She's beautiful. She's stylish. With the roof down, the only line which breaks the curve from bonnet to boot is the windscreen. Pininfarina at his best on such a subtle car. Never a slouch, the 2.0 litre versions packed a punch worth considering and the 1.6's though less poky were sufficient for a gentle canter through the lanes. Based on the popular 306 models, these topless beauties were equipped with reasonable options for their equally reasonable price. Likewise were the suspension and braking systems well spec'ed for vehicle size and class. Often rated highly amongst it's competitors and always well reviewed, surely there can be little said about this car that hasn't already been said a thousand times before...?
There is a road in the west of England that is around 15 miles long. It follows the contours of a valley for some time before culminating in a beach, some cliffs and the sea. There are Around 150 corners along this road and the inclination is constantly changing. One moment you are climbing high along the spine of a range of low hills, perhaps 300 meters in elevation, the next you are hurtling down into the river valley which carves it's way out to water. There are fast climbs, sudden swerves, stomach tightening chicanes aplenty. Medium fast corners evaporate into shocking hairpins savage, negative-camber bends with blind humps and loose surface, not to mention mud, wildlife, and traffic. As you near the ocean the roads open, widen and their surface improves. There is a quiet spot at the far end where you can sit for a while and watch the waves. Mostly, on any given weekday, you will find me tearing along this road or one of many like it in pursuit of the one thing that makes life tolerable. Speed. I am not a wealthy man. And I am bad with that which I am blessed with. This means that the pursuit of speed style and purpose in life leads me to make some unusual choices when it comes to personal transport.
The peugeot 306 cabriolet was one of those more unusual choices, but the way I rationalised it, it was only a hatchback with a decent engine and a trick roof. So I thought hard about it and then ultimately decided on it because of it's relative beauty, not unreasonable performance figures, and because it was £250. In the advert it looked perfect, as I walked-round an then drove-round in it it looked even better. I shook the guy's hand and nearly ran away to prevent him changing his mind, driving carefully so as not to risk my new baby too early. It was later, about 20 miles down the road that I started to realise what a truly amazing deal I had gotten myself. A Cadbury's purple 306 cab. with black roof and leather and AC. All the toys and a working roof. I genuinely felt bad for the guy. How could he not know? Then, 21 miles down the road, the gearbox locked solid at 40MPH and I skidded to a halt. The friend who had driven me to the car to view it was forced to drag my car with his poky little 1.4, with my wheels locked, onto a convenient side road. It was 100 miles from home. £1000 later the car was eventually home with a new gearbox and a fresh pine-scented car-freshener, just like the movies. I could finally, finally have some fun in my not-quite-such-a-bargain Droptop, hot hatch 'Pug.
Something was wrong. I'd driven 306's before. Some real rocket-ships too. But something was off. The 2.0 xsi lump was growling away. The exhaust was making the correct frequency in my cranium. The steering felt as sharp as it should and yet....and yet. Another 3 minutes down the road and I was approaching a fast tightening bend. As I plunged through it I glanced in the rear-view mirror...And then I saw it. The rear window was out of place, no wait...I was struggling to keep my eyes the road. and then as I tucked through a neat little left right at about 60MPH I looked again and saw the whole rear window pivot from one side to the other, as the chassis of the car warped and struggled with the immense lateral torque. I was losing 10-15 MPH of my average apex speeds in a car with superior performance figures to anything from my previous stable. The engine would drag me up to speed again out of the bends and the brakes were sharp going in, but the twist along the body was sapping performance through constant camber changing turns and inclination variations, and would send the back out wildly at apparently random, honestly, it felt like it was threatening safety. With just a thin metal bar stylishly and discretely tailored within the quarterlight window runners and the windscreen to protect you in the event of a rollover, between the doors the floor is weak and if you do turn over you are likely to be trimmed down to just above the elbows. Frankly, I would prefer not to lose my head or shoulders or break the chassis in two given the option.
Somewhat ironically, despite the wonky body, sapped handling, and deadly risks just by going to the shops, this car went on to last with typical French aplomb. Taking more abuse than it ought, after going quicker than it should it outlasted may of my other Bangers. Attempts to tighten steering and fit new bushes and shocks had limited effect, this car os too flexible to really fly. Once it was gone from the farm, I replaced it with something a little sportier, with two seats and a stiff shell. This seemed like a good idea to for a while, before I realised where the sparkle of the little Pug lay...Nowadays, though I still use the sports car to go out of my little adventures, I now use a whole NEW bendy little Peugeot to do all my boring everyday stuff. Low-speed town shopping. Motorway runs. Its got 4 seats and a big boot. For a bachelor with a cat it's like a family car. It's based on a hatchback after all. The other 306's are grand. Theyre stiff and taut and lovely. But the Bareback cabrio lost all that verve to looks, so theyre great for being seen, but not really for driving that enthusiastically.
Still, when you look this good...you can get away with anything.
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