Lastsoul
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2005
- Messages
- 2,180
- Location
- Finland
- Car(s)
- MX5, 406 Coup?, 106 Rallye, Porsche 924, X300 Six
Autumn 2013 we had a small #gear.fi gathering in a generic gas station. Casually talking about cars public mentioned a Peugeot 106 Rallye about to be crushed. As a fan of lightweight and basic fun cars it caught my attention. Few pictures from his iPhone surprised me: it was the earlier S1, which meant prefacelift body and a 1.3 liter engine originally from the 205 Rallye.
What made the 205 and 106 Rallyes special was the fact, that they only existed because race car. They're homologation specials for junior rally racing, and Peugeot Sport (formerly Peugeot Talbot Sport) actually also sold race prepped cars with full roll cages and other stuff. To homologate those road going versions had to be made. Rallye isn't about ultimate power: the 1.3 8V SOHC spins freely beyond 7000rpms where it generates a lovely 100hp. However, were it a Porsche, it would wear an RS badge. Lamborghini would call it Superleggera. At 800 kilograms it's all about lightness: less sound deadening, minimal equipment. This example doesn't even have a glove box, thought I'm not sure if it's just gone missing. Much of the suspension is shared with a common 106 XS, and the body shell apparently has reinforcements from the GTi.
It had sat six months outside, some of it with window open. Public had closed it during his regular CSI inspection, after which he said its in surprisingly solid condition. As I'm aware that his definition of a car being in savable condition is much tougher as mine, I agreed to buy it. Unseen.
Last weekend the time had finally come to pick up the car. I had only seen few pictures and had no idea what I was about to buy, but the idea of saving one of the few original Finnish S1 Rallyes was too good to skip.
6AM Saturday morning I started the 500km journey to Kokkola with my father, as my driver's license doesn't allow me to tow anything beyond 750kgs. Sometime after midday I called to public to inform that I'm around Kokkola. He guided us to the car after a couple of detours around the local industrial area. And then finally, in a tight gap in a small corner between two demolished cars sat a faded red 106. The stickers which had once shone brightly around it's flanks were faded to white.
After sitting six months it didn't look very happy. Like a forgotten puppy it looked rather sad and forgotten. Arch extensions had turned pink and paint was so dirty it could've been matt. However public had been extremely right: underneath all the grime and neglect was a straight, rust free and unmolested example of possibly one of the 90s greatest junior hot hatches.
Bodywork was free of external rust, but I was a bit worried about the interior. Quite a lot of water had entered the cabin before the window was closed. That was obvious when I opened the door: apparently French cars can smell worse than French cheese. Mould had done it's job. Carpet was full of black spots, black Peugeot Talbot Sport -liveried seats had white ones. It was only optical and removable, but anything could've happened to the sheet metal underneath all the carpets and sound installation.
Checking out the condition of the interior floor wasn't the task for today. To our surprise the brakes weren't stuck, so the car could be pushed and winched to the trailer. My old 406 was awoken from six month hibernation. During the trip from South-Finland to Kokkola and back it did more miles than it had done in last six months, before it's duty as my daily driver was downgraded to my parents trailer hauler. I guess I could give it an overdue oil change, as once again it made the trip without showing any signs of it's nationality.
After sorting out the paper work and the mandatory coffee we left public and started the long journey back home. At that point I still wasn't sure what I had just bought, but I was happy about my purchase.
To be continued...
Mandatory proof pic spoils a bit:
What made the 205 and 106 Rallyes special was the fact, that they only existed because race car. They're homologation specials for junior rally racing, and Peugeot Sport (formerly Peugeot Talbot Sport) actually also sold race prepped cars with full roll cages and other stuff. To homologate those road going versions had to be made. Rallye isn't about ultimate power: the 1.3 8V SOHC spins freely beyond 7000rpms where it generates a lovely 100hp. However, were it a Porsche, it would wear an RS badge. Lamborghini would call it Superleggera. At 800 kilograms it's all about lightness: less sound deadening, minimal equipment. This example doesn't even have a glove box, thought I'm not sure if it's just gone missing. Much of the suspension is shared with a common 106 XS, and the body shell apparently has reinforcements from the GTi.
It had sat six months outside, some of it with window open. Public had closed it during his regular CSI inspection, after which he said its in surprisingly solid condition. As I'm aware that his definition of a car being in savable condition is much tougher as mine, I agreed to buy it. Unseen.
Last weekend the time had finally come to pick up the car. I had only seen few pictures and had no idea what I was about to buy, but the idea of saving one of the few original Finnish S1 Rallyes was too good to skip.
6AM Saturday morning I started the 500km journey to Kokkola with my father, as my driver's license doesn't allow me to tow anything beyond 750kgs. Sometime after midday I called to public to inform that I'm around Kokkola. He guided us to the car after a couple of detours around the local industrial area. And then finally, in a tight gap in a small corner between two demolished cars sat a faded red 106. The stickers which had once shone brightly around it's flanks were faded to white.
After sitting six months it didn't look very happy. Like a forgotten puppy it looked rather sad and forgotten. Arch extensions had turned pink and paint was so dirty it could've been matt. However public had been extremely right: underneath all the grime and neglect was a straight, rust free and unmolested example of possibly one of the 90s greatest junior hot hatches.
Bodywork was free of external rust, but I was a bit worried about the interior. Quite a lot of water had entered the cabin before the window was closed. That was obvious when I opened the door: apparently French cars can smell worse than French cheese. Mould had done it's job. Carpet was full of black spots, black Peugeot Talbot Sport -liveried seats had white ones. It was only optical and removable, but anything could've happened to the sheet metal underneath all the carpets and sound installation.
Checking out the condition of the interior floor wasn't the task for today. To our surprise the brakes weren't stuck, so the car could be pushed and winched to the trailer. My old 406 was awoken from six month hibernation. During the trip from South-Finland to Kokkola and back it did more miles than it had done in last six months, before it's duty as my daily driver was downgraded to my parents trailer hauler. I guess I could give it an overdue oil change, as once again it made the trip without showing any signs of it's nationality.
After sorting out the paper work and the mandatory coffee we left public and started the long journey back home. At that point I still wasn't sure what I had just bought, but I was happy about my purchase.
To be continued...
Mandatory proof pic spoils a bit: