When the 205 Turbo 16 made its debut in 1987, Peugeot Talbot Sport was already thinking of the future with the launch of the new 405 T16 Grand Raid the following year.
At the 1988 Paris-Dakar Rally, the PTS team entered four cars with the mission of winning the event for the second time in a row. The objective was twofold, as it was also to highlight the new model of the Sochaux-based brand, the 405. The Peugeot 205 T16 and the 405 T16 Grand Raid will therefore take on the African tracks together. The 205 won the race masterfully in 1988 and the 405 scored a one-two in 1989.
When Group B cars were definitively banned from the World Rally Championship at the end of the 1986 season, Jean Todt, the director of PTS, decided to enter the 205 T16 in non-championship Rally-Raid races. After the numerous international successes of this model in 1987, Peugeot decided to develop a version with a longer wheelbase for the following season. Drivers often complained about the technical limitations of the car in certain race configurations. That year, the PTS team competed with the new 405 T16 Grand Raid, which coincided with the commercial launch of the production 405 saloon a few months earlier.