I could have fallen sufferer to my love for touring automobiles at this yr’s Essen Motor Present, paying little consideration to the rest. Sorry, not sorry.
Okay, that’s not totally true. That is the second highlight on historic racers from the present. Nevertheless, not like the legendary machines featured in my earlier publish, these aren’t the enduring names of the Group A period.
What we’ve got listed below are the little fighters of the touring automobile world from a less complicated time – when Group 2 laws dominated, and from 1971 a European Touring Automotive Championship class devoted to automobiles underneath 1,300cc existed.
For these of you who measure in freedom models, that’s only a mighty 79 cubic inches.
One automobile lacking from this lineup is the beautiful Alfa Romeo GT Junior, the primary winner of the 1,300 division championship. What you see right here, as a substitute, is an enchanting combine from varied a long time, international locations, 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 automobile. 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 identify and design philosophy.
Italy and France have lengthy been masters of small-car engineering, and the attractive Fiat 128 Coupé was a aggressive contender when it debuted within the 1972 sequence. Then there’s this Renault 5, which shocked me. Apart from the wild R5 Turbo II in rallying, I had no thought the Renault 5 had raced in any main circuit-based sequence.
And that’s the great thing about the 1300 European Touring Automotive Problem (1300 ETC) championship at this time. It’s a reasonably open sequence, permitting any sub-1,300cc automobile that follows the laws 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 sequence is essential, however it may be prohibitively costly. These small however mighty racers provide a comparatively inexpensive entry level into the world of historic touring automobiles – and so they need to be celebrated.
I’m wondering how a lot a Mk1 Ford Escort 1300 goes for as of late…
Mario Christou
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