﹒Drop-top 205 with ultra-rare interior

﹒Peugeot Sport blue leather with yellow highlights

﹒Found in a garage after 20 years parked up

﹒Newly recommissioned with full MoT

As iconic cars of the 1980s and 1990s go, the Peugeot 205 has to be right up there at the top. Over 2.5 million examples of the fabulous French supermini were sold between 1983 and 1997, from the basic 954cc overhead-valve Junior models to the all-conquering GTi, the seminal 1980s hot hatch. 

Among the bewilderingly large 205 model range, though, was one particularly unusual model. The 205 CJ and CTi joined the line-up in 1986, designed and assembled on Peugeot’s behalf by Pininfarina in Italy. 

The cabriolet variant was an adorably cute drop-top version of the 205, primarily aimed at Southern European markets where its rooflessness was perfect for the Mediterranean Mercury. But we Brits are a peculiar bunch and – despite the fact it rains for about half the year – we gobble up more convertibles than most other car markets in Europe. Hence why the 205 CJ was also a big hit here, along with its sportier CTi sibling, which was arguably the world’s first drop-top hot hatch. 

The CJ was more modest, with its 80bhp version of the 1,360cc engine found in ‘lesser’ 205s, but still more than peppy enough to deliver a respectable turn of speed, helped by the little Peugeot’s low kerb weight of just 830kg.

This example is a very rare example, reputed to be just one of 15 cars sold in the UK with a special edition blue and yellow leather interior developed to match the colours of the Peugeot-Talbot Rallye Sport team, which was enjoying huge success on the World Rally stages with the 205 and 309 models at the time.

While it has had five owners in its 30-year life, the car had the same one of them for 23 years, though they didn’t actually use it for long. The car was parked up in a garage in early 2001 and remained there for almost 20 years, emerging in late 2020 when the current owner discovered it. 

He has since extensively recommissioned the car, putting it back on the road for the first time since its lay-up and getting it through a new MoT.

Sadly the original service book was lost by one of the car’s previous owners, though it does come with the rest of its original owners’ pack including the handbook and a copy of its last MoT dated December 2000. 

There are also a few receipts documenting the service items, tyres and hood frame bought by the vendor in order to recommission the car in late 2020.

It’s the cabin that will sell this car as it really is something else. One of just 15 rumoured to have been sold in the UK and of which there are no other known survivors to the Peugeot Sport Club. 

The seats are trimmed in two-tone blue leather with yellow piping, matching the Peugeot-Talbot Rallye Sport colours of the era, while the door cards are trimmed to match. 

The carpets match the darker blue of the seats, while a three-spoke leather-rimmed steering wheel matches the lighter blue.

It’s garish for sure, but in the context of its era that also makes it pretty cool. It’s also in excellent order, with no rips or tears in the leather, which has responded brilliantly to a clean-up after being in a garage for the better part of two decades. 

A new Pioneer DAB radio with Bluetooth and USB input has been fitted to make the car usable in a modern context, not least because original Peugeot head units are difficult to find these days and are eagerly snapped up by GTi restorers.

Spending nearly two decades in a dry garage rather than on dirty, salted roads has done the 205 CJ a world of good, with no visible corrosion on the outer body or what we could see of the underneath.

There are a couple of stone chips on the bonnet that have been treated and a shallow dent on the driver’s side door, but overall the body is excellent, with all of its original paint and no signs of ever having been welded.

During its recommissioning the 205 was given four brand new tyres as the ones on it were a quarter of a century old, along with a new roof frame onto which the extremely well-preserved original canvas was fitted. The plastic rear window is also in good order with very little cloudiness or deterioration. 

The car sits on five-spoke aftermarket alloys that were fitted at some point in the 1990s and are evocative of its era, though a good set of used GTi alloys would really set it off.

Under the bonnet, you’ll find Peugeot’s familiar 1.4-litre TU engine, which has appeared in all manner of the company’s cars over the years and remains in production even today in some of its cheaper models.

This is a carburettor engine and can be a bit fussy on choke, but once warmed up it settles down to a steady tick over with no excess smoke at start-up or idle. It has just had a new cambelt and water pump, while a full service also saw new oil and filters, spark plugs, fuel filter and alternator belt.

Other items replaced during its recommission include the front brake pipes, flasher unit, fuel cap, new badges and a new column stalk for the lights, indicators and horn. The car went through its first MoT since 2000 needing only headlight adjustment to pass.

The 205 is an iconic car of its era and the CJ comes with a touch of its own quirkiness to add to that. It’s one of the prettiest convertibles of its era, but then the 205 was one of the prettiest cars. 

This one is amazingly solid thanks to its long lay-up, yet all of the recommissioning work it has needed has been done by the vendor, who runs a garage and restoration business, so knows what he is doing.

It’s the perfect car to buy ahead of summer 2021, when hopefully the high days and holidays we’re all looking forward to will return.


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