10 Road-Going Touring Cars You Dreamed Of As A Boy

Today’s British Touring Car Championship is, thankfully, a good deal more exciting than it was ten years ago. Sadly, though, it’s still not quite as awesome as it was twenty years ago. Why? Well, there are a number of reasons – but chief among them, in our estimation, is the fact you can’t go out and buy a road-going version of the racer you’ve just seen punting around Oulton Park with its headlamps blazing.

So, let’s remember the days when you could; when homologation rules meant manufacturers were far more inclined – and in some instances, required – to sell road-going versions of the cars you could watch racing on your TV. When ‘win on Sunday, sell on Monday’ meant more than it does today. Here are our top ten cars from those heady days.

10. Alfa Romeo 155 Silverstone

The 155 Silverstone is not here because of its speed. In fact, on paper, with its 1.8-litre engine, 129bhp, and 10-second 0-60 time, you’d be forgiven for wondering why it was here at all. Well, don’t worry, we haven’t gone spare; fact is, the Silverstone was one of the most brazen and ingenious ways of getting around the rules. Rules which stated that the car’s aerodynamic features had to be ‘as sold’; so Alfa cheekily offered this special edition, which came with a rear wing and splitter that could be adjusted by bolting on extra plates. Despite a selection of further tweaks, including a stronger chassis and a 40kg weight saving in other areas, it was, amusingly, the slowest car in the 155 range. But that didn’t matter; despite the protests of the other teams, Alfa’s ingenuity gave them better aero than the other teams, and lead driver Gabriele Tarquini won the 1994 championship.

Pros: The result of an amusing – and very Italian – middle-finger to the regulationsCons: Not very fast; looked rather gawky

9. BMW 318iS (E36)

When the Supertouring regulations came into full force in 1991, they forced BMW to find an alternative to its big, brawny E30 M3. Enter the E36 318iS – and as any BMW aficionado will know, it’s a little more special than its small capacity would have you believe. Powered by a 16-valve 1.8-litre, and later a 1.9-litre, both of which produced 138bhp, it was zingy, responsive and free-revving – which made it rather a lot of fun. What’s more, early cars were available with an optional limited-slip differential, and like all E36 coupés, the two-door 318iS got M-Tech suspension.

Pros: Zingy engine, LSD available, choice of sleeper or M3 replica looksCons: Not actually an M3; also not actually that quick

8. Ford Escort RS1600i

It might have been overshadowed in the annals of touring car history by its bigger brothers, the Sierra Cosworth and Capri 3.0S, but the Escort RS1600i was a pretty competitive little car in its time. In fact, so well-regarded did it become that six of the eight Class C cars in the 1984 championship were RS1600i’s; in that year, Richard Longman drove his example to second overall in the championship, too. On the road, the RS1600i was a cracker; a motorsport-tuned version of the 1.6-litre CVH might only have developed 115bhp, but it was exceptionally revvy, and with a twitchy rear end, the RS1600i was a thrilling thing to hoon along a back road. Let’s not forget, either, those fantastically retro graphics and that bodykit!

Pros: Cracking engine; exciting handling; great looksCons: Road car not quick on paper; could be a handful on a wet road; cheap interior

7. Holden Commodore SS Group A (VK)

What’s this big lump of Aussie muscle doing in here? Well, simple really – believe it or not, a VK SS was shipped over to the UK and campaigned in the 1987 BTCC season by Mike O’Brien. And it managed a respectable class seventh – not bad when you consider it was absent twice, retired three times, and the top six spots were taken up by BTCC bigshots in Rover Vitesses and Sierra Cossies. The Commodore was ‘best of the rest’ - and it even carried O’Brien to an outright win at Snetterton. But what of the roadgoing SS? Well, it’ll come as no surprise to hear that it was never imported officially – but we wish that it had been. Powered by a stonking 4.9-litre V8 that kicked out 263bhp, and driven through the rear wheels, it was a muscle car through and through, and offered hours of daft, tyre-smoking fun. Face it: the ‘Blue Meanie’ was deeply cool.

Pros: V8, rear-wheel-drive, and plenty of power. What more could you ask for?Cons: Handling was a bit lumbering; not available in the UK

6. Vauxhall Vectra SuperTouring 200

It’s rare that a Vectra ever makes it into any of our lists, but if ever one deserved to, it’s this one. Few touring car spin-offs got as close to their competition equivalents as this one – the ST200 looked identical to the Vectra racer, albeit without the stickers, featuring the same bodykit and Speedline alloy wheels, and even a similar ride height. Prepared by Motor Sport Developments of Milton Keynes, the spec list read like a car nut’s wet dream: four-pot AP Racing calipers with 330mm discs, an AP limited-slip diff, a 2.5-litre V6 tweaked to 192bhp, Koni dampers with lowered springs, and Recaro front seats. It was, in other words, a formidable bit of kit, with serious straight-line performance, huge levels of traction, and a beautifully set-up chassis. The ST200, in other words, was not to be confused with a more common-or-garden Vectra.

Pros: Built and set up by pros with top-line performance kit. Drove like it was, too.Cons: You’d still have to tell people you drive a Vectra.

5. Ford Capri 3.0S

While the Capri 3.0S was ultimately not quite as successful as some of the other cars here on paper, it was a car that captured the popular imagination – and how! Images of Gordon Spice, Andy Rouse, Graham Goode, and a whole bunch of other famous names trying to tame the wayward back end of one of Ford’s most evocative models became burned onto the public consciousness, helping along a nationwide fascination with Ford’s big coupé. And even if it didn’t win overall championships, it did take a class victory in 1973, and thereafter, during an incredible 12-year racing career, it was consistently a solid performer. Whether in racing form or out on the road, the Capri 3.0S was the motoring equivalent of a bacon sarnie – clever and cultured it was not, but immensely satisfying? Oh yes, and then some.

Pros: Hairy-chested, balls-out fun; immense soundtrack; fantastic looksCons: Not for the faint hearted, especially in the wet

4. Toyota Corolla GT (AE86)

Well, here’s a thing we’ll bet you didn’t expect to see here. It might be better associated with drift culture today, but the AE86 had plenty of success in a very different form of motorsport in its own time. Chris Hodgetts steered his Corolla to not just class, but overall driver’s championships in the BTCC in 1986 and 1987; sterling work indeed – and of course, you don’t need us to tell you that the AE86 was a pretty handy thing in roadgoing form! But credit where it’s due; it wasn’t just the AE86 that was successful. In fact, in all its various forms, the Corolla was a bit of an unsung hero of BTCC in the ’80s. In 1982, Win Percy took the championship in an earlier E70 model, while in 1988, Phil Dowsett was overall runner up in an AE82 three-door. An impressive showing for a car most commonly thought of as one of the world’s least exciting.

Pros: Huge fun, great looking, cracking 4A-GE engine; every drive is an Initial D episodeCons: Pricey to buy these days; not actually that powerful as standard

3. Rover Vitesse (SD1)

Big, brawny and styled to look like a Ferrari Daytona. There really was a lot to love about the Rover SD1 Vitesse. Unfortunately, there was a lot to be dubious about too. Like the frequency with which bits fell off. And the way it rusted. Of course, all of that was forgiven the minute you started it up and heard that V8 rumble into life. And then it was forgiven again when you went into a corner and hoofed the throttle, and exited in a squealing, smoky melange of body roll, power, noise and giggles. Its sheer grunt made it a winner on track, the big Vit taking championship wins in 1983 and 1984, although the former was later rescinded due to a breach of the technical regulations, but for the majority of the mid ’80s, the car people set out to beat was the Rover Vitesse.

Pros: Brawny power; rear-drive hooliganism; fantastic engine noiseCons: Built like a house of cards

2. BMW M3

Here we go then. The one you’ve been waiting for since we mentioned the E36 318iS. Yes, we’ve included the original M3 – and yes, you know why. It’s an absolute belter of a thing, all wide-arched and beautifully-proportioned, and complete with a mad 2.3-litre four-pot, variously rated at 192bhp, 197bhp and 217bhp, depending on the version you chose. Or if you were particularly wealthy, you could plump for the sublime 2.5-litre Sport Evolution, with a 235bhp kick up the jacksy. If those weren’t good enough reasons to want one, how’s about the fact it won the BTCC not just the once in 1988, but again in 1991 – when it went up against much newer cars specifically designed for the updated Super Touring regulations?

Pros: Truly glorious to drive; muscular looks; beautifully builtCons: Um…

1. Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth

Sorry BMW lovers… we’re giving this one to the blue oval this time. Why? Well, no car has ever dominated British touring car racing like the RS500. It was the main reason Group A was abandoned and the Super Touring rules were introduced; it trounced the competition and its ballistic engine was so advanced and so tuneable that it’s still used in motorsport today. There’s one stat that should tell you all you need to know about the Cossie’s dominance: in 1989, every car but one in the Class A category was an RS500. Then in 1990, the Trident Motorsport team packed up its Maserati Biturbo and went home, meaning the entire, 13-strong Class A field consisted of Sierra RS500s - and nothing but.

Nothing else was competitive. Nobody even bothered to try another marque, because they knew it would be crushed by the rest of the Cosworth field. And guess what: you could buy a road-going version of this all-conquering mentalist from your local Ford dealership. You could drive it home, and you would know that you had, sitting on your driveway, a 222bhp racer that just happened to have a full interior instead of a roll cage. Should the mood have taken you, you could even take it to a specialist like Graham Goode Racing, and get the power jacked up pretty easily – Graham Goode’s own race versions were producing a stonking 500bhp, and often more. The competition RS500 was a game changer; a car so ridiculously far ahead of the rest of the field that it couldn’t last, and it didn’t. Group A was outlawed at the end of the 1990 season; the restrictors that the Super Touring regulations brought neutered the Sierra, and with the exception of some mid-table finishes for a lone Sapphire in 1991, the insane era of the Cossie in touring car racing was at an end.

Pros: The touring car daddy; out-of-this-world looks; monumental turbo performanceCons: Erm… the interior was a bit cheap… but frankly, it was too much fun to care