Man Maths: Peugeot 309 GTI

So what happened? Why is this car not lionised in the same way as the 205 GTI? I think there are a couple of reasons: first, while not exactly ugly, its proportions don’t quite sit right with me. But secondly, its biggest sin was simply not to be a 205 GTI. That car, so gorgeous and so beautifully judged, captured the zeitgeist. It arrived in 1984 and by the time the 309 GTI arrived three years later, less attractive, bigger, heavier and slower, the market just said ‘meh’. It’s not just today that 205 GTIs are 10 times more prevalent: that ratio was reflected in sales at the time.

And yet I remember them with unbounded affection. To me they were just as good to drive – a little less exuberant but rather more composed – and if there really was a performance difference I couldn’t tell what it was. Offhand I can’t think of another car more brilliant in its time that’s also more forgotten today. Perhaps you could make some suggestions in the comments?

I remember too the excitement when it was announced the 309 GTI would be receiving the 16-valve, 160bhp twin-cam engine from the 405 Mi-16, another of my favourite Peugeots. I’d driven a 205 with this engine, brilliantly installed by German company Gutmann and it remains the best 205 I ever drove, better by far than all the more powerful Turbo Technics 205s that were knocking about the office car park at the time.

And I also remember the gut-wrenching news that because of the difficulty in transferring the brake master cylinder (code for they didn’t reckon they’d sell enough to justify the engineering costs), the car would be left-hand drive only and never officially sold in the UK. I’ve never driven one, but would love to.

Today a 309 GTI is still cheaper than an equivalent 205 GTI which is not to say they are any longer cheap. Nice ones are hard to find and about £12,500 is what you’ll need to pay to get one, rising to perhaps £15,000 for a low mileage beautiful example. Then again, if you see the frankly bonkers money now being asked for nice but hardly exceptional 205 GTIs, they do seem like value.

But I’d still not buy one. In a rare rational moment, I am able to push aside the evil demon of Man Maths and recognise that these cars have never been collectible and are unlikely to become so now. I’d also worry about getting bits that weren’t common to the 205. Then again, it might be that just a quick spin around the block in a 16v could change my view entirely…