A car that has light weight as a spearhead, why make it heavier? The first owner of this Peugeot 205 GTI had a good reason.
We, (or mostly I) have talked about the Peugeot 205 GTI a few times recently. Because that car defined a whole era of cool, simple hot hatches. Nowadays, the focus is much more on sprint times, Nürburgring times and raw power, while a hot hatch is such a fun throw-and-toss thing.
Peugeot 205 GTI
The recipe for the Peugeot 205 GTI speaks volumes. The engine is not a powerhouse with its 130 hp, but that is not the point. The engine is nice and smooth for the empty weight of 860 kg. Add front-wheel drive and a nice chassis and you have a top recipe.
Heavy 205
As we gave away in the title: this Peugeot 205 GTI is a bit heavier. Correction: this Peugeot 205 GTI is leaden. 1,400 kg, clean on the hook. That’s more than a Golf V GTI! And that has all kinds of comfort features and of course a 2.0 liter engine with 200 hp on board, a 205 doesn’t. Why?
Arnault
Well, the owner of this Peugeot 205 GTI when it was new was Mr. Bernard Arnault. A French businessman and the head of Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessey, the umbrella company for many luxury brands. Arnault bought the 205 GTI in 1990 and had the car armored by the Labbé company. The rich man knew that as a prominent figure you have to think about safety, but still wanted a small car for city use. 1,400 kg for a 205 is a lot, but for an armored car it is not too bad.
The armor is nicely incognito, you wouldn’t say you’re driving an armored Peugeot 205. It is a ‘low’ level armor, intended to withstand small arms fire. Better than nothing. To keep things under control, the 205 also got new brakes and springs, but nothing changed under the hood. Still 130 hp. Adequate, but no longer as smooth and fun as a GTI.
Buy
People with a good memory already know this Peugeot 205 GTI from Arnault, because we already discussed it in 2018. At that time, the 205 was for sale for 37,500 euros. The buyer from then is now putting it up for sale again. With an optimistic price tag of 59,990 euros. It’s a nice story, but nice enough to be worth 22,000 euros more? You can decide that with the advertisement.
