Restoring and modernizing a Peugeot 205 GTI like this takes 700 hours

Tolman Engineering (UK) deals in beautifully restored and considerably upgraded Peugeot 205 GTI retro hatches packing 203 PS (200 hp / 149 kW) under the hood. The example shown here was the first to be made, but the production is already in full swing.

When it debuted in 1984, the model made do with a non-turbo 1.6-liter four-pot capable of 106 PS (104 hp / 77 kW). A 1.9-liter version complemented the range later with 130 PS (128 hp / 96 kW) at its disposal. This spec was the one Tolman worked with, upgrading its cylinder heads, camshafts, exhaust system and ECU to deliver the abovementioned 203 PS to the wheels and reduce the 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) time to 6.5 seconds.

The five-speed manual transmission remains in place, but the tuner suggests swapping out the shift rods and the bushes for superior counterparts for more confident shifting. A differential with automatic torque vectoring is optional.

The body gets stripped down to bare metal and resprayed with a protective ceramic coating to seal the result. The interior can get a Bluetooth radio, digital gauges and an infotainment touchscreen, among other modern niceties – you decide what goes in and what doesn’t.

Creating one such car involves around 700 hours of work, Tolman points out. The prices start at £55,000. The 205 GTI is the only option so far, but the company is looking into adding other hot hatches from the same era to its portfolio.