They did it. Deep down, I knew it was only a matter of time. As soon as those supersized “Renault 5s” broke cover, astronomically missing the point, I knew it was going to happen. Still, this one feels kind of personal.
I haven’t watched Peugeot’s advert for the 208 (is it 208?) GTI in its entirety. I simply couldn’t be arsed. I saw the bit where a load of 205 GTIs were driven to Le Mans and that was enough for me.
The thing is, I’ve been to Le Mans in a 205GTI. It was probably about fifteen years ago – me and a mate loaded it up and made the annual pilgrimage to the Sarthe. Amazingly, although the place was packed to the gunwales with blisteringly expensive exotica and heart-achingly beautiful classics, people still wanted to talk about the old Pug, still wanted to look at it, photograph it, smile at it.
That’s because Le Mans is full of people who actually like cars. They’re interested in them, understand them. They get them.
Peugeot, evidently, no longer does. It isn’t really fair to single them out here; lots of manufacturers are at it. Despite being too young to drive when proper Capris were in production, I was pretty angry about Ford resurrecting the name and applying it to the joyless amorphous blob currently wearing the badge. I felt connected to the Capri. I get them. (Click on the Car you always promised yourself to read the feature).
I get the Peugeot GTI thing too. Here are some words on the subject I wrote elsewhere a few years ago:
I’d forgotten. It’s difficult to explain what a 205 GTI can do to someone who has never driven one. The road between Machynlleth and Oswestry is a fifty mile long series of twisting curves. It might as well have been a straight line. Several times I had to pause to let my lift catch up – and I was driving the car gently. It has been years and years and years since I have enjoyed the simple act of driving between points A and B. Yesterday brought it all back home…
Nobody will ever feel like that about a 208(?) GTI. Oh, it will be lightning fast and I’m sure it will integrate seamlessly with the latest “advancement” from the House of Apple. No owner will ever curse its maddening tickover or moan that it’s a pain in the backside in traffic. It won’t be fun though. It won’t possess an ounce of the joie de vivre for which Peugeot’s previous fast hatches were renowned.
As James has said elsewhere, there’s not much point running through the EV argument again. You either like them or you don’t. I don’t, but I respect people’s freedom of choice to buy them (would that such sentiment was reciprocated) and, once again, I expect to be pilloried as an old man shouting at clouds. I am, however, no friend of Ned Ludd. In my professional life, I have written numerous papers on subjects such as cyber security, AI and cloud computing. Technological progress is unstoppable, but it isn’t always positive. Being unable to book a haircut without using an app is ridiculous and just one successful attack on our CNI will serve to demonstrate the folly of our over-reliance on tech. Similarly, the belief that electricity can power all of the vehicles upon which we depend is misguided.
Still, if they’re lucky, Peugeot might even have a sales success on their hands. The whitened teeth and grey velour Dubai chocolate set might clamour to park them behind their RAL 7016 gates.
Who knows? More to the point, who cares?
