At the Paris Motor Show in October 1972, BMW unveiled a styling concept with a turbocharged version of the two-litre M10 engine. The Paul Bracq-designed E25 Turbo had a mid-mounted…
Read MoreBy mid 1977, the 911 had been around for 13 years and Porsche did not expect to be building it for much longer. Instead, the company (which had been under the direction of Ernst Fuhrmann since…
Read MoreHaving commissioned the first two instalments of its burgeoning Art Car theme in time for the 1975 and ‘76 Le Mans 24 Hour races, BMW went on to order a third machine that would appear at the…
Read MoreFor 1972, the FIA’s dropped its Group 5 category for up to five-litre Sports cars which had met a 25 unit production requirement. Over night, the Porsche 917 and Ferrari 512 became pretty much…
Read MoreAfter the success of BMW’s first Art Car, an E9 CSL painted by Alexander Calder which garnered a huge amount of publicity at the 1975 Le Mans 24 Hours, the Munich firm commissioned a second…
Read MoreFor the 1976 season, new rules came into effect for GT and Sports Prototype racing cars. At the top of the tree, Group 6 was for out-and-out Prototypes and had no minimum production requirement.
Read MoreThe 2.7-litre Carrera RS introduced for model year 1973 was Porsche’s first 911-based homologation special and spawned a series of dominant racing variants that annihilated the opposition. Less…
Read MoreBMW conceived the M1 supercar project to complement its existing Formula 2 engine supply deal and Group 5 Division 2 E21 320i programme. With a turbocharged iteration of M1’s 3.5-litre straight…
Read MoreLaunched in November 1970, the Mexico enabled Ford customers to purchase a high performance Escort at a much lower price than the soon-to-be discontinued 110bhp Twin Cam and its effective…
Read MoreWith the rear-engined 911 not anticipated to survive for more than another decade, 1971 saw Porsche begin work on an upmarket front-engined Grand Tourer that could better adopt to ever-changing…
Read MoreWhen Porsche created the hardcore 911 2.7 Carrera RS for the 1973 model year, many of the company’s senior managers were not convinced it would be easy to sell the 500 cars needed to…
Read MoreSince the late 1950s, Porsche had primarily focused its factory motor sport programmes on Sports and Prototype racing cars. During this period there had been the odd works foray with enhanced…
Read MoreFollowing the premature death of his father in 1974, 24 year old Alois Ruf took the reins of his family’s garage in Pfaffenhausen, Bavaria. Alois Ruf Snr. had founded Auto Ruf back in 1939. Initially the…
Read MoreHaving been appointed Porsche chairman in August 1972, Dr Ernst Fuhrmann immediately decided the 917 programme had become excessively expensive and too detached from the firm’s road car…
Read MoreAfter three consecutive years of BMW Art Car appearances at the Le Mans 24 Hours (1975, ‘76 and ‘77), a two year gap followed prior to the arrival of a fourth instalment of the theme. Despite the…
Read MoreAlthough Ford had high hopes when they launched the Mustang in 1964, the company most likely never imagined it would become quite such a commercial success. On the first day of availability…
Read MoreBy the late 1970s, Porsche had become the pre-eminent force in Sports and GT racing. The Stuttgart firm had returned to front-line competition in 1976, since which time the 936, 935 and 934 had…
Read MoreBMW Motorsport was established in early 1971 to develop an E9-based machine capable of winning the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). The resultant 3.0 CSL made its debut at the…
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