A Swiss Peugeot dealership is now building a 208 ‘Rallye’

Fancy a Peugeot 208 with a bit more spunk? A Swiss dealership is now creating a limited edition ‘Rallye’ version that celebrates 40 years since the birth of the original 205 Turbo 16, a car which dominated the World Rally Championship in the ‘80s. 

A set of 16in steelies immediately catches our attention, and works alongside the all-white paint and smoked lights. Unfortunately the Rallye only comes as a five-door, which looks awkward when you throw a sporty frock on any rally-inspired hatchback - even if this is just a pretender. Oh, we forgot to mention: the exterior changes aren’t complimented by any substantial performance-related ones.

A hallmark of other Peugeot special editions has typically been a healthy weight loss, but this car has been denied of any such keto diet since it still weighs a similar amount to the standard car (1,165kg).

Perhaps the 208 has benefitted from a power jump then, given that no natural GTi alternative currently exists? Unfortunately, it’s a stern ‘no’ to Popeye’s spinach too. The six-speed manual box is mated to a fancy new black gear stick with red accents at one end, but still used to access a 1.2-litre three-cylinder unit with around 100bhp at the other. It’s fine, the go-faster stripes add an invisible 20bhp.

The interior has seen a mild revamp, with ‘imitation’ carbon applied across the dash and door panels, while a light-grey theme presides. The compact leather steering wheel has also been retained, which we’re big supporters of.

The price, you ask? That’ll be £22,000, though we aren’t sure if any further upgrades or options can be added. It’s also worth noting the Rallye is based on the outgoing 208 model, and not the forthcoming 9X8 hypercar-inspired facelift 208.

Another grey area is whether the Rallye will be coming to the UK, but given that it’s being built in low volumes by a single dealership on the other side of Europe, we wouldn’t count our chickens. Cue the Titanic-esque violin performance.