I’ll have fallen sufferer to my love for touring automobiles at this 12 months’s Essen Motor Present, paying little consideration to the rest. Sorry, not sorry.
Okay, that’s not fully true. That is the second highlight on historic racers from the present. Nonetheless, in contrast to the legendary machines featured in my earlier put up, these aren’t the long-lasting names of the Group A period.
What we’ve got listed below are the little fighters of the touring automotive world from a less complicated time – when Group 2 rules dominated, and from 1971 a European Touring Automotive Championship class devoted to automobiles beneath 1,300cc existed.
For these of you who measure in freedom items, that’s only a mighty 79 cubic inches.
One automotive lacking from this lineup is the gorgeous Alfa Romeo GT Junior, the primary winner of the 1,300 division championship. What you see right here, as an alternative, is a captivating combine from varied a long time, nations, and drivetrain configurations.
The NSU TT is one in all my favorite shapes from the ’60s. With its rear-engined, air-cooled, rear-wheel-drive format, it’s a unusual little automotive. NSU was an fascinating model, absorbed into Auto Union, which later grew to become modern-day Audi. And sure, it served because the inspiration for the now-iconic Audi TT, each in title and design philosophy.
Italy and France have lengthy been masters of small-car engineering, and the gorgeous Fiat 128 Coupé was a aggressive contender when it debuted within the 1972 collection. Then there’s this Renault 5, which shocked me. Apart from the wild R5 Turbo II in rallying, I had no concept the Renault 5 had raced in any main circuit-based collection.
And that’s the great thing about the 1300 European Touring Automotive Problem (1300 ETC) championship right this moment. It’s a reasonably open collection, permitting any sub-1,300cc automotive that follows the rules as much as the 1981 FIA Appendix J guidelines to enter.
That’s why this Mk1 VW Polo is within the combine. In Europe, these little hatchbacks are well-regarded as Berg Cup hill climb machines, however after watching a couple of 1300 ETC races, I can guarantee you the competitors is as fierce as ever, regardless of the age of the automobiles or their unique function.
Preserving historic race collection is vital, however it may be prohibitively costly. These small however mighty racers supply a comparatively reasonably priced entry level into the world of historic touring automobiles – and so they should be celebrated.
I’m wondering how a lot a Mk1 Ford Escort 1300 goes for nowadays…
Mario Christou
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