I could have fallen sufferer to my love for touring vehicles 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, not like the legendary machines featured in my earlier publish, these aren’t the enduring names of the Group A period.
What we have now listed here 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 vehicles 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 beautiful Alfa Romeo GT Junior, the primary winner of the 1,300 division championship. What you see right here, as an alternative, is an interesting combine from numerous a long time, nations, and drivetrain configurations.
The NSU TT is certainly one of my favorite shapes from the ’60s. With its rear-engined, air-cooled, rear-wheel-drive structure, 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 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 collection. Then there’s this Renault 5, which stunned me. Other than 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 fantastic thing about the 1300 European Touring Automotive Problem (1300 ETC) championship as we speak. 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, irrespective of the age of the vehicles or their unique goal.
Preserving historic race collection is vital, however it may be prohibitively costly. These small however mighty racers provide a comparatively reasonably priced entry level into the world of historic touring vehicles – they usually should be celebrated.
I’m wondering how a lot a Mk1 Ford Escort 1300 goes for nowadays…
Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn, mariochristou.world
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