This documentary covers the introduction of the Peugeot 205 T16 into the Group B class of the World Rally Championship (WRC) in 1984. The French automaker had their work cut out for them, they knew they were going to be taking on the likes of Audi and Lancia in one of the most extreme forms of FIA-sanctioned racing that would ever exist – Group B.
Peugeot engineers left no stone unturned in their mission to create a world-beating rally car, they developed a space frame chassis onto which body panels were affixed to make it look like an angry Peugeot 205.
Rather than the front-mounted, front-wheel drive layout they fitted the engine where the rear seats would normally go, and developed a clam shell rear end that could swing up to offer mechanics excellent access to the drivetrain.
200 needed to be produced for homologation purposes so a similar though detuned version was made for the road, these vehicles now typically fetch well over $150,000 USD when they come up for sale.
The Group B specification Peugeot 205 T16 would go on to win both the 1985 and 1986 Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles with Timo Salonen and Juha Kankkunen respectively.
Group B was cancelled at the end of the 1986 season due to the number of driver and spectator deaths – the danger posed to spectators is very clear in the above documentary with many people standing inches from the racing line and getting showered with dirt and stones as cars pass.
If you’d like to read more about the Peugeot 205 T16 you can click here.
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
