PEUGEOT 106 RALLYE

Its 1.3-litre engine produces a mere 100bhp and its top speed is just 118mph. But the Series 1 Rallye has motorsport in its DNA, an insatiable appetite for revs and real genius in its handling. Proof that evo icons can come in the humblest of packages

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THE VIEW THROUGH THE LITTLE PEUGEOT'S DEEP windscreen is almost entirely fields expansive, gently rolling hills of sun-bleached crops as far as the eye can see, baked almost to the colour of Weissbier under an unrelenting sun. Toasty air blasts through the wound-down side windows and small, open sunroof, coquettishly positioned upwards and rearwards in the slipstream following a few revolutions of the frail plastic handle behind the rear-view mirror. It's no match for air conditioning, but it does the job; stationary, though, the 40-degree heat is enough to have my forearms literally wringing wet with sweat in mere seconds.

If I didn't know better I'd swear we were somewhere past Reims, sailing along a French N-road, driving one of Peugeot Sport's absolute belters on its home soil, but I do - a few miles ahead lies Wantage, Oxfordshire, roasting in record temperatures. At lea three people today have already said 'You'll cook today in that without air con!', but you know what? I couldn't care less. It's been 26 years since I last drove a Series 1 106 Rallye, the first sporting car I ever owned, and it feels like coming home. Getting a sweat on isn't going to spoil that.