Cars
Broken Dreams: Peugeot Oxia. The Lion’s Dream
Peugeot’s wild Group S dreams led to the Oxia supercar—680hp, solar tech, and a Le Mans legacy, all from a canceled rally class.
In the mid-80s, Peugeot, which was winning both in Rally Championships and at the Dakar with the 205 T16, set out to make an evolution of this fortunate model for what would be the future Group S. A category that never saw the light of day because the compact, lightweight cars that were being prepared appeared too risky to be used in road races such as rallies.
The small Quasar, with the same advanced mechanics as the 205 T16, including a transverse engine and four-wheel drive wasn’t however destined to remain a useless experience. The desire for racing, and in particular Peugeot’s concerted effort to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, was expressed by a fascinating supercar called Oxia, presented in 1988 at the Paris Motor Show.
