This Peugeot 208 Rallye Is A Nostalgic Piece Of Forbidden Fruit

It may be Peugeot’s GTIs and T16s that are remembered most fondly, but among the French firm’s storied history of hot hatches, the Rallye moniker is pretty special. It’s only been deployed officially three times - most famously on the 106 as well as the 205 and 306 - each time shedding all but the necessities for the sake of performance.

It’s been a while since a Rallye last left a Peugeot factory, 22 years in fact, so it’s easy to argue there’s a gap to be filled. That’s where one Swiss dealer has stepped in.

This is the Peugeot 208 Rallye, an unofficial special edition produced by Garages-Hotz. Visually, it ticks all the boxes with its flat white paint, multicolour striping and neat logo on the C pillar. We’re delighted to see how well white steelies fit the 208, too.

You can tell this has been a passion project for someone with the inclusion of the Peugeot Talbot Sport sun strip as well, mimicking that of the factory-backed 205 Turbo 16 Group B rally car.

Sadly, the changes are only cosmetic. It still uses the 208’s 1.2-litre three-cylinder with 99bhp although at least with a manual. There are no weight-saving measures either, besides the presumably lighter steelies, coming in at around 1,100kg. For reference, that’s the same power as the 106 Rallye, with almost 300kg more weight to shift around.

Not that we’ll get to find out if knowing it looks like a Rallye will add a placebo effect of more fun. You’ll need to be in Switzerland to buy one, with pricing at 24,500 CHF (approx. £22,000). Let’s hope this sparks some inspiration back at Peugeot HQ.