Can you buy a new car with a genuine motorsport connection?

Can you buy a new car with a genuine motorsport connection?

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white_goodman

Original Poster:

4,042 posts

190 months

Friday 6th March 2015
quotequote all
Some of my favourite cars ever made came into being due to homologation:





























The rules are slightly different now, so most of the cars you see on track or on the rally stage bear little relation (other than the shape) to the cars we can buy and drive on the road. I guess this is both a good and a bad thing. Cheaper for manufacturers to go racing perhaps? (Although there seem to be less factory teams than there were in the days of homologation. Bad because we can't buy cars anything like we see on the track/rally stage anymore and the old heroes (i.e. Impreza WRX STI and Evo seem a bit irrelevant now as road cars when more refined and economical but just as quick rivals are available for similar money. My question is, can you buy a new car any more with a genuine motorsport connection? I know the old 911 GT3 had a race-derived engine but no longer and the RenaultSport Megane has a whiff of motorsport about it but as far as I am aware doesn't compete in any motorsport.


Edited by white_goodman on Friday 6th March 19:38

zebra

4,555 posts

213 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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Here's three in a row:


Mannginger

9,032 posts

256 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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Pretty much anything from the GT3 series...

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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Suppose it depends what you mean.

This is the Elise S Cup R, a track-only customer car which is eligible to compete in the Lotus Cup Series, an FIA approved one make international series.

http://www.lotuscars.com/lotus-elise-cup-r



http://www.lotuscars.com/news/racing/lotus-cup-eur...



This is the subsequent road-going version of it, the Elise S Cup;

http://www.lotuscars.com/lotus-elise-s-cup



anonymous-user

53 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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Not sure one make/model motor racing is what the op is talking about

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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I know, that's why I said it depends what you mean. But that *is* a road car based on a track car built for motorsport.

civicduty

1,857 posts

202 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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How could you miss this one?





PanzerCommander

5,026 posts

217 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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I believe most Ginetta road cars also have a corresponding race variant.

Justayellowbadge

37,057 posts

241 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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Caterham.

TheJimi

24,860 posts

242 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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The most obvious answer is, imo, Caterham.

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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I suppose that rather than the Elise I mentioned and the Ginettas and Caterhams others mentioned, the OP is thinking of homologation specials. I don't think that really happens any more.

Wadeski

8,132 posts

212 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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Its very disappointing that FWD econoboxes can be raced as AWD / RWD fire breathers with no requirement for lip service to a road car.

Aston Martin GT3, Mclarens etc are all well and good but regular, sub 50k cars with a motorsport connection were special.

Fleckers

2,851 posts

200 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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anything from the WRC I guess ?

Z06George

2,519 posts

188 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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The Corvette C7 Z06 has some things connected with the C7R race car. I swear I saw a list or picture demonstrating it but I can't find it!

otolith

55,899 posts

203 months

Friday 6th March 2015
quotequote all
Fleckers said:
anything from the WRC I guess ?
Long way removed from the road cars;

http://www.volkswagen-motorsport.com/index.php?id=...

kambites

67,461 posts

220 months

Friday 6th March 2015
quotequote all
Wadeski said:
Its very disappointing that FWD econoboxes can be raced as AWD / RWD fire breathers with no requirement for lip service to a road car.

Aston Martin GT3, Mclarens etc are all well and good but regular, sub 50k cars with a motorsport connection were special.
There's plenty of FWD racing cars based (at least loosely) on road cars in series like the BTCC. I'm not sure how much, if anything, the BTCC cars have to share with their road-going counterparts, though.

ETA: It looks like the answer is "almost nothing", sadly.

Edited by kambites on Friday 6th March 19:41

white_goodman

Original Poster:

4,042 posts

190 months

Friday 6th March 2015
quotequote all
civicduty said:
How could you miss this one?


Believe me, it was supposed to be there, I just accidentally missed it out.

OP corrected now though smile

Tickle

4,879 posts

203 months

Friday 6th March 2015
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I can't see there being many cars in this thread that I wouldn't wish to own. The original few mentioned by the OP would be a dream garage. It is a pity that homologation is not as widespread as it used to be.

DanielSan

18,746 posts

166 months

Friday 6th March 2015
quotequote all
kambites said:
There's plenty of FWD racing cars based (at least loosely) on road cars in series like the BTCC. I'm not sure how much, if anything, the BTCC cars have to share with their road-going counterparts, though.
Lights and the middle part of the shell. That's all that's identical to the road variant in a BTCC car.

white_goodman

Original Poster:

4,042 posts

190 months

Friday 6th March 2015
quotequote all
Wadeski said:
Its very disappointing that FWD econoboxes can be raced as AWD / RWD fire breathers with no requirement for lip service to a road car.

Aston Martin GT3, Mclarens etc are all well and good but regular, sub 50k cars with a motorsport connection were special.
That's what I was getting at really. The latest M3s for instance are very nice fast road (and occasional track cars) but a long way from the track refugee that was the original. That Elise Cup looks very nice though. smile