Oui it is a Peugeot 205 Roland Garros

Oui it is a Peugeot 205 Roland Garros

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Discussion

TheOctaneAddict

Original Poster:

873 posts

54 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
Hi all, thought I should share my latest purchase.

Last week I was carrying out my regular search for a 205 XS. People rave about them, I love the way they look and having one alongside my 981 Cayman would give me bookends of British b road fun. The nuggety hatch for high days and dry days, and the mid engined sportscar for those early morning blasts.

As you may know the XS is a rare beast and my searches often end in disappointment and me giving up for another week. But last sunday while perusing eBay I came across this Roland Garros. It was quirky, in decent nick and hang on a minute, isn't that the XS engine?! Turns out the RG was a special edition that used the XS as a base car, so all the good bits of the XS plus some random frenchness of a car built to commemorate a tennis court? That is catnip for a car weirdo like me.

Bid place, limit increased and oh crap I've just bought a 1990s hatchback. As long as its not a nail of course.

Me and my best mate ventured over to have a look on Saturday and we were both presently surprised. The 30 year old interior and body need some work but mechanically it was solid and ran like a dream.

No huge dramas came up on the test drive and I was smitten, car purchased and I was off for a fresh tank of V Power.



It's going through an MOT this week and from there I will formulate the plan. My intention is a rolling resto so the car an be enjoyed, its peak FOTU fodder and my goal is to have it there next year.

Next post i'll add some more images and some all important driving impressions.

Alex

Deerfoot

4,979 posts

191 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
I learnt to drive in a 205 like that. Loved it.

Trevor555

4,504 posts

91 months

Monday 11th November
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Love that..

Hookyman

23 posts

33 months

Monday 11th November
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There was briefly an upmarket version of the GT badged as a SR. Normal suspension/ non sports seats, but the 205 xs/gt 85hp engine.

BenS94

2,621 posts

31 months

Monday 11th November
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My early 306 is a superb drive - I'd love to try a 205 one day.

CornedBeef

546 posts

195 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
Absolutely love it, more pictures please.

I assume the interior is awash with green and beige?

Mr Magooagain

10,787 posts

177 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
Holding good money over here. https://www.leboncoin.fr/ck/voitures/peugeot-205-x...
Scroll down and take a peek at the €11,000 one!

ThingsBehindTheSun

1,245 posts

38 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
BenS94 said:
My early 306 is a superb drive - I'd love to try a 205 one day.
My first decent car was a one owner six year old 205XS, absolutely loved it, just the right amount of power, light feeling and a nice, revvy engine.

I absolutely hated the thrashed 1.6 GTi I got later on, I thought it would be like the XS but better, it was worse.

Silvanus

6,040 posts

30 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
First car was a 205 GT, cracking little cars.

RC1807

12,979 posts

175 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
I learnt to drive in an early 205D in 1987.
Look forward to these updates.

Joehow

687 posts

122 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
This is so so good. Following with interest! Love a 205, lucky enough to have access to a wonderful 1.9 GTi

Simon_GH

403 posts

87 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
My sort of first car was my Mum’s 1991 205 XS. Fabulous little car. Lightweight, no PAS and a forty little 85 bhp engine made it a fabulous car. It was so easy for an inexperienced driver to gauge the grip. It’s proper back to basics motoring. I’d happily forfeit the safety features if they sold them new today.

r1ch

2,916 posts

203 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
Very nice, I didn’t realise they were based on the xs.

Big fan of everything 205 so a thumbs up from me smile

Mr Tidy

24,313 posts

134 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
That looks like a great alternative to an XS!

Cupid-stunt

2,809 posts

63 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
My first car was a 205XS.
Was a lovely little starter car and I longed for a 1.9Gti.... got to drive one and whilst it was st off a shovel (1991), the XS was that much nicer.
(Insurance in South London may have played its part).

Looked at the Roland Garros as a replacement, but there were not too many around, even in period.

Looking forward to seeing some more pics of this one.

si_xsi

1,230 posts

202 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
CornedBeef said:
Absolutely love it, more pictures please.

I assume the interior is awash with green and beige?
I had a Roland Garros 106 1.4 and it had green carpets, white faux leather and red seatbelts!

Caddyshack

11,826 posts

213 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
BenS94 said:
My early 306 is a superb drive - I'd love to try a 205 one day.
My first decent car was a one owner six year old 205XS, absolutely loved it, just the right amount of power, light feeling and a nice, revvy engine.

I absolutely hated the thrashed 1.6 GTi I got later on, I thought it would be like the XS but better, it was worse.
I think you just had a bad 1.6, they were better cars. I have driven and owned most variants of 205s and a good 1.6gti is arguably the best (due to closer ratio box than 1.9)

Silvanus

6,040 posts

30 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
Caddyshack said:
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
BenS94 said:
My early 306 is a superb drive - I'd love to try a 205 one day.
My first decent car was a one owner six year old 205XS, absolutely loved it, just the right amount of power, light feeling and a nice, revvy engine.

I absolutely hated the thrashed 1.6 GTi I got later on, I thought it would be like the XS but better, it was worse.
I think you just had a bad 1.6, they were better cars. I have driven and owned most variants of 205s and a good 1.6gti is arguably the best (due to closer ratio box than 1.9)
I kind of agree, I followed my GT with a 1.6 GTi. it was great, but preferred the GT. I wish I'd followed it with a 1.9.

Caddyshack

11,826 posts

213 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
Silvanus said:
Caddyshack said:
ThingsBehindTheSun said:
BenS94 said:
My early 306 is a superb drive - I'd love to try a 205 one day.
My first decent car was a one owner six year old 205XS, absolutely loved it, just the right amount of power, light feeling and a nice, revvy engine.

I absolutely hated the thrashed 1.6 GTi I got later on, I thought it would be like the XS but better, it was worse.
I think you just had a bad 1.6, they were better cars. I have driven and owned most variants of 205s and a good 1.6gti is arguably the best (due to closer ratio box than 1.9)
I kind of agree, I followed my GT with a 1.6 GTi. it was great, but preferred the GT. I wish I'd followed it with a 1.9.
I liked the GT for the very good ride and handling plus the one I drove had a twin choke carb so had a sort of power band when you stomped on the throttle, wasn’t really much slower than the 1.6

W00DY

15,773 posts

233 months

Monday 11th November
quotequote all
I was looking at that too and had a cheeky snipe ready in case it went mega-cheap, thankfully it didn't, although I still think it's a great buy at what you paid.

Super cool car. Looking forward to seeing the updates!