Peugeot 306 Rallye | Spotted
Rallyes have only been going one way for a while; here's a chance to get one at what they cost new...
Cars that adhere to a few key criteria seem almost guaranteed modern classic status these days. Once a car is, say, 20 years old, it seems like they only need to look good, drive smartly, boast a great engine or simply be quite rare for value to creep up. Or soar, depending on the badge on the front. The challenge these days is finding something vaguely old and interesting that doesn’t have an enormously punchy price tag attached to it.
Sometimes, however, a car ticks all the boxes; all the hype and the adulation that’s been heaped on it for decades is richly deserved, and the asking prices are much easier to grasp. The Peugeot 306 Rallye is undoubtedly one of the special ones: it still looks superb, it’ll still drive brilliantly, the 16-valve XU was always a ripper and there were only 500 to begin with. You can bet on a good amount fewer now. In truth, it seemed like all the fast 306s were overdue some appreciation, apparently never quite loved like earlier 205s and even its junior 106 contemporary. As recently as 2023, there were 60k-mile GTIs at dealers for £9,995, and private cars offered up at £5k just last year. That hasn’t happened for the 205 in a very long time.
The Rallye wasn’t drastically altered over the GTI-6, but it was definitely different enough. And not just because of the stripes. Taking equipment out and charging less for it - minus 16kg and £2,500 for the 306 - feels like a uniquely French hot hatch tradition, one continued after the Peugeot Rallyes by Cup-spec Renaultsports. They were raw, unapologetic, demanding hot hatches, requiring concentration and commitment (and usually a sweaty brow) to get the very best from. But front-drive thrills seldom came much more exhilarating.
Because of that, and because they were cheap, 306 numbers were depleted like every other great French hatch. Yours truly ended up facing the wrong way in a Rallye, having paid just £1,700 for one, although that one was repaired rather than written off. Some others won’t have been as lucky. Don’t forget, either, that all Rallyes are more than a quarter of a century old now; even if overexuberance didn’t get them, the elements may have. Come to think of it, when did you last see a 306 of any kind?
This one’s a stunner, as standard as the day it was born and resplendent in Cherry Red. There’s simply not a mark to be found: the seats, the stereo and the Rallye-specific mats appear to have endured 75 miles of use, not 75,000. Window winders have never looked so good. Somebody has really loved this little Peugeot, it would seem, a glorious reminder of just how simple and unassuming the best hot hatches can be.
There’s plenty to be encouraged by in the history as well. While use has been sparing in recent years, covering fewer than 2,000 miles from December 2017 to March this year, the required cambelt change was undertaken just a few months ago. It’s an expensive job on these, as it often is, and points to a diligent owner; many others might have just left it, given the limited mileage. The tyres all match, the paint is good, the service record strong - all 500 Rallyes have always looked great, but this one especially so. All of which helps explain why £16,950 is being asked, or about £1,000 more than those lucky folk parted with at the end of the 20th century. Maybe Rallyes will continue to rise, or perhaps not; hopefully the next owner can drive it without concern for all that, and simply appreciate one of Peugeot’s very finest as pocket rocket royalty. A 306 this good deserves nothing less.
SPECIFICATION | PEUGEOT 306 RALLYE
Engine: 1,998cc 4-cyl
Transmission: 6-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 170@6,500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 142@5,500rpm
MPG: 30.1
CO2: 225g/km
First registered: 1999
Recorded mileage: 75,657
Price new: £15,995
Yours for: £16,950
106 on fast roads was a noisy little thing. I’m sure a lot of people upgraded from 106’s to the 306’s. One regret I had in 1999 or 2000 was not buying a 306 Rallye on the forecourt at the Pug dealer. I would have kept it longer than the S16 I bought a year later for sure.
106 on fast roads was a noisy little thing. I m sure a lot of people upgraded from 106 s to the 306 s. One regret I had in 1999 or 2000 was not buying a 306 Rallye on the forecourt at the Pug dealer. I would have kept it longer than the S16 I bought a year later for sure.
Bits of the interior were already falling apart even then. But I recall it having a great chassis, incredible steering and a fizzy engine that was one of the best normally aspirated 2 litres, at least until the Civic Type R came out.
A bit less twitchy than a 205 GTI 1.9, but lift off oversteer on a wet roundabout still easily achieved.
kpiece GMA thing the next PH story along.Funny to think that a 4 cyl 2 litre car developing 170bhp would barely do 30mpg, certainly one area of progress.
106 on fast roads was a noisy little thing. I m sure a lot of people upgraded from 106 s to the 306 s. One regret I had in 1999 or 2000 was not buying a 306 Rallye on the forecourt at the Pug dealer. I would have kept it longer than the S16 I bought a year later for sure.
Bits of the interior were already falling apart even then. But I recall it having a great chassis, incredible steering and a fizzy engine that was one of the best normally aspirated 2 litres, at least until the Civic Type R came out.
A bit less twitchy than a 205 GTI 1.9, but lift off oversteer on a wet roundabout still easily achieved.
looks so plain now lol...From an era when we didn’t all have cameras constantly at hand, the only photo I have of mine.
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