RACE CARS ON THE ROAD

PLYMOUTH ROAD RUNNER SUPERBIRD (1970) In the 1960s, Nascar stock cars were still supposed to be, well, stock. So when the rise of aero-critical super-speedways led manufacturers to fit cars with outlandish noses and wings, they had to produce road-going versions. Plymouth made 1920 Superbirds in 1970. FORD SIERRA RS COSWORTH (1986) Conceived to return Ford to the front in touring cars, the Sierra RS Cosworth dominated worldwide. Ford chose the Sierra for its reardrive layout and stuck in a 16-valve turbocharged Cosworth engine. Limited colour and equipment options kept prices down, due to concerns that dealers would struggle to sell the 5000 road cars. DAUER 962 (1993) The Porsche 956 and 962 dominated at Le Mans in the mid-1980s. When new rules were introduced in 1994 to aid GT cars, Porsche and fashion magnate Jochen Dauer spotted a loophole. Dauer converted a 962 race car into a road-legal GT and then built a racing version of it. It won, and was banned for 1995. Dauer continued to build road car versions. ALFA ROMEO 155 SILVERSTONE EDITION (1994) The £13,990 special looked identical to a regular 155, but in the boot were attachable parts that could be turned into a wing and splitter (instructions weren’t included). That rules loophole allowed Alfa to fit the devices to its 1994 BTCC challenger and romp to a controversial title. PORSCHE 911 GT1 STRASSENVERSION (1996) The incredibly limitedrun model – the ‘street version’ name made clear its reason for being – had a 584bhp 3.2-litre engine, allowing that unit to be used in the race version that won Le Mans in 1998. Just 25 were built and it began a trend of cars that subverted the mid-1990s GT rules… TOYOTA TS020 GT-ONE (1998) …of which this was the most outlandish. Two road-going versions were built, with the 592bhp V8 from the race car fitted with a catalytic converter. GT rules required cars to have storage space big enough to fit a suitcase in. Amazingly, Toyota convinced officials that the fuel tank counted as storage space...