Last time I drive Terry’s 206. It’s a 1600 cc W-reg Peugeot from May 2000. It’s not quite a Classic but is a car from another era: dial-up modems, Tony Blair and the Millennium Bug.
I love the direct feel of the controls when driving, you push the pedal and the 1587 cc four-cylinder engine responds; there’s electronic ignition but no ECU managing the emissions and mitigating the response. No ABS or traction control. Slight power-assist on the steering but a very positive feel nonetheless and it steers true, not under or over.
This 206 has seen him right for the past twenty years and more, requiring regular servicing, tyres, batteries and exhausts but nothing much more. It’s been a bit fussy about which E10 fuel it will take but basically runs on normal unleaded. Most recently it’s been cared for by a back street garage in Brighton, ie not a dealer.
It’s looking unlikely that any of us will be driving a full petrol car in another twenty years time for the summer of 2044, let alone one bought this year.
My last drive was a day out foraging in the lanes of Sussex gathering blackberries for home-made jam. The blue 206 will take him to his gym and shopping a few times more but will soon be gone as trade-in collateral for a new and smaller car.
