The French are coming to this year's edition of the famed Pikes Peak International Hill Climb (June 30) with Peugeot and nine-time world rally champion Sébastien Loeb who will be driving thenewly developed 208 T16, the first full pictures of which were released today along with a short promotional video that also features the 405 T16.Peugeot hopes it can repeat the success it had with the 405 T16, which claimed back-to-back victories in 1988 and 1989, in the hands of Finnish rally driver Ari Vatanen and American former Indy Racing League driver and eight-time winner of the Pikes Peak International Hillclimb, Robby Unser, respectively.
Sébastien Loeb says he was "struck" and greatly inspired by the film ‘Climb Dance’ (see video below) that was produced to commemorate Vatanen’s success.
Not surprisingly, the 208 T16 has very little in common with the familiar French supermini with which it shares its name, though, Peugeot is still holding back on the details surrounding the mid-engine racer.
"Its proportions are very different to those of the production 208," states Michael Trouvé, who is in charge of silhouette design at Peugeot’s Styling Centre. “This difference gives it an almost beast-like appearance. Peugeot Sport provided us with a number of technical constraints, such as the width, body height, location of the wheels and engine, and we worked to this brief to produce an extreme take on the 208."
