Finding 1FMs

After production of the 205 GTi ceased and general awareness of the 1FM variant weakened some of the cars appear to have changed hands over the years simply as 205 GTis with high specifications. 

It is over the last 10 years that the 1FM’s have seen resurgence in popularity resulting in a group of enthusiastic owners restoring and researching the cars. Initially we only knew the whereabouts of three of the cars, No.5, No.8 and No.13. As we began to research the cars and find out more about their specification and features others started to come out of the woodwork. We then began to spot the cars for sale as standard 205 GTi’s. Considerable help from both Peugeot and Clarion resulted in us obtaining large amounts of original paperwork and pictures of the cars and the 1FM jigsaw slowly started being pieced together. The cars started to gain popularity and coverage in Peugeot club magazines as well as appearances at car shows and a slot on the TV programme ‘Used Car Roadshow’ meant more people became aware of the existence of 1FM’s.

We have been working to try and find the whereabouts of all 25 cars. We now know the exact whereabouts and owners of 17 of the cars. We believe that another 1 is likely to still exist. The other 7 are believed to have been written off and scrapped. Considering that many of the cars have previously changed hands as standard 205 GTi’s it is surprising that around 75% of the original cars have survived since 1992. Hopefully now that the majority of the remaining cars are in enthusiasts hands they will be around for a long time to come. 

None of the cars that have been found have had all of the original features, some being in a very poor state of repair. The hardest part from the point of restoring the cars to original status is finding the parts that were 1FM specific. Many of the cars that have turned up were missing some or all of the 1FM decals, leather interiors, alloy wheels and of course the stereo system. Parts do turn up over time, normally from the several 1FM cars that have been written off and scrapped. We have also had replica parts such as stickers and mats made using the originals as a basis.

Out of the 17 cars there are now a large number that are on the road and have the majority or all of the original 1FM features.