One to Buy: three-time rally winning ex-works 2001 Peugeot 206 WRC Evolution 2
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Having achieved back-to-back Driver and Constructor titles at the height of the Group B era during 1985 and ‘86, Peugeot quit the World Rally Championship following the FIA’s decision to ban Group B cars from 1987. The French firm instead turned their attention to the Paris-Dakar Rally followed by Sports Prototype and F1 programmes.
It wasn’t until 1999 that Peugeot officially made its highly anticipated return to the top flight of the World Rally Championship; it did so with the 206 WRC which would take the challenge to Subaru, Mitsubishi and Ford.
With a compact, squat and heavily spoilered nature, the 206 WRC looked every inch like a successer to the all-conquering 206 T16 that preceded it. And despite such a high bar to reach, the diminutive 206 WRC went one better than its illustrious forebear by achieving three back-to Driver and Constructor titles between 2000 and 2002.
Currently on offer at the Girardo & Co. showroom in Oxford is a veteran from that second wave of dominance on the special stages: 206 WRC Evolution 2 chassis C35.
Used by the factory Peugeot Sport squad on ten occasions between 2001 and 2003, C35 won a total of three events during that time: the 2002 Tour de Cose (Gilles Panizzi / Herve Panizzi), 2002 Rally Australia (Marcus Gronholm / Timo Rautiainen) and 2003 Rally New Zealand (Gronholm / Rautiainen again).
Offered fresh from a recent restoration by marque experts to its exact 2003 Rally New Zealand specification, at £360,000 chassis C35 looks very good value compared a 205 T16 with similar provenance.
For more information visit the Girardo & Co. website at: https://girardo.com/
