Peugeot 205

The Peugeot 205 is a French supermini hatchback built by Peugeot, introduced in 1983 and produced until 1998, widely credited with rescuing Peugeot from a period of financial and product difficulty in the early 1980s and restoring the company's reputation for stylish, well-engineered small cars. Built in a wide range of trim levels from basic economy versions to the sporting 205 GTI, regarded by many motoring writers as one of the finest hot hatchbacks ever produced, the 205 combined light weight, sharp handling and clean styling that aged well across its long production run. The 205's commercial and critical success made it one of the best-selling cars in French automotive history and a benchmark against which later Peugeot superminis were measured for years afterward.