Peugeot 205 GTI (1986 - 1993)

The Peugeot 205 GTI is one of the defining European hot hatches. Light, responsive and compact, it delivered excitement through steering feel, chassis balance and eagerness rather than huge power.

Its reputation comes from the way it made ordinary roads feel alive. The 205 GTI showed that a practical hatchback could be genuinely thrilling, and it became a benchmark against which later hot hatches were judged. Its rallying association through the wider 205 family only added to the legend.