Peugeot 206 WRC Rallye de France 1999 by Solido
Peugeot 206 WRC Rallye de France 1999 by Solido
Peugeot 206 WRC Rallye de France 1999 by Solido
Peugeot who were dominant in World Rallying in the mid 1980's (with the 205 T16), re-entered top class rallying in 1999 with this car, the 206 WRC. Like it's main competitors, the Ford Focus WRC, Subaru Impreza WRC, and the Mitsubishi Lancer Evo VI and VII, the 206 WRC has a turbocharged four cylinder engine producing approximately 300bhp, and an advanced four wheel drive system to maximize traction on all surfaces. In addition to this, it has the standard safety gear you would expect in a rally car, including a strong internal roll cage and competition seats with five point harnesses. Apart from the basic body shell, it is a very different car to the standard roadgoing 206.
In 2000, Finnish driver Marcus Gronholm won the drivers championship in the 206, while in 2001, the drivers championship went to Richard Burns in a Subaru, but Peugeot won the manufacturers championship. Not a bad record to date! Essentially the new 206 WRC has already proven to be a highly competitive rally car, much as it's predecessor the 205 T16 did in 1985 and 1986.
Solido make this model of the 206 WRC and it is easily the best model they have made to date. Ordinarily Solidos have not been the most detailed or true to scale models, but this 206 is the first Solido to be made in China (as most 1:18ths are) as opposed to France, and the lower labour costs mean it is far more detailed than one can usually expect from this French maker. Bottom line is, it's a great little model!
It has good quality white paintwork with tampoed blue markings (as opposed to decals which can peel and lift with time), a good level of interior detail and an average level of engine detail. They have even attempted to represent brake calipers by incorporating them with the brake discs (which consequently don't move with the wheels). The end result does not look quite as good as say an AUTOart (which has highly detailed brake discs and calipers) but is not too bad at all, and looks better than discs with no calipers at all. So full marks to Solido for finding a low budget way to represent proper brakes! The roof aerials are a bit thick too, and the front and rear lights are a bit basic too, but generally I'm nitpicking.
A must for any rally car fan, and given it's low price/good detail mix, it gets a well earned 7/10 from me (streets ahead of any other Solido model I've seen).
