Peugeot 205 News

Volkswagen has just ripped the covers from its retro-referencing ID Buzz people mover and van.The spunky all-electric bus is a modern take on the iconic Kombi (or Transporter, or Bulli, depending on where you're from) that made its debut in 1950.Volkswage

It's shaping up as a good year for hot hatch fans, with the updated Hyundai i30 N, all-new Hyundai i20 N, Toyota GR Yaris Rallye and Volkswagen Golf GTI all on the way.

It seems that even though we’re a few decades behind Europe (and a few ahead of North America), the forthcoming Toyota GR Yaris – with its turbocharged three-cylinder engine, promise of big performance and super-compact footprint – proves that the baby hot hatch is, indeed, a thing.

The Paris motor show hid a treasure trove of other interesting vehicles from the past and present.

The 205 GTi hit like a missile when it was aimed and fired at youthful driving enthusiasts in 1983. It looked great, it was compact and responsive, it was affordable and it was so, so, so much fun to drive.There was also a rawness about the car that I remember well from my first drive on roads around Canberra. The 205 was always egging you on, encouraging you to rev the engine, stand on the brakes, then exploit its go-kart grip and response.It was a lightweight car but a heavyweight player as the world woke up to the potential in hot hatches, led by Volkswagen's landmark Golf GTi. But the 205 was a type of car that cannot be built in 2013. Today's safety regulations have added weight and complexity and customers demand much more quality and refinement.To be honest, the 205 GTi was a bit ropey. I remember seats that flexed and wobbled, plastic trim that was well behind the Japanese pacesetters of the day, and even an engine compartment that was too crowded for power steering and aircon to share the space.The non-steer 205 GTi was hard on your arms, but aircon is essential in Australia and the French eventually got with the program. Later. I'm looking forward to driving the 208 GTi but, despite all the hype, I'm not expecting a return of the 205.The Golf GTi is light years better now than it was, delivering performance, safety, economy and quality that was just a dream in the late seventies and that's what Peugeot is promising. The cooking 208 is a nice car, comfy and refined, but it's too costly against its rivals and that's likely to be the biggest hurdle for the GTi.We're expecting it to be more costly than a Polo GTi, and that car is a cracker, and it will have to battle the rapid Renault Clio RS I've just driven and enjoyed in Europe. But it's great to see that Peugeot is going rallying with the 208 GTi to build a halo for the car, just as it did with the 205 T16 that conquered the world in the 1980s.This reporter is on Twitter: @paulwardgover 

"I used to roll my pedal car down our long driveway with my feet up because the pedals would go too fast for me," says the 46-year-old electrician.  I suppose that was the fun thing to do at that age."He graduated from pedal cars to real cars when his father bought him a 1977 XC Falcon ex-taxi.  But what he really wanted was something more exotic.A few years later he bought a 1979 Alfa GTV for $7700 at auction and even though it had "rust like you wouldn't believe on a three-year-old car", Moore had become hooked on Euro-exotica."My neighbour had a lot of Renaults at the time, he says.  "I liked the shape of his 15TS and the Alfa was sending me broke, so I decided to get one.  He wouldn't sell me his, but I got one for $1800."The love affair with French cars, in particular Renaults, had begun Over the years he's owned a Peugeot 205 GTI, two Pug 405s, a 1973 BMW 2002 tii, a 1954 Renault 4CV, a 1989 Renault Alpine GTA Turbo and a 2005 Falcon BA Futura wagon as the daily driver.  The Pugs have since been sold."Generally French cars are more comfortable and I guess I like to be a bit different," he says.  "I appreciate well-made cars and given a few million dollars I'd own a lot of cars from other manufacturers, but four is enough for most of us."Moore bought the 4CV for $500 in 1992 and has since replaced the 749cc engine with a 1605cc donk from a Renault 16TS.  Likewise, he is about to replace the 2458cc V6 engine in the GTA for a three-litre V6 from an early '90s Volvo 960.The 1988-plated engine was made under an alliance with Peugeot and Renault. The flexible engines were made from 1972 to the late '90s for use in either transverse or longitudinal engine bays in the front or rear mated to either rear-wheel-drive or front-wheel-drive.The original GTA model produced 154kW, but Moore has already fitted a bigger GT30 71R Garrett turbo that returns about 186kW.  "With the new engine and bigger cams, valves and injector and depending on the boost I expect to get over 300hp (223kW)," he said.  "I do all my own mechanicals and modifications except for wheel alignments and upholstery," he says.His interest in bigger engines stems from his amateur racing career in motorkhanas, hillclimbs and club sprints.  He mainly uses the 2002 for race duties, but the Alpine will figure more prominently once he shoehorns in the bigger motor.Renault-owned French manufacturer Alpine produced 3400 GTAs in left-hand drive and only 343 in right-hand drive between 1986 and 1991.Moore bought his rear-engined right-hand-drive coupe for about $14,000 in 2004.Apart from the engine, the rest of the vehicle is all original, although he has replaced the wheels with AZEV 255/40 17s because tyres for the original 255/50 15s were too difficult to find and too expensive."It handles well," he says.  "In slow corners it understeers and if you come on the boost mid-corner it will put its tail out a bit.  "They say rear-engined cars don't handle ... someone forgot to tell Mr Porsche that."Moore also has a shed full of bikes in need of restoring.  "I'll have to work until I'm at least 80 to pay for the things I've got to restore," he says.Allan Moore's garage:1989 Renault Alpine GTA Turbo2005 BA Futura Wagon1973 BMW 2002 tii1956 Renault 4CV1986 Honda TLR200 Trials1976 Yamaha XT5001974 Yamaha TY250A1972 Suzuki T5001970 Triumph Bonneville1968 BMW R60/21938 BMW R711937 Rudge Special

"Valentino has entered Rally New Zealand privately in his own name," the Subaru team's managing director Richard Taylor told the official WRC web site."He will however be driving a car supplied by us. In fact, the car which (Australian) Chris Atkinson drove in Germany this year."There's still a little bit of work to do on the details and it may be run alongside the Subaru team. But it will certainly not be an SWRT-liveried car."The Yamaha rider, who will be fighting for his sixth successive title in the top class of motorcycling in Portugal this weekend, has entered the world rally championship once before, in Britain in 2002.That time he was driving a Peugeot 205 prepared by the Italian Grifone team and did not make it through the first day of competition.The 27-year-old Italian has also competed in non-championship rallies in Italy and was linked until earlier this year with a switch to Formula One with Ferrari.The New Zealand rally, based in Hamilton, runs from Nov. 17-19 and was chosen because it comes well after the end of the MotoGP season.Rossi is second in the MotoGP standings, 12 points adrift of Honda's American Nicky Hayden, with two races left.Reuters