VIN: the works Peugeot 205 T16 Evolution 1 chassis C17
History of chassis C17
Chassis C17 was used in two events by the factory Peugeot Talbot Sport squad (PTS).
It debuted on the 1985 Acropolis Rally (May 27th to 30th) which was round six of that year’s World Championship.
Although Peugot had debuted the Evolution 2 version of the T16 at the preceding Tour de Cose, they reverted to the Evolution 1 for the next three events.
PTS entered a pair of Evo 1s for the Acropolis: C17 for Vatanen and C10 for Salonen. The cars were in gravel trim running as much ground clearance as possible.
Having won five consecutive events between the tail end of 1984 and early 1985, the rotten luck Vatanen had experienced since Rally Sweden back in February continued. He retired on the second stage; broken suspension had smashed his oil reservoir.
By contrast, Salonen led from start to finish driving the sister car (a first in the event’s history).
Rally Argentina (round eight: July 30th to August 3rd) was expected to be the last event for the works T16 Evo 1. Peugeot took three cars to South America; C18 for Salonen, C19 for Vatanen and C17 for Carlos Reutemann who was making his first competitive appearance since he abandoned Formula 1 in early 1982.
All three cars were in gravel trim running the tallest possible ride height.
Audi used the event to debut their wild new Quattro Sport Evolution 2.
Perhaps mindful of a points gap to his team-mate, Vatanen was really pushing during the second stage when he hit a mudhole at 120mph and launched his car into a series of violent rolls. Described at the time as the most serious survivable crash ever seen, Vatanen sustained major injuries and, although he went on to compete for Peugeot in the Paris-Dakar and at Pikes Peak, he never completed another full WRC campaign. Terry Harryman miraculously escaped relatively unscathed but was still out for several months.
After Vatanen had retired, the solitary Evo 2 Quattro followed on stage eight. This left the Lancia-free event to Salonen who won by 14 minutes from the Quattro A2 of Wiedner / Zehetner.
Meanwhile, Reutemann drove steadily in C17 to finish third. His only delay (a two minute stop for a sodden plug lead) was the result of splashing over-enthusiastically through the many water crossings to thrill his adoring home fans.
C17 was not rallied by the PTS squad again.
Notable History
Peugeot Talbot Sport
Registered 26 FGV 75
27/05/1985 WRC Acropolis Rally (A. Vatanen / T. Harryman) DNF (#2)
Registered 709 EXC 75
30/07/1985 WRC Rally Argentina (C. Reutemann / J.F. Fauchille) 3rd oa, 3rd Gr.B class (#1)
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Peugeot - http://www.peugeot.com
