1986 Peugeot 305 SR Automatic review from UK and Ireland

Strut top bearings started to knock badly, £9 a side and 1 hour of my life fixed it. Nothing else apart from general service items.

This is a cheap, simple old car, but it is superb.

Over the years I have driven many wonderful and expensive cars, but no car can match the power steering in this. It is razor sharp, superbly quick and responsive, and the car reacts in an instant, despite that it is easy at speed with an excellent turning circle for parking.

Then there is the suspension; it glides along, speed bumps are barely noticed, it's creamy, however it also handles very sharply, with excellent body control and loads of grip, despite its skinny 165 section tyres.

The 1.6 OHC engine isn't the fastest, but it is smooth, reliable with a pleasing noise too. Fuel economy is only average, but it will do 37mph on a motorway cruise on premium unleaded. The interior isn't the best quality, but it's pretty well made and quiet at speed. Nothing has ever broken or fallen off though.

The autobox is silky smooth, I changed the fluid as per the 24k service item, and it improved even more. This car is seriously cheap to maintain.

The bodywork was extremely flat when I got it, but had always been garaged so is in very good order, no rot, just a few little scabs that can be sorted in time.

The amount of space inside is also very impressive, and the general way the car behaves belies its age. A great car!