time, behind the 206, ahead of the 504.
A few people, Michel Forichon, Jean-Paul Parayre, Jean Boillot, Jean Todt, Gérard Welter, Paul Bracq, came up with the idea that would be nicknamed the "sacred number".

An entire population, from Franche-Comté and Alsace, gave life to the 205. Discreetly revolutionary on the architectural and technical levels, at least as much in terms of both exterior and interior style, the sacred number has lastingly changed the image of its manufacturer without betraying its soul.
A product of Peugeot's history that has become a vector of its future, an essential milestone for its brand, emblematic of an era, the automotive common denominator of a generation anchored in the national collective memory, the 205 has become a French legend, a legend, pure and simple.

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La Peugeot 205 de mon père

Some cars are like some people: they attract more light than others. Marketed in France on February 24, 1983, the Peugeot 205 is one of these cars. Design, manufacturing, technology, exterior and interior styling, almost everything is new.
Ambitions, performance, everything is revised upwards. Only the legendary Peugeot reliability remains unchanged.

Peugeot needed it, Peugeot did it: the 205 is really going to be a Sacred Number. The small car pulls the old Franche-Comté brand out of a financial abyss by erasing the wrinkles of a tired lion and sets it up for success in just a few years. The old wild beast that was losing its hair regains its health and becomes the somewhat uptight provincial, "chébran"!

• Richly illustrated, this book traces in detail the history and evolution of the Peugeot 205.
• This volume of the collection "La voiture de mon père" is not only a source of in-depth information for the owner, but also a concise guide to originality.
• The technique, variants, modifications and special versions are described in detail.
• Also deals with manufacturing abroad.
• Contains more than 200 period photos, often unpublished.

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Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 - Les lauriers de Sochaux

"My name is 205. The first number of my first name lets you know where I am. I am placed, in the family photo, between 104 and 305". This is how a press release from Peugeot presents its latest. Playful, that is the first description that comes to mind to describe the 205 and 205 Turbo 16.
In 1983, the new Peugeot was born in a certain financial pain. It would bring dynamism to the old house from Sochaux which had built a solid reputation for "family man" cars. The surplus of "lightness", already instilled with the 104, would be confirmed with its replacement which would be produced until 1999.

"A hell of a number!", announced the advertisement. Added with a turbo, the "16" of 16 valves and the all-wheel drive, the 205 Turbo 16 is one of the most beautiful alchemies of the 1980s-1990s that still fully allow the automobile to express itself. The T 16 precedes the "basic" 205 as a prestigious and sporty showcase. Displaying 200 to 550 hp, we will see it on the tracks until 1986 and beyond.
It is the latter that interests us in this book as illustrated as possible, to tell this glorious episode of Peugeot-Talbot Sport, through its "fathers", its drivers, its record and its competitors who surround it or confront it.

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