In his early twenties, German-born Walter Treser graduated with an engineering degree from a Swiss university and, over the course of the 1963-64 seasons, took in a number of races and hillclimbs…

Not long after Countach production began, Lamborghini started planning an uprated variant. The as-yet unnamed machine was to come with wider wheels, a tuned engine and a host of aggressive…

In addition to Kensington’s Radford coachworks, FLM Panelcraft based two miles across London in Battersea also offered a Shooting Break conversion for Aston Martin’s DB6. In a similar vein to…

Converting racing prototypes into road-going specials has produced some of the most exciting cars in history. Up until the late 1960s, when most competition machinery was still equipped with…

Although Porsche ultimately sold more than the 200 959s that would have been required for Group B homologation, the project ended up costing an exorbitant sum – rumoured to have been well into…

Although Germany was rightly regarded as the centre for super tuner activity from the 1970s through to the 1990s, a handful of British firms also created some epic machinery, one of which was Lister.

The earliest Alpina-tuned variants of the Paul Bracq-styled E12 arrived very soon after this, the first generation 5-series, made its debut at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1972. Having initially…

Unlike most other firms that sprung up during the late 20th century super tuner era, Ruf Automobile elected to focus on engineering excellence as opposed the kind of flamboyant over styling that…

In addition to the outrageous V8-powered Hammer, AMG also offered a slightly toned down version of the timeless Mercedes-Benz W124 E-class using the company’s renowned straight six. At its heart…

In terms of the cars Ferrari should have officially offered during the 1980s, perhaps the best candidate was a Spider version of the iconic Testarossa. We use the phrase ‘officially offered’…

The super tuner era of the 1970s and 80s certainly churned out some spectacular creations, but Lamborghini’s Countach was generally regarded as sufficiently extreme in OEM trim that few…

After the best part of 15 years during which bespoke coachbuilding had all but died out, a new era for highly individual customisation began during the late 1970s. The period that followed saw an…

Of the myriad tuners that sprang up offering high end customisation of European supercars during the 1970s and 80s, arguably the most famous was Koenig Specials based in Frankfurt, Germany.

Following 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…

Of all the myriad German tuners that sprung up in the 1970s and 80s, it was Willy Koenig’s company from Munich that arguably pushed the boundaries of styling and performance more than any other.

Having started out with a small line of body and exhaust parts for the Ferrari BB, Koenig Specials were soon offering some of the most elaborately engineered custom supercars on the planet.

By the mid-to-late 1980s, Willy Koenig’s tuning and customisation company was at the peak of its power. In a little over ten years, Koenig Specials had gone from a small Munich garage to a plush…

When Mercedes-Benz launched the W198 300 SL in 1954, their high performance Gullwing-doored Coupe was arguably the most exciting motor car available. A little under three years later, it…

Willy Koenig began tuning Ferrari BBs in the mid 1970s. His fledgling business quickly began to attract customers from around Europe. Within a couple of years, Koenig Specials had expanded to…

Willy Koenig (Willi König) began racing an Alfa Romeo Giulietta soon after his 20th birthday. He quickly moved on to an Abarth Record Monza complete with 700cc dual overhead camshaft engine…

A gallery of customised cars taken during the 1980s. Featured cars: Lamborghini Countach LP400 S: BN 04121, Aston Martin Lagonda: 8906, BMW M1: 363 Z 497, Vauxhall Astra GTE 16v: F60 PHN…

At the end of the 1986 season, John Fitzpatrick sold all his team’s racing equipment to Jochen Dauer of Nuremberg. Jochen Dauer Racing was established for the 1987 season, during which, the team ran…

Having been among the first tuners to begin modifying premium European cars, Willy Koenig's firm already had a lot of experience with Ferrari’s Flat 12 engine by the time the Testarossa was…

BB was established in 1973 and initially based at an ex-BMW workshop in Frankfurt. The firm’s custom body, paint, engine and interior programmes saw BB quickly establish itself as the premier…