The Peugeot 205 is a supermini (B-segment) car manufactured and marketed by Peugeot from 1983 to 1999 over a single generation. Developed from Projet M24 and introduced on 25 February 1983, the 205 replaced the Peugeot 104 and the Talbot Samba, using some elements from their design. It won What Car? Car of the Year for 1984. It was also declared "car of the decade" by CAR Magazine in 1990. Peugeot stopped marketing the 205 in 1999 in favor of its new front-engined 206. The 106, which was introduced in 1991, effectively took over as Peugeot's smaller front-engined model in their lineup. The latter was developed as a close sibling of the Citroën AX, sharing many components and a platform that later evolved into the Citroën Saxo.
History
Before the 205, Peugeot was considered the most conservative of France's "big three" car manufacturers, producing large saloons such as the 504 and 505, although it had entered the modern supermini market in 1973 with the Peugeot 104. The genesis of the 205 lay within Peugeot's takeover in 1978 of Chrysler's European divisions Simca and the former Rootes Group, which had the necessary expertise in making small cars including the Simca 1100 in France and Hillman Imp in Britain. It was around this time that Peugeot began to work on the development of a new supermini for the 1980s.
After its main launch in February 1983, the right-hand drive form for the UK market followed in September that year. Shortly after its launch, it was pipped to the European Car of the Year award by the similar sized Fiat Uno, but ultimately (according to the award organizers) it would enjoy a longer high market demand than its Italian competitor. It was one of five important small cars to be launched onto the European market within a year of each other: the other four were the Uno, the second generation Ford Fiesta, the original Opel Corsa (sold as the Vauxhall Nova on the British market) and the original Nissan Micra. Its launch also closely followed that of the Austin Metro and Volkswagen Polo Mk2.
The styling of the 205 is often thought to be a Pininfarina design, although Gerard Welter claims that it is an in-house design; Pininfarina only styled the Cabriolet. It is often credited as the car that turned Peugeot's fortunes around.
The fully independent suspension used the standard PSA Peugeot Citroën layout that had debuted in the Peugeot 305 estate. A key ingredient of the success of the 205, it had MacPherson struts at the front and trailing arms with torsion bars at the rear. The rear suspension was very compact, designed to minimise suspension intrusion into the boot, giving a wide flat loadspace, while providing excellent ride and handling.
Early 205s used the X petrol engine from the older Peugeot 104, although these were later (1987–1988) replaced with the newer XU and TU-series engines, which were of PSA design. Engines ranged in displacement from 954 cc to 1905 cc, in carburettor or fuel injected versions.
The diesel models employed the PSA XUD engine, lifted from the Citroën BX which was introduced in September 1982. These engines had a capacity of 1769 cc (XUD7) and 1905 cc (XUD9) and are closely related to the XU5 and XU9 petrol engines in the BX16 and BX19 of the time. The diesel engines were world-beating and so petrol-like that many buyers were won over by petrol car performance combined with diesel economy. For instance, the 205 GRD (1.8 Diesel, at 4,600 rpm, at 2,000 rpm) was as fast as, yet smoother than, the 205 GR (1.4 Petrol, at 5,000 rpm, at 2,500 rpm), due to the engine developing its higher peak torque at lower rpm, while using much less fuel.
There were various versions intended for commercial use, such as the two-seater XA-series. There was also the "205 Multi", a tall-bodied special version on XA or XE-basis built by independent coachbuilders like Gruau and Durisotti. Gruau called their XA-based two-seater version the "VU", while the five-seat XE-based version was called the "VP". Durisotti began building the 205 Multi in 1986; it was called the "205 Multi New Look".
1990 and onwards
The 205 was an instant hit, and its styling was echoed in every Peugeot model that was to follow, as well as markedly changing the company's perception with buyers - having long been regarded as the most conservative of France's major manufacturers, and had long been associated with large saloon and station wagon type cars. Such was the success of the 205, its exterior styling was never significantly altered in its 15-year production run apart from small details. There was a dashboard redesign for the 1988 model year, and in late 1990 the 205 received a minor facelift with new door design and cards, clear front indicators, new 'smoked' rear light clusters, single point petrol injection and catalytic converters were introduced, to meet the new 1992 pollution limits. These updates came at a crucial time, as 1990 also saw the arrival of a completely new French competitor, the Renault Clio, while the Rover Metro and Volkswagen Polo were also heavily updated, and Ford had already replaced its Fiesta with a third generation model. Still, the 205 was still widely regarded in the motoring press as the benchmark car in this sector by 1990. Indeed, Top Gears Jeremy Clarkson described the 1990 edition as "an instant modern Classic."
At the beginning of 1993, Peugeot launched the 306, which officially replaced the 309; the arrival of this car also diminished the 205's role (and its sales figures) in the Peugeot range, as had the arrival of the smaller 106 in September 1991 – although the final demise of the 205 was still some years away.
The engines were continuously updated, with the new TU engines introduced in 1988. In 1991, the 205 dTurbo was launched with a powerful turbocharged version of the 1,769 cc xud diesel engine.
After several years of gradually declining sales, the Peugeot 205 was discontinued in the United Kingdom in 1996. The Peugeot 205 was still offered in the "Sacré Numéro" and "Génération" models until the end of the production in 1998. The last models were GLD 1.8 configuration and were sold in Argentina. Most of the later European versions were only sold in France. Due to the pressure from the market, with buyers wanting a Peugeot supermini in the mould of the 205 again, the company finally built a direct replacement in the 206, which was launched in 1998. 5,278,050 Peugeot 205s have been sold, and a significant percentage of them were still in circulation as of 2009. By 2014, there were still as many as 14,000 on the road in the United Kingdom, compared to the peak high of 374,773 in 1994. With potentially as many 400,000 sales in the UK, it became the best selling car ever sold by Peugeot in the UK – although its success was emulated a few years later by the larger 306 and later by the 206. It also helped boost the popularity of the Peugeot brand there, and was at least a factor in Peugeot's decision to phase out the Talbot brand in the mid 1980s when launching new models to be built at the former Rootes Group plant near Coventry and the former Simca plant at Poissy.
The 205 was first available as a GTI in 1984 (the same year that the three-door bodystyle debuted) and was initially powered by a fuel injected 1.6 petrol engine. The 1.9 GTI was launched in 1986 and the 1.9-litre engine was also used in the GTI version of the larger 309. The 205 GTI was discontinued in 1994, by which time Peugeot was producing high performance versions of the 106 and 306.
Range TypeBody styleProducedEngine typeFuelTransmission205 Junior3/5-door Hatchback1986–19934-cyl 954 cc or 1124ccPetrolManual205 Base5-door Hatchback1983–19844-cyl 954 ccPetrolManual205 XE3-door Hatchback1985–19924-cyl 954 cc or 1124ccPetrolManual205 GE5-door Hatchback1984–19884-cyl 954 ccPetrolManual205 Look3-door Hatchback1989–19944-cyl 1124 ccPetrolManual205 Style3-door Hatchback1990–19954-cyl 1124 ccPetrolManual205 Style5-door Hatchback1990–19964-cyl 1124 ccPetrolManual205 XL3-door Hatchback1985–1989 1984–19914-cyl 954 cc 4-cyl 1124 ccPetrolManual205 XL Automatic3-door Hatchback1990–19934-cyl 1580 ccPetrolAutomatic205 GL5-door Hatchback1983–19934-cyl 1124 ccPetrolManual205 Rallye3-door Hatchback1987–19924-cyl 1294 ccPetrolManual205 XR3-door Hatchback1984–1988 1990–1992 1988–19904-cyl 1124 cc 4-cyl 1360 ccPetrolManual205 GR5-door Hatchback1983–1992 1990–19914-cyl 1360 cc 4-cyl 1124 ccPetrolManual205 SR5-door Hatchback1983–19904-cyl 1360 ccPetrolManual205 Automatic5-door Hatchback1986–19941989–19914-cyl 1580 cc 4-cyl 1905 ccPetrolAutomatic205 Sunset5-door Hatchback1993–19974-cyl 1124 ccPetrolManual205 XT3-door Hatchback1990–19944-cyl 1360 ccPetrolManual205 XS3-door Hatchback1986–19924-cyl 1360 ccPetrolManual205 GT5-door Hatchback1983–1987 1989–19934-cyl 1360 ccPetrolManual205 GTX3-door Hatchback1986–1991 4-cyl 1592 cc Petrol Manual205 Roland Garros3-door Hatchback & 2-door Convertible1989–19924-cyl 1360 ccPetrolManual205 CJ2-door Convertible1986–19944-cyl 1360 ccPetrolManual205 GTi3-door Hatchback1984–1994 1986–19934-cyl 1580 cc 4-cyl 1905 ccPetrolManual205 CTi2-door Convertible1985–1992 1986–19924-cyl 1580 cc 4-cyl 1905 ccPetrolManual205 Style Diesel3-door Hatchback1990–19954-cyl 1769 ccDieselManual205 Style Diesel5-door Hatchback1990–19964-cyl 1769 ccDieselManual205 Green3/5-door Hatchback1989–19914-cyl 1360 ccPetrolManual205 XRD/XSD3-door Hatchback1987–19944-cyl 1905 ccDieselManual205 XLD3-door Hatchback1984–19944-cyl 1769 ccDieselManual205 GLD5-door Hatchback1983–19941990–19924-cyl 1769 cc4-cyl 1905 ccDieselManual205 GRD5-door Hatchback1983–19941987–19944-cyl 1769 cc4-cyl 1905 ccDieselManual205 SRD5-door Hatchback1987–19901987–19904-cyl 1769 cc4-cyl 1905 ccDieselManual205 DTurbo3-door Hatchback1991–19954-cyl turbocharged 1769 ccDieselManual205 STDT3-door Hatchback1993/19944-cyl turbocharged 1769 ccDieselManual205 Gentry3-door Hatchback1991–19944-cyl 1905 ccPetrolManual/Automatic205 XRAD3-door Commercial Van??4-cyl 1769 ccDieselManual
Versions Most of the versions had manual transmission. The 205 had a rather unusual trim level scheme for its models; three-door models (apart from the GTI) were badged 'X' and five-door models were badged 'G'.
Trim levels were: XA and XAD, two-seater commercial versions. There was also the "Multi", tall-bodied special versions built by independents such as Gruau and Durisotti. 1.1 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1124 cc 1.8 litre diesel, 4-cylinder – , 1769 cc XE/GE, available with: 1.0 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 954 cc 1.1 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1124 cc XL/GL, available with: 1.0 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 954 cc 1.1 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1124 cc 1.1 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1124 cc (in Spain, 1118 cc Simca/Talbot engine) 1.8 litre diesel, 4-cylinder – , 1769 cc 1.6 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1580 cc Automatic (Note: The 1.0 litre GL was not offered in the UK). The 1.8 litre GLD diesel model was popular, and What Car? magazine recommended it as a Used Car Buy in August 1992. It was also a Which? magazine best buy for five years running in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was, (and is as a used buy), a better car than the 106 diesel that replaced it. XR/GR, available with: 1.1 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1124 cc (higher output for fuel injected and catalyzed version) 1.2 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1204 cc (GR only, Spain only, Simca/Talbot engine) 1.3 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1294 cc (In Spain, Simca/Talbot engine) 1.4 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1360 cc 1.6 litre petrol, 4-cylinder 1.9 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1905 cc Automatic 1.8 litre diesel – , 1769 cc The 1.4 litre GR was a five-door version only, launched in 1986. A 1.4 litre XR three-door was also available, 1991–92. XT, available with: 1.4 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1360 cc (catalyzed) 1.4 litre petrol, 4-cylinder – , 1360 cc (In Spain, Simca/Talbot engine)