The Peugeot 208 GTi 30th Anniversary Is A Hot Hatch Well Worth Dropping £22k On

When the press release for Peugeot’s 208 GTi 30th Anniversary edition landed in our inbox last June, we were expecting to read about a car with little more than a paint job and some fancy badges, as is usually the case for these limited-run affairs. However, that couldn’t be further from the truth. The heavily-revised spec for the car includes lower suspension with a wider track, bigger brakes, a limited-slip differential borrowed from the RCZ-R, and more power from the 1.6-litre turbo four-pot.

The only thing missing was the price, which has now been revealed as £21,995. That’s just over £3000 more than the standard car, which, considering the raft of improvements, seems like a bit of a bargain.

It’ll be exclusive too: only 300 are being built, 100 of which will be coming to the UK - owing to the British buying public’s love affair with hot hatches. Of the UK cars, 75 will be in the distinctive two-tone red/black ‘Coupe Franche’ finish you can see here - which will set you back £800 - with 20 in Glacier White (£150) and five in Rioja Red.

With the engine boosted to produce 205bhp and 221lb ft of torque, the 30th Anniversary will do the benchmark 0-62mph sprint in 6.5 seconds, three tenths down on the standard car. Tempted? It goes on sale tomorrow.

Peugeot has also released a new advert - which we attended the premiere of in London last night - which is a cheeky homage to the classic 1986 205 GTi commercial.