VIN: the works Peugeot 205 T16 Evolution 2 chassis C213
History of chassis C213
Like every example of the 20 Evolution 2 T16s built, chassis C213 was reserved strictly for use by the works Peugeot Talbot Sport operation headed by Jean Todt.
C213 made its competitive debut as part of a three-car car team at round eleven of the 1986 World Rally Championship, Rallye Sanremo, which comprised 488km of mixed gravel and tarmac special stages between October 13th and 17th.
Peugeot arrived with a raft of updates for the Evo 2 which included a six-speed gearbox, new side skirts and hydraulic shock absorber attachments to reduce understeer around slow corners. Carbonfibre brakes had been trialled in the weeks before but were not used.
C213 was allocated to Timo Salonen / Seppo Harjanne but retired on stage eight when Salonen crashed trying to overtake Markku Alen’s Lancia Delta S4. More seriously, the rally was marred by the death of event leader Henri Toivonen and his navigator, Sergio Cresto, when their S4 went off the side of a hill and was consumed by an intense fire.
Peugeot’s Bruno Saby went on to secure a hollow first WRC victory and, in the most sombre of circumstances, Peugeot took the lead from Lancia in the Manufacturers’ championship.
Chassis C213’s second and final outing came at the RAC Rally which took place on 517km of gravel special stages between November 16th and 19th. Peugeot entered a trio of 450bhp cars in Sanremo gravel trim, albeit with revised exhaust systems to cope with strict British noise legislation.
C213 was entered for Mikael Sundstrom and Voitto Silander who had been driving for Peugeot Talbot Sport UK in a domestic campaign with an Evolution 1. They had a steady run to fourth overall while Salonen won the event for Peugeot, Alen bagged second for Lancia and fellow T16 pilot Juha Kankkunen placed third despite having put his car’s nose into a ditch and rolled.
Peugeot Talbot Sport did not compete with chassis C213 again.
Notable History
Peugeot Talbot Sport
Registered 237 FWH 75
01/05/1986 WRC Tour de Corse (T. Salonen / S. Harjanne) DNF (#2)
Registered 287 FPF 75
16/11/1986 WRC RAC Rally (M. Sundstrom / V. Silander) 4th oa, 4th B12 class (#11)
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Peugeot - http://www.peugeot.com
