Harris buys a rally car

Yes, it's an E30 M3 and, yes, Harris is having hacked up and turned into a proper rally car

We've all done it: walked into Currys with the sole intention of buying a £25 cable and walked out with a new television costing 20 times more. Well, I say 'we', but in the world of consumer electronics I am actually remarkably restrained, but the same has just happened to me with a car. Again.

Not an obvious rally car but one with real pedigree

So buoyed was I by our magnificent two stages on the Wye Dean Rally earlier this year that I felt compelled to find a way of doing more rallying. The only problem was that the faithful 325 might not quite be the machine to take us to the next level. It has been, and still is enormous fun on the loose but those two stages brought home the need for some better suspension, closer gear ratios and, dare I say it, a little more power.

Throwing money at a tired old rally car isn't always a good idea. I spoke at length with Neil Yates of Rally Prep who've done a top job with the old 325 snotter this year. We discussed fitting a 3.0-litre S50 from the E36 M3, maybe a dog-box, probably some better suspension and then, inevitably, a project began to form in our minds. Neil is pathologically enthusiastic about this stuff.

In for a penny
If you're going to buy a new powertrain and suspension, then you really should use a nice fresh shell, no? This was agreed a few months back. We'd build a new E30 shell, but I put a spanner in the works by suggesting there was no point in not adding the wider wings and adjusted rear screen angle of the M3. This would leave us with a car that looked like an M3 but had an easy 300hp and sounded like a Stratos, once you'd fitted a carbon airbox - a fairly appealing prospect I think you'll agree.

More than 10 years since it last turned a wheel

There was just one nagging doubt: eligibility. This bitsa would have been perfect for UK rallying, but it would have been unable to compete anywhere else. Just as these doubts began to crystalise, and news of the FIA's relaxing of regulations for RGT (that's another story) sank in, Neil sent me a message saying he'd been offered a barn-find E30 M3. It was a much more expensive donor car but, hell, it was an E30 M3.

At this point all of our planning and Neil's extensive build specification and scheduling work was lobbed into the nearest bin. Because, let's be honest, you can't rip an S14 out of an M3 and wedge an S50 into the vacant space: that would be sacrilege.

Unsurprisingly, the plan changed.

Goalposts, shifting
Keep the S14, build a proper cage into the car, add a dog 'box - in fact just sod it and build a near-as-damn-it replica of a Prodrive M3 from the late 80s. And so that is why you are now looking at a series of photos of a wonderfully oxidized E30 M3 which, as of last week, has the backbone of a proper competition machine.

M3's four will stay; 270hp should be possible

The metalwork inside is of the highest quality and has been carried out by Caged down in Frome, Somerset. It makes the 325's bolt-in effort look quite pathetic. The welds are neat and the box sections even fit with the small steps in the bodyshell's floor. The whole thing looks the business.

The car itself is testament to just how well these M3s were built in the first place. The car in a non-EVO Kat model, the least desirable of the lot really. It shows 124,000 km and hasn't been used since 2002. I think it's been under a lean-to, as opposed to properly stored, so once the interior trim had been removed, the lack of rust was a real surprise. There's some rot at the bottom of an A-pillar and assorted holes here and there, but fundamentally it's a great shell.

Butcher's knife
At this point many of you will be wondering why I am butchering an icon that could have been nicely restored into a road car and doubtless sold at a small profit. I wanted a car to use and enjoy and, despite rather loving E30 M3s, I would hardly ever drive one even if I did own a road version. It would be an investment, and that doesn't interest me as much as driving an E30 M3 on the loose - one with 270hp. Yes, I could do with the profit, but that 325 has given me a taste of what a properly sorted E30 could feel like and I'm kind of addicted to finding a way of fulfilling that experience.

Surprisingly little rot given it's been left in the open

If a decent Escort Mk2 recreation is £80K, then a proper matching-numbers E30 M3 converted into a rally car owing roughly half that sum must be a complete bargain, surely?

And it's a machine I will use properly. The E30 M3 was homologated for competition use, and that is what Rally Prep are doing with it. It will begin its life on gravel - not where the car ever excelled in period - but I also want to develop a set of asphalt suspension.

Now the shell will be blasted and prepared for the build. I have a few names in mind for the upgrades to the S14 motor, but if anyone out there knows of an especially talented and knowledgeable engine builder please speak up now.

The Twitter poll on Rothmans or Bastos livery came out in favour of Bastos. We might need to make the Manx adjustment to Castrol to avoid getting into trouble!

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RobotRobot

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