Is the Peugeot 205gti a chavvy car?

A question raised by this post over at Peugeot-gti.com which we thought was worth a little comment.

I think it's fair to say the 205gti got it's fair share of reputation for being a bit 'boy-racer' but then what 80's/90's hot hatch didn't? Right through from MkII Golfs to XR2i's all have the same reputation and I don't think one in particular stands out as being worse than the others. Thankfully, they have aged gracefully and coming onto 20 years down the line for most of these cars they have become classic icons.

Try and find a unmolested 205gti on Pistonheads now and you will be looking at at least £2,500 and the prices are continuing to rise. As I write this now there are seven on there with an asking price of over £5,000. It is a similar situation for the MkII Golf GTi as well.

That band of 80's/90's hot-hatches are definitely one of those cars where standard example = classic icon but as soon as the modifications start coming it's all too easy to slide into shed of the week territory.

The question is will the GTi6 ever become as desirable as the 205gti and mkii golf gti? Prices right now (Feb 2012) are pretty much rock bottom and it's hard to imagine how long it will take for them to start rising again. Saying that, decent unmolested Peugeot GTi6's are already becoming hard to come by...