We blast off in reborn hot-hatch icon

● One-off drift machine marks 50 years of R5, 40 years of Turbo 2 ● Rear-drive monster is powered by two high-performance motors

- Rob Gill

ANGLO-FRENCH relations were at their peak back in the eighties. We lapped up the booze cruises; we loved Juliette Binoche and that waitress in 'Allo, 'Allo!; we sang "Je ne sais pas pourquoi" along with Kylie.

But best of all, the French gave us some cracking cars. We're thinking Peugeot 205 GTi, Citroen AX GT, Renault 11 Turbo and the Renault Espace. And then there was the original hot-hatch hooligan, the Renault 5 Turbo. One of the Group B rally gods, the 5 Turbo had loads of power in a car that weighed little more than your jacket.

To celebrate 50 years of the Supercing and 40 years of the rocket-heeled R5 Turbo 2, Renault created the spectacular Turbo 3E. It has classic Turbo 2 looks but remixed for today's world, plus two electric motors, a glitch-art paint job, GoPro cameras galore, and pink windows. It stunned the public at last autumn's Paris Motor Show, making it arguably the coolest concept car of 2022.

But whereas a lot of brands build a funky-looking shell and power it with a rudimentary motor to get it on to a show stand, Renault put some serious engineering into this one.

Because it actually works. As in, properly works. And we're here to drive it at the former home of the French GP, Magny-Cours.

Turbo 3E is a 380bhp, rear-drive electric drift machine that'll do fast-moving 360degree spins and donuts as elegantly as Torvill and Dean (there's another eighties reference for you), just with a bit more smoke. It's basically half show car, half stunt car and within 200 metres of driving it, you know you can push on.

It's a mega bit of kit: fast, darty, supersensitive to every input, and a lot of fun. The front wheels turn 50 degrees - but you'd only need that for slow manoeuvres in town; at speed, you turn in and steer it on the throttle. It's rapid off the line - as are all twin-motor EVs - but straight-line speed on a race track is not what this car is about.