The long version

Never sold new in the US, so the American ownership story is entirely import-driven — 25-year-rule buyers bringing over clean European examples and immediately learning to respect the lift-off oversteer reputation that made this car famous and occasionally dangerous. In Europe, where it never needed importing, the split is starker: collector-grade cars have gone to garages as the reference hot hatch's canonization set in over the last decade, while scruffier examples are still driven the way Peugeot intended, badly and with commitment. Either way, 880 kg and no electronic safety net means the driving experience hasn't been sanitized by the money, just priced higher.