Car appreciation... the aesthetics, the engineering, etc

I'm guessing you're saying that they're known to be a bit 'understeery', which is pretty well documented and comes with the territory with this layout of car (transverse front mounted engine gearbox unit and 4wd). Extensive track driving made me realise that this is more of an internet thing than a real thing if you have a well set up car (increased rear spring rates helps), and a mild increase in power over standard makes them more tail happy. Also - they are cheap as chips compared with the contemporary metal and can tend to be poorly maintained which often results in a very poor driving experience.
It's horses for courses as always though - if you want oversteer you don't really want to be driving all 4 wheels, and in dry conditions a well driven bmw is faster, mainly 'cos it's a lot lighter (other things being equal). When things get damp however - the bmw wouldn't see where the 205 went in the twisty bits. To a greater or lesser extent these comments apply to the ST165/185/205.