Evolution in action

As the Peugeot 205 turns 40, we look at how this most iconic of French superminis has influenced the brand's latest small car

- Alex Ingram

IN the early eighties, the supermini class underwent something of a revolution. Ford's second-generation Fiesta, the Vauxhall Nova and the Nissan Micra all hit UK dealers within a year or two of one another, transforming the small-car landscape. But there was one car that blew all of those away when it came to ability, desirability and choice.

Until 1984, Peugeot was a brand best known for producing chunky, bulletproof saloon cars, but it desperately needed a replacement for its ageing 104 hatchback. The result was the 205 - a supermini which set the standard that all other small cars would have to live up to for the rest of the decade.

The 205 proved to be a runaway success for Peugeot. Between 1984 and 1998, over 5.3 million units were sold, and it troubled the top of the sales charts throughout Europe. Buyers couldn't get enough of the stylish French fancy, with crisp clean lines and neat proportions setting a template that the brand would follow with models into the nineties.

Indeed, it's a car that Peugeot still looks back on proudly, and draws on as inspiration for all of its latest superminis. Today's 208 is part of a model line-up that shows the French company is back on the kind of roll that it hasn't seen since its heyday at the end of the last century.

So for the 205's 40th anniversary, we've lined up old and new to see what made the original so special - and how the new car has moved the game on.