There are degrees of homologation special. Many are no more than raw street-legal versions of savage race or rally cars, but there are a few that are so comfortable in their own skin that it feels almost as if the rally car might have been invented solely as an excuse then to create the road car. The Renault 5 Turbo is firmly in the second camp. Sitting in its plush 1970s-style (and coloured) seats, flicking the flimsy stalks straight out of the model that inspired it and gave it two-thirds of its name, and gazing in wonder at (and through) a steering wheel that looks as if it could have come straight out of Logan's Run, the rally stages of Corsica seem a million miles away.
As, it has to be said, does the stock Renault 5. There are similarities, of course, especially if you squint, from a distance, and when you change gear or use those stalks, but, once you have moved both the engine and the driven wheels from the front to the rear, any tenuous visual connection with Michel Boué's original is severed.
Is it even worth mentioning the original 5? Well it did donate the engine. Produced in its millions from 1972 to 1985 (originally, then on well into the 1990s) the Renault 5 was a funky five-seat (at a push) cold-hatch-cum-supermini that was 'a hoot to drive' (Ⓒall motoring journalists ever). It was French, and quirky, archly so, as demonstrated by its being called Le Car in North America and Go in Japan (though the latter was also a smart pun), but slipped seamlessly into Renault's distinguished lineage from Quatrelle to Twingo. Also in Renault's baby people's car tradition there was a bewildering array of variations, not least in an engine bay that started with a mere 782cc and ended with the 1721cc Supercinque. At between 730 and 850kg - aided by the lightweight monocoque and pioneering polyurethane bumpers - not a lot more was needed and it was an extremely accomplished city car.
Denne historien er fra November 2023-utgaven av Octane.
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Denne historien er fra November 2023-utgaven av Octane.
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
Jem Marsh
The hard-bitten Marcos boss was driven like few others and never knew when he was beaten. Thankfully
Vandamm House
A Mid-Century Modernist masterpiece that was immortalised on celluloid - despite never actually existing
Making light
Alfa Romeo's post-war renaissance began with the 1900 saloon - and matured with Zagato's featherweight coupé version, as Jay Harvey discovers
FULL OF EASTERN PROMISE
Is burgeoning classic car interest in the Middle East good for the global classic market? Nathan Chadwick investigates
Before the beginning
This rare Amazon Green pre-production Range Rover is Velar chassis number 4. James Elliott charts its historically revealing factory restoration
Ben Cussons
As the outgoing chairman of the Royal Automobile Club hands on to his successor, Robert Coucher quizzes him about the evolution of this great British institution
BULLDOG & THE PUPPIES
We gather five motoring masterpieces by avant-garde designer William Towns - and drive all of them
Below the tip of the Audrain iceberg
As the Audrain organisation grows, we take a look behind the scenes at the huge car collection that feeds it
Flying the Scottish flag
Young Ecurie Ecosse driver Chloe Grant gets to grips with the Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar C-type at Goodwood. Matthew Hayward is Octane's witness
WITHOUT FURTHER ADO
Audi Tradition has unveiled the Auto Union Type 52 Schnellsportwagen - only 90 years since it was designed. Glen Waddington takes an exclusive ride with Hans-Joachim Stuck
