Lou Ruff’s Euro Peugeot 206
A very first project ride, you’ve gotta love it. It’s where mighty modifying teeth are cut in the car world, all via big ideas, throwing money around and, in some naughty cases, an odd bodge job or two.
Not all first ventures have to be rough round the edges though: take bank clerk Lou Ruff and his perfect Pug 206, for example. The West Coast rookie hasn’t gone overboard on his ideas, has been watertight with his money and has still crafted a Pug that’s literally come out looking like a million dollars.
Fair, the 206 is a Marmite car amongst some scene diehards, but that was water under the bridge for Louis when buying the 1.6 HDi as a first car just over two years ago. The man himself explains: “I needed something pokey that also does good mpg, as I have to travel 300 miles a week to get to the bank where I work, so this was perfect.”
From there, the Bristol lad was always destined to go down the modifying route – the slammed rides of his friends that also turned up to the FC shoot shows low is all this bunch know, and anyway, car tinkering runs in the family. “It’s true,” Lou confirms, “my Dad’s still got his show-winning XR3 and that car was a big influence on me. That and the Internet, obviously!”
A good surf of the ‘net along with his Dad’s taste in cars helped Lou see what could be achieved with his 206, before going a little step further than what he was used to seeing in the world of French hatches. “First of all I went down the normal route of OEM modifications, but I started to get bored and wanted to make mine stand out,” he reckons.
On top of the textbook lows and trusty Schmidt TH Lines, Lou’s idea of standing out comes in the form of a colour coded and carbon wrapped roofrack showcasing the cool, airbrushed ‘showboard’, along with those awesome gold vinyl gutter strips and a jolly good overhaul of the car’s insides.
The stock front arse holders were ditched in favour of the huggy GTi 180 buckets before a whole lotta flocking and a classy boot install gave the cabin a tide-y, sea-mless look.
The best bit about Lou’s build is all modifying was done on his own humble driveway. Yes, a banker really did adopt a wallet friendly style, only giving the car away for a fresh lick of paint on the smoothed bonnet. “If I had a spray booth then the car would never of left my hands,” insists the easygoing 20-year-old, and on this evidence we have to say we believe him!
Snapping the car by the River Severn, we agree the Pug looks the absolute balls and Lou rightly plans to sit back and enjoy rolling in it for the year ahead – and after all, if a banker can master credit crunch tuning, there’s hope for the rest of us.
TECH SPEC
Peugeot 206 HDI
STYLING
Smoothed bonnet; relocated washers; de-badged grille; colour coded headlights and fogs; gold vinyl gutter strips; roof rack painted and wrapped in carbon; one-off air brushed surfboard; Grolsch dust caps.
TUNING
K&N panel filter; Samco hoses; Magnex exhaust.
CHASSIS
Schmidt TH line 7.5x16inch ET10 fronts, 8×16-inch ET15 rears; custom made GAZ coilovers.
INTERIOR
Alcantra GTi 180 seats; flocked doorcards & centre console; leather binnacle; flocked ‘A’ pillar tweeter builds.
AUDIO
Clarion DXZ785USB headunit; Diamond D6 components; Genesis profile 4 amp; Hybrid audio tweeters; Genesis profile 2 amp; Diamond D6 sub; Genesis profile 1 amp.
