WELCOME TO A MUSEUM LIKE NO OTHER. Instead of a theatrical entrance hall or a tantalising gift shop shimmering by the ticket booth, we've drawn up at a security gate. Outside a grey box of a factory. Once cleared, we're chaperoned through corridor after corridor, albeit ones lined with a diverse array of trophies from every corner of the globe. Things are looking up.
As the signal bars on our phones ebb away, we arrive at a pair of doors so large and thick it's easy to assume they occupy a sole what3words address apiece. They heave open to reveal threedozen rally, endurance and Formula 1 race cars, all gathered carefully in their respective tribes under enough snaking ventilation pipes to make Kevin McCloud woozy with their industrial chic. It's the underbelly of the Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe (TGR-E) wind tunnel facility, the unlikely location for a droolworthy selection of the marque's motorsport heroes. And our adventure has only just begun.
Storing them here is both an ingenious use of space and an ergonomical challenge. While some areas of the hall boast enough headroom to dangle an old F1 car artfully above visitors - like mechanical mistletoe - others call on you to duck and weave like it's a Crystal Maze challenge, the sands of the timer dwindling as Richard O'Brien wisecracks at the door. Careful not to trip over any delicate winglets or vulnerable splitters...
There are undoubtedly more spacious places to host such invaluable, irreplaceable objects, but these cars were made with a purity of purpose - designed for gruelling competition and hardwon results - making the brutal aesthetic of their retirement home feel like a fitting backdrop.
Denne historien er fra November 2024-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Denne historien er fra November 2024-utgaven av Evo UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
BEST BUYS BMW M CARS
THE PERFORMANCE CAR LANDSCAPE WOULD HAVE looked very different over the last five decades without BMW. Its M division, founded in 1972, has produced some of the best driver’s cars ever to hit the road, and in the process has provided a stream of benchmark models for its rivals to chase. In recent years, stricter emissions regulations, downsizing and electrification have seen some of those rival cars falter, yet by and large BMW’s M machines have remained strong. In fact, some rank among the greatest the department has made think of the eCoty-winning M2 CS and M5 CS while others are the only options worth recommending in their respective segments. Price tags have risen with performance, however, putting those latest offerings out of reach for many, but the marque’s popularity means there are numerous earlier M models available on the second-hand market for far more attainable figures. Here are four of our favourites.
TYRE 2024 TEST
Want to fit the very best tyres to your performance car? The annual evo Tyre Test identifies the cream of the current crop
HONDA ACCORD TYPE R
A liberal sprinkling of Honda Type R fairy dust on the late-'90s Accord produced an unlikely evo icon and a genuine performance bargain
TOY STORY
Where best to store some of Toyota’s most prized and valuable racing superstars? Under the wind tunnel at its Cologne HO, of course...
POWER PLAY
It develops 819bhp. It has no turbochargers, no hybrid assistance. Ferrari describes it as the most complete GT it's ever made. And it’s so proud of its mighty V12 engine it’s named the whole car after it. This is the 12 Cilindri
THE FIRST SAMURAIS
Japan has been responsible for many of our favourite driver's cars of recent decades, but their ancestors are often much less well known. We take a look at where the big manufacturers began their performance car journeys
DEFINITELY. NO MAYBE
Three Japanese performance icons - Lexus LFA, Subaru Impreza 22B and Nissan GT-R. Over three days on some of our favourite roads we explore what makes each uniquely thrilling, but also the car culture that unites them
1V3.0
F1, P1... and now W1. The next chapter in McLaren's Ultimate Series is the British firm's challenger to the forthcoming new Ferrari hypercar and a £2million, 1257bhp, hybrid-powered, technical tour de force
Thornley Kelham European RS
One man’s dream to build the perfect Porsche 911 has resulted inthis aaticMously restored and enhanced classic. We delve into the details and take it for a drive
Bentley Continental GT Speed
The new Continental GT is the most powerful Bentley ever, and the beginning of anew plug-in hybrid era for Crewe. But is it still a benchmark grand tourer?