The 106 was homologated for Group A and Group N, raced in one-make cups, entered in 24-hour races and stretched into a Kit Car. It was also where a generation of drivers learned to drive.
A 106 XSi in historic rallying, Rallye de l’Ardèche 2024 · Photo credit on the gallery page
To race in Group A or N a car has to exist in numbers. Peugeot Sport built the Rallye so a private driver could buy the homologated car, bolt on Peugeot Sport parts and compete in the 1.3-litre class, and later at 1.6.
Peugeot 106 Rallye
Before nine World Championships, Sébastien Loeb's first rally car was a 106. He won four races in the 1,300 cc category of a regional series before jumping to 1,600 cc and being named 'best hope of the year' by the French magazine Échappement.
Peugeot 106 Rallye
The 106 Rallye ran in Group N, Group A, national championships, Peugeot Sport meetings and one-make cups. Peugeot Sport sold parts for suspension, brakes, gearboxes, limited-slip differentials, roll cages and engines. The Cup is remembered as a talent pool: Mark Fisher, Kris Meeke, Cédric Robert, Alex Bengué and Daniel Sola all came through.
Peugeot 106
A 106 entered the Nürburgring 24 Hours every year from 1993 to 2003, ending only with the end of the car.
Peugeot 106
Olympic decathlete Daley Thompson wins his class at Thruxton in the National Saloon Car Cup and enters the Willhire 24 Hours at Snetterton in a 106.
Peugeot 106 Rallye (Series 1)
Model 5505, the 1,294 cc Rallye, homologated on 2 January 1994. The 1.3-litre capacity class is chosen so that private drivers could compete without a factory budget.
Peugeot 106 Maxi
Built by Peugeot Sport for the 2-litre F2 Kit Car regulations, using the approach of the 306 Maxi in the 106 bodyshell. Kit Cars could beat four-wheel-drive rivals on tarmac, and the regulations were later tightened. The 106 Maxi is a 1.6-litre 16-valve with four throttle bodies, a sequential six-speed and a one-piece wide body.
Peugeot 106
The 106 competed at Spa for three years, with a best overall result of 11th in 1998.
Peugeot 106 Maxi
Cédric Robert, born in Saint-Étienne in 1973 and a 106 Cup graduate, finishes fifth in the French Championship in a 106 Maxi.
Each bar is a documented programme. Ranges reflect where sources disagree about dates.
The Maxi is the 106 pushed to the edge of the rules. In the FIA's F2 Kit Car category the engine could be 2.0-litre normally aspirated, front-wheel drive only, with a wider body. Peugeot Sport took the approach of the 306 Maxi and applied it to the smaller car.
The result: a 1.6-litre sixteen-valve engine with four individual throttles, a sequential six-speed gearbox, a one-piece wide-body kit, and roughly 900 kg. Power is quoted between 215 and 238 hp near 9,500 rpm — sources disagree, so this archive does too.
215 PS (Rallyssimo) — 238 bhp (enthusiast sources)
Cheap to buy, cheap to fix, and light enough to teach the difference between grip and speed. The 106 Cup and its rivals were an apprenticeship.
