From a time when the gap from top to bottom of a range really meant something. I had a 309 GTI in 1987 and my work had pool cars that were non turbo diesel variants. If you drove one of them you could never believe the way the GTi went.

Really enjoyed watching this, I worked in a parts department of a Peugeot dealer from November 1987 until early 2002 so 309’s (and 205’s) were a constant during that time. The Philips push button radio is the original, GL’s upwards had Philips radio cassettes, they were supplied and fitted at the dealer though, the radio could be upgraded with an appropriate wiring adapter, Clarion radios were introduced from around the 1990 model year. The XE/GE dash was hard plastic, GL upwards being sort of soft touch, very creaky things but stylish! Likewise the hard plastic steering wheel was soft touch from GL’s upwards. The facelift dash of the 1990 MY update was a big improvement. The pop up sunroof would be a dealer fit item on a GE some special editions like the first version of the Style did get them as standard. 309’s were good cars in their day and a big seller for us, even Police forces and taxi drivers used them, the cars were surprisingly durable and rust resistant. A real trip down memory lane for me!

I loved my 1.6 SR. Power windows, central locking, rev counter, full velour interior, nicely soundproofed … from 1986. It was my grandfather’s, from new and he sold it to me for ONE FRANC in 1999. I had to fit a stereo and speakers myself, and for the first few months I drove it like a nun since the car only had 36000kms on it in 13 years. It soon woke up though, and was a fantastic first car with superb handling and suspension. I wish I had never sold it.

@bluewinds10

7 ай бұрын

Ha, my first car was a 1.6 SR in silver and I thought the interior was great with a rare rev counter and even oil temp and pressure gauges

They were superb cars. I had a GRD Turbo, a straight diesel and a Miami Blue GTi. It was on Bilstein suspension all round and every bush was uprated. Now I've owned 205 GTi's and 405 Mi16's (one of which I still have) but that 309 GTi on that suspension was the best handling car I've driven to this very day.

The whole basic and slightly flawed aspect of this car are what give it so much appeal. I adore everything about it - the naff plastics, the ultra basic spec, vague gearchange, tiny wheels and old tech. So refreshing after all the overwhelming BS of modern cars. This thing will go on forever. I had no idea the doors and headlights were the same as 205 items but now you pointed it out - I totally see it! Peugeot made some of the most handsome cars ever in this period. This is so much more appealing and interesting than a carpark full of supercars. Great video Matt!

Owned a 1986 1.6GR for 5 years from 1991. In 50k miles I had a head gasket leak as its only failure and the clutch was on its way out when I sold it. Excellent handling car and quick, quiet, comfortable and refined for its day. I was gifted some money and replaced it with a new 1.8 Passat that was endless trouble for the 6 years I had that (but great when it worked!).

@marklittler784

7 ай бұрын

" Great when it worked!" 😅🤸🙃🤸😃😂🤸😀

Gosh this takes me back my dad traded in a rusty Fiat Strada (Mk.1) (weren't they all!) for a new one of these in this exact colour and spec. It really was poverty spec and rolled alarmingly on corners, but was a roomy and comfortable car and lasted us well.

"Your archetypal French car: zero frills, 100% practicality" HubNut laughs ironically

@TheOracle65

7 ай бұрын

Practical except when you want to work on the electrics…..[much HubNut swearing]

They did a splendid job making it a 'Peugeot' - as a kid, I always looked at it as a booted 205, recognising the doors and lights etc. I didn't know the background - cheers!

I always heard bad things about Peugeots (plus Top Gear jokes) but when my grandmother passed 90 years of age she couldn't drive safely anymore. so she gave her small peugeot to me , to use as a 2nd family car. I must say it is one of the best cars I ever had, it never let us down, we don;t do ANY maintenance except the required minimal and it just keeps going . We only use it for about 5000 miles a year max. (and it;s not a 309, it;s a bit newer.) it doesn't have much in power or luxuries, but it has AC and cruise control so it;s a pleasant drive in any condition. It's now 15 years old and I don;t think I will replace it until it breaks down.

I’ve had nine 309’s over the years, all phase 2’s, quite a few had the 1.3 engine. I loved them all, such an underrated and often forgotten car.

@lazio20roe

7 ай бұрын

I’m living in France atm. About to buy a 309 1.9diesel. Anything in your opinion to watch out for on the car when buying?

@jetcity18

7 ай бұрын

@@lazio20roe I had a few common issues between my 309s over the years. They tend to let water in via the rear light clusters. Water can get trapped in the rear inner wings and can rot, so check there. The water can also accumulate in the boot floor and under the rear seat, and can likewise rot out, so check there as well. I never had a diesel, but I was told that as long as you service them regularly, those engines will easily outlast the body.

@lazio20roe

7 ай бұрын

@@jetcity18 thanks for the info! I had a little look in some of those areas and seems to be pretty rust free, will have a closer inspection. One of my worries is that at 110km/h the revs are at 3k or just over which seems quite high (as I have to do a lot of travelling at that speed on the motorway). Not sure if you would know if that will be consuming a lot of fuel. I’ve never had a non turbo diesel but they are usually quite a bit lower, around 2- 2.5 thousand revs. Maybe it’s normal for a non turbo to rev higher

@jetcity18

7 ай бұрын

@@lazio20roe Again, having not had a diesel I couldn’t say for certain, I’ve only spoken to diesel 309 owners, but I believe they were pretty good fuel wise, at least for a thirty year old car. They were never the quickest engines either, so they need a bit more right boot to convince them to pull up their skirts.

A girlfriend of mine was bought one of these by her father brand new a 1.4gl. She had it 18 yrs and did 180k miles. Her father lived in portugal and nearly every year drove to portugal and back. Was totally faithful like many cheap french cars. It rattled like a tin can but it never broke down.

35 years after the event, my dad will still bang on about how shit he thought the E-Reg 1.9 GRD he had was. This is compounded by the fact that the car arrived on the 1st of August and he only drove it for a couple of weeks prior to it vanishing from a car park while we were on holiday, never to be seen again.

@marklittler784

7 ай бұрын

Yeah had a 1988 Rover Montego the extra switch for the rear wash wiper it didn't have cut out the stop solenoid on the diesel fuel pump despite several attempts nobody ever got to take it an added aftermarket extra that would still benefit modern cars 😅

100 % correct about how that engine starts from warm from my 1986 205 XL 1.1 except both the XN and XL 205 had only 4 speeds. To be fair the 4 speeds all had nice tall top gear ratios. They did idle very sweetly with the electronic ignition. The 145 tyres and the wee centre caps really take me back. Amazing space, ride and handling though. The absolute best colour too, Cherry Red.

The sunshine roof is definitely aftermarket or dealer fit. The 305 had a weird sliding sunshine roof that slid back externally as a factory fitted.

I had one of these, a 1987 GL. Same 1300 engine but with rather more creature comforts. It was a much more comfortable car than the contemporary Escort, with a better ride and far better seats. The dashboard and minor controls felt as though they had been made by Airfix. However I had it for five years and I don't remember anything actually breaking. The bodywork was hilariously lightweight. I sat out a storm on the road to Stac Polly in the north west of Scotland, so intense it was dangerous to drive, so I didn't, I parked up and waited for it to abate. The car was rocking about and the thin body panels made a weird booming noise. I don't ever remember seeing a rusty one, in an era when the tin worm meant a 10 year old Ford or BL car was usually ready for the scrappie. Yet I can't remember when I last saw one.

For some reason I've always liked styling on the 309 pre-facelift model. Mostly the styling at the rear of the pre-facelift models i found to done very neat and nicely. It is also at the back that it still has a few styling details clearly taken from the old Talbot Horizon. The big tailgate, high loading lip and the massive rear lights. I would really like to own either an early 309 or a Talbot Horizon someday. Even though most 309's have died out, you can find still find them for sale quite easily. The Talbot on the other hand has just completely disappeared.

Finally a 309, prefer the II Gen but still cool. I love this cars so much and my 309 II Graffic became a dream come true for me.

@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge

7 ай бұрын

You the one who posted the Graffic in the owners group on Facebook recently?

@vitor_309

7 ай бұрын

@@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge No, not me but all about mine is in youtube basically but in Portuguese 😐

This is identical to my 1st car my mum gave me except it was a 1.1 4 speed on a C plate. The speedo stopped at 86k but it had done so many miles and was sooooo slow! The tailgate glass kept exploding and eventually auto glass worked out because it was such an early car it didn’t have the metal support bar across the top of the glass. We had to add one to stop it happening. But it was my 1st car and I loved it ❤

My brother had a 1987 309 1.3 GE which he used and abused over several years without any problem, until it failed to start when he was staying with me. The plugs had gaps you could walk through and as he couldn’t recall when it had last had an oil change, I gave it a full service and off it went again until he eventually scrapped it.

I used to get a lift back home in a later base spec 309 where the laughing Lion was replaced with a clock. And I too whispering it prefer a 309 GTI over a 205 GTI. As always a excellent review as always Matt.

'Talbot Arizona' is such a great name! A shame it was never used.

Nice video thanks. In the early 90s I had a silver 309 XSi 1.6, which was classy, and then later a white 309 GTi, on the strength of the road tests of the time. Quick but fragile (and creaky) were my memories. Of the two I preferred the 1.6, right up until I unintentionally lost the back end on a bend on a wet road and had 3 cycles of fishtailing before I got it back together again. All the surrounding cars travelling at the same speed on the same bend must have been wondering what that hooligan was up too! Nothing, honest!

I passed my test in a 309 GRTd and my instructor told me to let her rip on open country roads, and it flew !! It was black with the gti wheels and the only option not fitted was AC. It was a stark contrast to my own learner car ....... A Morris Marina 1.8 special 😂 And those doors were light as feathers, I always wondered how they would fare in a t-bone situation 🤔

What a lovely little car..Peugeot engines are generally reliable too.

Always fancied a 309 GTi 3 door Goodwood, loved the shade of green it came in plus the leather interior, wood steering wheel and gear knob and those alloy wheels.

@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels

7 ай бұрын

I couldn't decide whether I liked the 3 or 5 door best, so I bought both.

@paulie-Gualtieri.

7 ай бұрын

@@TheGalacticEmperorOfLabels Nice 👍

I had a D reg 1986 gld for a short time back in 2012 which I had got dirt cheap off eBay for £300 because no one wanted it lol... apart from it rattling me to death at idle, it was was a good car and quite fast off the line as those 1.9 diesels pack a huge punch for only 64 hp ! due to the 118 lbs of torque these engines have... I kept it for a bit and then got rid of it in 2014 due to a lack of space and one grumpy neighbour who didn't like me parking it outside near his house taking "his" parking space ! I also noticed mine also had the very stiff air struts (or whatever those things are called !) for the boot tailgate and i thought they were seized from lack of use !... I now believe that the real reason why they were so stiff was because Peugeot were worried that someone might slam that boot lid too hard and shatter the curved glass !

Finally. A car I own. First car I bought was a 1991 309 with the beautiful 1.4 litre TU engine and a 5 speed. Still have the car, and working on a full restoration on it. And yes, it is better than a 205.

@kamrankhan-lj1ng

7 ай бұрын

Better than 205? In what way? Pls. elaborate.

@GlamStacheessnostalgialounge

7 ай бұрын

@@kamrankhan-lj1ng Better build quality, more practical given the larger boot, and it handled a LOT better than the equevalent 205 because it was slightly wider and longer. The 205 is still a fantastic car, but today you can get a 309 that's basically better in every way for less money.

Bought a C reg 1.6 GL (Coventry-built ) in 1990, had it for 7 years by which time 110K miles on the clock. Was good to drive and mostly reliable but interior materials were really cheap and the boot leaked. By the end the carb was playing up, I got quite adept at poking around inside it at the side of the road. So mixed memories of it.

I had a 309 1.6 for a brief moment not too many years ago. Brilliant thing to drive and the 90hp engine combined with the low weight meant it was pretty quick too. Probably would've kept it longer if I hadn't owned a Xantia just before. In the Xantia you had practically no interior rattles while the 309 wasn't exactly quiet over rough surfaces. Also had a 205 which I don't recall being that rattly, so they really must've cut a lot of corners with the 309's interior fit and plastic quality.

I remember when these things where everywhere. I still am baffled whenever i'm in the south of France by the sheer amount of citroen C15D that are still driving around, the 'van' version of the citroen visa. Might be fun to take a look at those too!

Oh gawd that foot flat to the floor advice was in the 205s handbook. My Nanna used to deafen shoppers with her 6000 rpm weekly shop.

@RWL2012

7 ай бұрын

😂

Matt, these where very popular in their time in Northern Ireland (I never had one, but had 205s and 306s) BUT I dont think I noticed very many petrol ones. They were nearly always XUD diesels here. Most of them lived to very high mileages, much better cars than the later Peugeot diesels in my opinion.

Hi Matt that brought back a lot of memories my Dad bought a 309ge 1.3 in April 87 and had it 9 years until he traded in for a Citreon ZX he did approximately 100k miles with his and it was very reliable it was first car i drove after pssing my test and yeah i remember that steering wheel well great review as always

I had a 309 GLD from new in1992 (Dec 16th) I loved it and drove 115,000 miles until it was replace by a 306 three years later which I hated!! Peugeot have this habit of producing one very good car and following it with an awful one until they replace that! My only criticisms of the 309 were very heavy steering at slow speed, parallel parking was a nightmare and extremely heavy front break pad wear, I think I had to have new pads at each service! But it was a comfortable nice drive, I often drove from surrey to Manchester or Cornwall and back in the same day with no effort 60 mpg from the 1.9 diesel engine, Excellent car, being a GLD it had electric front windows and a sliding roof.

Did often think about how Chrysler Europe would have gone about replacing the Horizon had it not been acquired by Peugeot and was in a better financial position. Original plan was for the Horizon was that both North America and Europe would use the North American Horizon version (alleged starting point was a reverse-engineered mk1 Golf), only for financial problems to scupper that plan in favour of a warmed over Simca 1100. Maybe the Omni/Horizon (aka L platform) replacement would have been a subcompact derivative of the K Platform, but tuned for Europe rather than the US?

I had a 1988 309 gti loved driving it . Absolute flyer. Wish I had it now 😢

My dad bought a 309GE in white in 1987 from new. Brings back a lot of memories, lovely example! I think there was a lower spec - the 3-door XE! Sunroof is an addition but I recognise that Philips radio. Oh and I hope the fan is working, that radial design meant it would squeak and work at whatever setting it felt like! 😅

@MaverickTopG

7 ай бұрын

I also learnt to drive in it so have very fond memories. Handling was superb, lovely and light (though understeer if going in too hard to a corner)

Btw just one more thing after finishing the last minutes of the video I didn't manage 3 days ago: starting the warm engine with full throttle makes sense. Because what you (usually) control directly with the throttle pedal (unlike what most people might expect) in carburetted engines is the amount of air let in it, you want the fuel mixture to be as lean as possible (whilst on a cold engine you want as small amount of air as possible and extra more petrol, so you pull the choke to add that), so you put your foot full on the throttle to let as much air in as possible. Basically the counter feature to the choke. I'm quite used to that because my carburetted Skoda Favorits require the same (according to the manual too). Though there it is a bit messy for an inexperienced person, because the Favorit has an automatic choke that is also operated by the throttle pedal, so you really need to know what you're doing, otherwise you choke you're warm engine with too much petrol :D

So nice to see one again! Our Peugeot dealer in our small town sold them very well back in the late 80s and early 90s. There was one dark grey one that survived until 2020, sadly it's been crushed. Was a GLX with a 1.6 engine. Good review Matt, keep them coming!

@AlejjSi

7 ай бұрын

In my small town, there is one red five door that lives there since about 2009, when the person (now a 40ish man) bought it according to his registration. It is the 309 Graffic. Also, there is somebody driving to work occasionally in a three door red 309 Topline (and it probably is a newer one with different 405 like taillights) and a greyish three door, that I only encountered on the road.

I drove one from Canterbury to Cupar in Fife for a holiday in about 1992. (And my god, did I ache the next day lol). Never missed a beat there and back. It may have been simple and basic but it did the job admirably. They're better cars than people think imo.

Wow I had 2 309’s a 1986 1.6GL that used the XU petrol engine used in the GTi but fed with a carb. This was killed by a Vauxhall Astra running into the rear causing the rear screen to explode and shorten the car by about a foot. That was replaced by a 1988 1.6SR with the same carb fed XU 1.6. This was in far better condition but sadly died when its head gasket failed at a time I had no time to repair it due to relocating from near Leeds to the then home of Peugeot Coventry. My dad had a 309GRD that he bought of his brother that was a great car as well. Great memories

Peugeot 205's and Citroen Visas had a very neat separate section for the warning lights, which, to me, made them easier to read & neat. Surprised this wasn't used on the 309 too!

Great video. I have the 309 Sri from 1987. As per below, it has the 205gti 1.6 injection engine, its really "grunty" powerful :). More powerful than a newer ford injection zetec engine I have.

I had a 1990 / H reg 309 1.6 GR. Most unreliable car I ever owned. Replaced ALL ignition parts. New fuel pump and filter. Rebuilt the carburettor. Cleaned out fuel tank. Replaced fuel line. Checked for any vacuum leaks. Checked cylinder head gasket. Bloody thing still wouldn't run properly. Even my local Peugeot dealer was stumped. There was nothing wrong with it, except for the fact it would just conk out every once in a while.

I had a 309 gld from 1999-2003. The best car i have ever owned.

It’s amazing to think that at a certain point , not massively long ago these were ubiquitous.

What an amazing survivor 👍 my papa had a 90 309 Look and a 92 309 Zest. Was there when they were bought from the local Peugeot dealer on 1st of August 👍 happy memories.... not so happy memories ... the look became my dads for years.... earmarked for me but i failed my school exams and he sold it to a family members work..... a labourer who was using it crashed it while under the influence and wrote it off..... nice one dad 🤦‍♂️😁

Peugeot really took off late eighties early nineties with 405's and 205's great looking cars just for starters, not to mention comfy seats and suspension systems, I had a new 405d 1700cc couldn't even hear the diesel engine ended up trying to start an already running engine a few times. I mean don't talk about the 605 diesel that was out of this world.

Poissy Galore! 😋👍

Well done Matt a great review as ever it’s been many many years since I have seen an original 309 and I own it’s several times grandchild a new Peugeot 308! Such great cars in the day and my parents owned a horizon which was a good car and gets slated in the reviews now I always wondered why there was the step in the numbers and had no idea of the talbot back story of it! Typical of manufacturers back then with the parts sharing! I remember them being common around here and my brothers boss had a GR profile for many years start of the golden years for Peugeot all these cars!

Many years ago a friend had a Talbot Samba with a similar steering wheel. Cover came off easily, which was where they hid their cigarettes

As a child I always thought this looked much more "cool" than the Escort.

Thanks for sharing this review Matt, it brought back some nice memories 👍🙂👍

Basic and bomb proof, that why it's lated as there is literally nothing to go wrong. Pov spec works! Love it.

My first car was a '91 Trio S model - tuned 1.4 8v carb c/w bright green seat belts - all the car an 18 yr old needed and more with NOTHING weighing it down, but especially loved the massive boot - bells and whistles not needed

I absolutely loved thec Peugeot 309, back in the day I had 3 of them, 2 diesels and a Sri which was actually really quick!!!

Thank you for mentioning this Talbot also ran. Not a lot of people know this. They couldn't have been too bad, because (You may remember), Kent Police bought a few after they finished with Escorts. They stuck with Peugeots for quite a while afterwards until they went to Skoda!

Peugeot did a decent job of making the Arizona into the 309, imagine however if it was actually planned to be part of the 205 family at the start with better resolved styling like the smaller 205 and larger 405 as opposed to being the odd one out.

Those engines are long lived and thrashed daily. Maybe thats why the Frogs loved them. ha ha

❤❤ my first car was a 3dr 1987 309 xl 1.3.

Good to see a nice basic car.. beautiful styling 🙂

Thanks mate! Lovely little car. I like the new format of drive first, then tour of the car. I believe the last Talbot could actually be the 306, as they bear T marks on the front wings when you lift up the bonnet. And pronunciation is Poassy indeed!

The 405 GLD saloon 2 litre turbo diesel was a fantastic car and very comfortable. A video reviewing one of those is an absolute must.🤞 Completely in a league of its own when out on the rural B-roads and A-roads of the UK.

I had one in same colour, same rims, four door and D plate BUT it was the 1100 4 speed with manual choke because French. Used to drive it from Suffolk to Brighton in the nineties, huge boot.

Great video, my dad had a brand new 3 door base model 1.1XE in red on a E reg, only had 4 speed box, they did come with the radio.

I always liked and looked at an 1100cc version to replace my ancient Metro. I’ve never realised the 205 and 309 shared doors. You live and learn!

My friend scrapped his in the 1990s after he opened the boot and it was only attached by the struts! We did laugh!

Had a couple of these 309’s in the past. Buying spare parts was a chore as giving make model and reg, was pointless! Particularly with brakes and clutch cable! Was best to remove part first THEN take that to the store so as to get correct part! Was told that Peugeot raided the parts bin on the production line and used what was available!

When you look under the bonnet it seems like something is missing. So small and simple were the engines back then.

My dad had the luxurious 1.6 GL model from 1986 in green. It had a fancy digital radio cassette player. No pop up sunroof though. It was also a Mk 1

The Goodwood edition is my favourite

That is exactly how to start a car when heat soaked after it has stopped , seems to me rather than address a problem, the suggested solution is to overcome the vapor lock by adding fuel, and opening the intake. Marvelous engineering there....

same trim level on the 205 with the 958 cc engine is the dream - was so much fun you had to keep momentum up at roundabouts etc and it sipped the juice

I searched for peugeot 309 and found your video. I own one of 309. Nice review.

Nice! I seem to remember these were quite popular cars in Scotland in the 80s for some reason.

we had one of these once. and we discovered on a very wet day that the boot was like a pond! the rain leaked in from the tail light at the back.

@dfromnw6604

7 ай бұрын

Mine suffered same problem. Light cluster was one point of ingress, but then also found water ingress around the petrol filler cap.

Had one of these as a courtesy car when mine was in for repairs. It felt so lightweight and flimsy that I was almost afraid to go round corners.

My dad had a G reg 309 GE Special Equipment (metallic paint and a sunroof). It could run on both unleaded and leaded petrol. Was a good car.

Had one of these when i was 18. Screwed it (1.3) for an hour on the motorway and broke down. Melted the distributor cap, mechanic said he' never seen that happen to a car before.😅

Just had a look at the launch catalogue, and the GE did indeed come with a push-button radio as standard.

I used to have one of these. It was a J reg GLX 1.4 carburetted I purchased it from a colleague for £100. It did 15,000 miles a year for 2 years before I got rid of it in the scrappage scheme. Really good motor until it wasn't.

I liked the 309 a lot, it was a good looking thing. I drove Vauxhall's equivalent the Astra Belmont (a diesel) for a while (as a taxi), and it was awful. The whole dash used to wobble and vibrate so much you could hardly operate the buttons and knobs.

@person.X.

7 ай бұрын

My God I pity you! 😆 The worst car I have ever driven by far was a diesel Astra van (C reg - the egg shaped one). So slow it was positively dangerous.

@DjNikGnashers

7 ай бұрын

@@person.X. Hahah probably the same engine ! I managed to get a VW Jetta after the Belmont, it had no 3rd gear, but it was still much faster than the oil burning Belmont. And it didn't feel like it was shaking itself to bits at tickover lol !

What a gorgeous car, I think it deserves better floor mats 👍!

My first car was a 1.3 D reg 309 XE, bought it in the year 2000 for £200, loved it, the only car I've owned that had a choke!

The diesels were unburstably reliable.

I remember they had a good reputation for being solid and reliable, but some people were put of because they looked like a Skoda which was known at the time for being cheap and nasty. Thank you very interesting

Back when in the last 2 years of highschool, (2009-2011) I did car mechanics class, and the garage we learned/worked at had 2 cars for us to practise on. I don't remember what the 2nd car was, But the other one was a 309. It was a great looking car and quite fun to work on compared to others cars i've worked on during that time.

Had a 'G' reg 'look' edition with the 1360 Simca engine. Didn't rot, very reliable and easy to fix. The manual choke prevented theft on two occasions.

Wow its years since I saw one of those. I had one back in 2002, mine was a "Style" with the same engine as this one. Same colour as well. I was not happy with the handling however I liked the rest of it. I must say that very little went wrong in the two years and 12000 miles I owned it. My one sometimes required full throttle to start when hot, carb. engines all needed their own little tricks to start them and keep them running thats just what it was like.

Nice early 309 base model Matty

Great video. Love those

i had a 309gr i think in 2003. It did have same engine as the 105hp 205 gti. My brother had a 309 gti16. One quirky thing it did have was that the rear windows could be opened by a lever between the seats and it was wire operated.

Oh my god. This car's almost identical to D962 RBV, the one I had about 20 years ago, except it was a GL with a clock and other extras. I bought it for £50 from the local car auction and it lasted over two years before I scrapped it! It was one of those cars that did its job really well, but it wasn't interesting or fun enough to make me want to keep it on the road any longer than necessary, once the sills started rotting through and the distributor failed.

Never knew it had so many parts bin bits on it.

Actually, by the time the car was going to be released as the Arizona, Talbot's brand had already diminished. PSA had already cut support for the 1510/Alpine/Solara in some markets such as the UK (though it continued production until 1986) to make way for the Citroën BX and the future Peugeot family-sized sallon (which would become the 405), the executive class Tagora was a total flop and the success of the 205 in the UK and Europe practically killed off whatever demand left for the Talbot Samba (a rebadged Peugeot 104) and the planned follow-up (which became the Citroën AX). But the 309, despite being tailor made for a now defunct sister brand, rounded off Peugeot's range as now they finally had a family-sized hatchback that could rival cars such as VW Golf, Opel Kadett/Vauxhall Astra, Renault 11, Fiat Ritmo/Strada and Ford Escort. The 205 though successful in its own right just wasn't going to cut it as it was positioned in the B-segment alongside Austin Metro, VW Polo, Renault 5, Opel Corsa/Vauxhall Nova and Ford Fiesta among others.

Poverty spec at its best ,remember trying to start my 205 in hot weather was a night mare as the fuel evaporated in no time in the carb fuel feed.

I had two of those. Sawing the gear stick shorter was a mofication I did on both

By coincidence, the American replacement for the Horizon/Omni (Plymouth Sundance/Dodge Shadow) was also intended to have a hatch with bubble rear window, but Lee Iacocca purportedly personally nixed it for a less-curved one since 3-box profiles were in vogue and the flatter window was cheaper to build. It didn't look like a hatchback at all until you opened it up.

I had exactly one of these. It was no bother. Traded it in for a 306