1993 Peugeot 205 1360cc GTX.
I bought this car in 2001 believing it was an XS model. It featured the XS stickers on the front wings and an XS badge on the boot. I’d read about the performance of the XS and believed they were quite lively owing to the twin choke carb and low ratio gearbox. I later realized it featured a Bosch single point injection system, electric windows and velour interior, not part of the XS spec. Registration docs stated "205 GTX" so I removed the XS wing stickers and boot badge knowing how picky insurance companies can be in the event of an accident.
After about a year of driving I became aware that pressure was building up in the cooling system even when the engine had been allowed to cool. I did a pressure test on the cylinders and one was well down. The head gasket was found to be at fault. I replaced this but couldn’t get it to run properly and found the vacuum advance on the distributor had gone. I found a Ducelier (or was it Bosch?) distributor from a scrap yard for which the vac advance had also gone but a new one was available to fit from my nearest Peugeot main dealer.
After that it ran ok for a while but I was generally disappointed with the performance with the injection system and when it started running badly with no fix from several expensive garage visits I fitted a Solex twin choke carb off a scrapped F reg. 205 SR. It now runs much better and when that second choke opens under full throttle it really goes. Hot starts are troublesome though, I think it floods and needs cranking for several seconds before it’ll fire.
It’s been off the road for a while, I think the cruising jet in the carb became blocked. Managed to get it to my parent’s house where I intended to fix it the next week. Anyway to cut a long story short almost three years have gone by during which I managed to get by without a car. Recently my circumstances changed and I needed a car for practical reasons. Almost scrapped it but took it to my local garage for an estimate to get it through it’s MOT, £170 later and it passed.
Runs well on the open road but revs hard and noisy due to low ratio gearbox (factory fitted), 4000rpm @ 70mph. Will do 45-50mpg on a good run if not thrashed.
I still love the classic shape of this car. It looks stylish yet reserved. I sometimes wish I’d bought the GTi version, the 1.6 or 1.9. I like to think of this car as a poor man’s GTi.
