PEUGEOT 106 RALLYE

Its 1.3-litre engine produces a mere 100bhp and its top speed is just 118mph. But the Series 1 Rallye has motorsport in its DNA, an insatiable appetite for revs and real genius in its handling. Proof that evo icons can come in the humblest of packages

THE VIEW THROUGH THE LITTLE PEUGEOT'S DEEP windscreen is almost entirely fields expansive, gently rolling hills of sun-bleached crops as far as the eye can see, baked almost to the colour of Weissbier under an unrelenting sun. Toasty air blasts through the wound-down side windows and small, open sunroof, coquettishly positioned upwards and rearwards in the slipstream following a few revolutions of the frail plastic handle behind the rear-view mirror. It's no match for air conditioning, but it does the job; stationary, though, the 40-degree heat is enough to have my forearms literally wringing wet with sweat in mere seconds.

If I didn't know better I'd swear we were somewhere past Reims, sailing along a French N-road, driving one of Peugeot Sport's absolute belters on its home soil, but I do - a few miles ahead lies Wantage, Oxfordshire, roasting in record temperatures. At lea three people today have already said 'You'll cook today in that without air con!', but you know what? I couldn't care less. It's been 26 years since I last drove a Series 1 106 Rallye, the first sporting car I ever owned, and it feels like coming home. Getting a sweat on isn't going to spoil that.