Earlier this year I was chatting to Morgan, the joint owner of this little beauty, about his latest purchase. I love how younger generations choose to buy and restore cars from before their time and help preserve a little piece of history.
We decided to plan a photo shoot to capture it as it was not long after purchase, so it could be used to look back on as it is loving restored over time.
As with all my shoots I like to capture cars in locations that compliment the car. With this shoot we decided a country feel would set the scene of road trips in the French countryside on sunny days.
Locations set we headed on a mini road trip for the shoot. The lack of power steering meant sometimes it took longer to get the car in the perfect position, but the shoot was a success. So much so that Morgans Dad, the other joint owner, said that the photos reminded him of the brochure in the showroom when he first bought a Peugeot 205 many years ago. I am taking that as a win, can't ask better than that.
I asked Morgan for a bit of background information to help with this blog, his passion for cars shone through in his reply. So I thought I would cut my part short for a change and hand over to him for an insight into how he came to become the new owner of this car in his own words.
Car make and model: 1993 Peugeot 205 GL
Bit about me: I’m Morgan I’m 23 and an apprentice MET technician. I’m car mad and especially love cars of a certain age. I’m a Fordy at heart but have a soft spot for retro French cars, as well as being the kind of guy who will pause mid-sentence to see what car I can hear coming down the road.
I don’t know where my obsession with cars came from, but I’ve always had an interest and always wanted to own a car and to drive. Even when young I can remember being incredibly jealous of my sister when she was learning to drive and bought her first car, as I knew I had to wait another two years before it was my turn.
When the time came I bought my first car, a mk6 ford fiesta, I was just sixteen, Even though I couldn’t drive it, I would still make sure it was clean and looking its best, even if it was just sat on the drive.
After passing my driving test and finally being able to drive, it wasn’t long before the modifications started. I was invited to a car meet in Cannock with Rolling Oval Ford group and after attending and seeing all the other modified cars I was hooked. After that it was a slippery slope and it wasn’t long before the Fiesta was heavily modified and I was attending car shows and having my car on stand, from there the rest is history
I bought the 205 in 2020, I had wanted one as a first car but due to the lack of airbags, ABS and power steering it was not the best option for a learner. I had just finished a rebuild project st150 and was looking for a new project, something smaller scale, something retro/classic and the 205 came up for sale locally. It was cheap, had low mileage but need some tlc.
My dad had owned two 205's in the past and loved them. I showed him the listing, price and mileage and jokingly said “shall we go halves”. To my surprise he said yes, so we went to view it the same evening and it was delivered the next day.
Owning a car like this is not like owning a 'normal car', you always get people turning to look as you go past, thumbs up or waves from people when out and about. I always joked that “if I had a quid for every time someone said my dad/granddad had one of them/I learned to drive in a 205” I'd be rich.
Driving it is a different experience as well. It’s a 1.1 litre carburetted engine so wouldn’t pull the skin off custard, the throw between each gear change is as long as the car itself and u have to really think as you drive it, as it doesn’t exactly stop quickly either. It’s not insanely fast, not slammed into the floor, its got some imperfections here and there but all that being said its one of the most fun vehicles I’ve ever driven and is guaranteed to put a smile on my face.
I look forward to each summer so I can go out on a sunny Sunday morning sun roof open, cassette playing, shades on and a cheesy grin on my face.
I would say the main thing that makes the car unique is just that you don’t see many on the road anymore especially the non GTI models, the rarity paired with the 1.9GTI alloys just helps it stand out a bit more.
The first thing done to the car was to try and restore the paint work. When we bought the car each panel and each piece of trim was sun bleached and faded, the roof was nearly white, but after a day of cleaning, lots of elbow grease, time and affection, not to mention a lot of polish and practically an entire bottle of wax the car was un-recognisable. It was finally back to its original gorgeous, vibrant red colour, each panel like a mirror and nothing for water to stick to.
15 inch 1.9GTI Alloys to improve the cars feel on the road as well as to improve its looks.
The car also benefited from The following repairs/upgrades.
A new dash to replace the old cracked and brittle one,
Replacement door card trims,
Old, cracked gear knob replaced,
New clarion radio,
A few rubbers and pipes replaced in the engine bay,
Rust hole cut out and patched ,
Slam panel rust treated and painted black and an assortment of minor repairs and tweaks.
Future plans for the 205 are just to keep restoring it slowly. Eventually the plan would be to have it looking factory fresh, I would love to take it to some more local meets as well as some shows in the summer months.
I think we can all agree that we need more people to help keep the retro cars alive. Things are forever changing within the Automotive industry, but it would be a shame for history to be lost forever, and I for one love reminiscing of days gone by when I see a retro ride like this out and about.
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