There are plenty of cars that fall off people’s radars over the years, and the 309 is one such car. Never the prettiest car in the world and over shadowed by its smaller brother, the 205, the 309 has probably been pretty much forgotten by most people. For me though, the memory will never fade, as this was the car that taught me what a hot hatch should be.
The 309 entered my life because I was laid up in bed with an ankle full of snapped ligaments and bored. My steed at that time, an Astra, was starting to suffer some superficial rot and I was getting tired of it. Being incapacitated for a couple of weeks with a copy of the Parkers guide and some car mags was always going to cause me trouble.
Being at University at the time, I had to be careful and work to a budget. This wasn’t only with the initial purchase price, but with running costs and insurance. I wanted speed, something with the biggest bang per buck. Studying the various publications revealed that the 309 had the lowest insurance group of any car that could break the nine second barrier to sixty. From that point on the die was cast, this was going to be my next car. A couple of weeks later, leg still in cast, I was the proud owner of a metallic grey 309 SRi.
The SRi was effectively the 205 GTi 1.6’s bigger brother. Based on the same floor pan and suspension as the smaller car, it was clothed in boxy uninspiring body work. To make matters worse (or better depending on your opinion), other than the multi holed 14” alloy wheels it looked no different to a base model car. Hardly the trendy sort of car a nineteen year old student should be interested in, but I wasn’t buying it to impress the ladies.
Inside, for the second car in succession was another dose of 80’s velour, but this was finer stranded than the material used by Vauxhall, and if you sat up too quickly, it would pull your trousers down! The dash board was also a retrograde step. Materials used by Peugeot at the time were definitely a couple of pegs below that of their opposition, and a quick tap on the dash would return a thin insubstantial hollow sounding noise.
On the plus side however, and in complete contrast to the Astra, the 309 had a gear box that was a pleasure to use and steering that spoke to you, despite the awful feel of the actual wheel rim. The ride too was a revelation, and despite some body roll, the car went round corners properly without modification. Compared to today’s cars, the performance was hardly stunning, but the engine had reasonable torque and endowed the light weight chassis with a decent turn of speed.
This was the car that taught me how to drive, learning what a decent chassis could do in all situations. This is also the car that taught me about lift off oversteer, but I’m sure I am not the first driver to say that about a warm Pug!
I ran the car for nearly forty thousand enjoyable miles until I got my first proper job, where upon I had to choose a company car and being smitten with the 309 it was only ever going to be another Peugeot. I was offered the car back a couple of years later, but being a home owner with bills by that point, I sadly had to pass up the offer. Shame really, because if I hadn’t, I’d probably still have the car now.
Great article. Reminds me of when i was 14. My Dad had a red 3 door 309. I'm not sure of the exact model but it was a 1.9 diesel. We all went on holiday in it, to Spain! Drove down to Valencia, Dad and his wife in the front, us 3 kids in the back. No air con, the back windows on the 3 door didn't roll down, they would only open on a hinge at the back by an inch or so. It was hot and noisy due to the front windows having to be open all the time so we didn't cook. We did it in 2 days, stopping off in France the first night. Great memories.
Great cars the 80's Peugeots. I've since tried a fair few including 205 GTI's and they really don't make 'em like they used to.