PEUGEOT 306 GTI6

Over the festive period PH hopes to keep you entertained with some reviews of our motoring highlights from 2013. One of those will be a 'Favourite Drive' which certainly took some deliberation. I won't reveal it now but one that stuck in the memory was the route around the south of France for the Peugeot RCZ R launch. That reminded me how good that car was, then that we needed a Spotted and then immediately to Peugeots in the classifieds. With a £16K 205 GTI and a 400hp 106 covering the sublime and the ridiculous, something in the middle ground was required. This unmolested and apparently cherished 306 GTI6 fits the bill perfectly. I was probably the only person on the RCZ R launch without some 'proper' fast Peugeot experience. Sacrilegious, I know. The only fleeting drive was in a pre-facelift GTI6 on a test drive when the abiding memories were of a heavy clutch and a fantastically revvy engine. Seeing this car, knowing what they're like in more committed driving and having loved the RCZ R makes me want this GTI a lot. Given the 306's fundamental shape is over 20 years old, it's still a remarkably pretty thing. The 15-inch Cyclone wheels prove that big rims don't make an attractive car, and all four of these are in great condition. That they come on matching Dunlop tyres is sweet, sweet icing on the Christmas cake. The ad reads near enough perfectly. China Blue is a great colour, but do the tints really work with it? Anyway, a small complaint. That it's had a clutch, new heater matrix, plugs and filters in the last 5,000 miles is A Good Thing surely. The cambelt was done at 96,800 (the car is now on 129,500) but the car I looked at had one snap after 40,000 miles so it's certainly always something to be aware of. Is £2,650 too much? Looking at the ad and the pics, exceptional though they are, it didn't come across as being worth significantly more than £2K at most. But then GTI6s, and Rallyes even more so, are becoming rare cars. PH only has one other Rallye, whilst the other classifieds only throw up a handful. Makes those Shed-spec cars look all the more desirable and this car perhaps worth the asking price. Source: Pistonheads