The Peugeot 205 GTI is unarguably one of the greatest hot hatches of all time, as well as being one of pioneers of the entire hot hatch segment.
Produced between 1984 and 1994, the GTI was powered by either a 1.6-litre or 1.9-litre four-cylinder engine, with power outputs ranged between 77kW and 94kW which, given it weighed less than 900kg, provided spirited performance.
Over the years the GTI has become such a beloved icon that last year Peugeot even started offering “factory restorations” of the 205 GTI via its l'Aventure Peugeot heritage brand, with ground-up restorations of the customer’s cars taking place at its Sochaux facility in France.
These are faithful restorations, with nothing in the way of increased performance, but for those wanting more from their fantastic little hot hatch, UK company Tolman Engineering now has a tastier proposition.
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The company has just revealed its first customer ‘Tolman Edition’ Peugeot 205 GTI, a reimagining of the 1980s hot hatch icon with “contemporary performance, reliability and convenience features to enjoy driving it today and every day.”
And even better; the company says the Tolman Edition follows the its ethos for “non-invasive enhancements” and everything can be returned to standard if required.
Last year Tolman built and tested a 1600cc “development car" to gauge potential customer interest in the idea of a 205 GTI restomod and says that “after receiving critical acclaim for how it revived the authentic feeling of driving an engaging and lightweight hot hatch” decided to push ahead with development of the Toleman Edition.
The Warwickshire-based firm determined that the specification of the development car would form the basis of the offering, with customers able to add optional performance or convenience elements “based upon how they want to enjoy the car.”
All Tolman Edition cars are assembled at the company’s Warwickshire workshop from a freshly prepared, bare metal shell that receives anti-corrosion, stone chip and ceramic coating protection. From this starting point, it Toleman says each car takes around 700 hours to complete.
All Tolman Edition cars have a ported cylinder head, regardless of whether they are 1600cc or 1900cc, but the first customer car goes further with a “significantly upgraded powertrain” that Toleman says offers more low-down torque for road use.
The 1.9-litre engine in the first customer car was designed and built entirely in-house by Chris Tolman (who assembled British Touring Car Championship and World Rally Championship engines before founding Tolman Engineering in 2007) and now packs a ported 16V head and bespoke billet cam cover, whilst retaining the XU aluminium block.
Tolman says he opted for this as opposed to the more common swap of the Mi16 unit as there is a larger scope for increased performance with the alternative cylinder head. Coupled with new cams, the power for a 16V car can be in excess of 150kW.
With such an excellent base to start from, Tolman’s target for the chassis was “to sharpen each element without sacrificing the fluid and engaging handling.” To achieve this, the company tunes the Bilstein dampers in-house and fits its own adjustable bottom arms and bespoke rear anti-roll bar.
Two aspects of the original 205 that Tolman says it was happy to lose were the gear shift quality and dismal lighting performance. Now, thanks to upgraded shift rods and bushes, the company says the fully rebuilt gearbox feels positive and has a slicker change, while the GTI now also gets LED lighting all round.
Inside, an optional Motec LCD anti-reflective dashboard display was chosen by the first customer to replicate the analogue gauges of the original, but with the ability to display more data and access custom pages and designs.
Fully retrimmed seats, new carpets, an Alcantara steering wheel and a Blaupunkt audio system with a “discreet” subwoofer complete the interior upgrades, while customers can also choose bespoke paint colours and upholstery, touchscreen infotainment with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and air conditioning.
“The overriding impression from those experiencing our development car was the emotions it invoked. Drivers stepped out of the car grinning, having rekindled that feeling that’s so hard to find when driving today’s sports cars on the road,” says Chris Tolman.
“Back in the 80s and 90s, for me and I’m sure many others, 205 GTIs were a first taste in performance cars; something rewarding, responsive and engaging. We wanted to recreate that feeling of being at one with the road, a car you can just jump in and simply enjoy driving hard. Current hot hatches surpass these cars in so many areas but despite having loads of power and incredible dynamics, they fail to rekindle that emotional involvement that made us feel special with the 205.”
But, as always, all of this excellence doesn’t come cheap: Tolman says the starting price of the restomod is £55,000 (NZ$$107,000), which includes delivery within mainland UK, 12 months parts and labour warranty and a 12-month service and inspection programme. Tolman says it has access to a number of donor 205s, both LHD and RHD, or customers can use their own car.
And if there is something wrong with you and you are not a 205 GTI fan, the company says ‘Tolman Edition’ cars based on other 1980s and 1990s hot hatches are definitely in the works. The next customer project is already being built and will be revealed at the end of 2022.
