For the Sake of Driving
Peugeot shook up rallying in 1984 when it burst into Group B with the fire-breathing 205 Turbo 16. Only 200 lucky customers could experience that same excitement.
Ayrton Senna raced for Lotus from 1985 to 1987. His former chief mechanic Chris Dinnage remembers his singular devotion to racing, but his disarming personality off the track even more.
BMW claimed an eight-cylinder would not fit in the E36 3 Series. Alpina proved them wrong and created one of the highlights in their history with the formidable B8 4.6.
Group B may have birthed some of the most iconic homologation specials, but the Renault 5 Turbo set the trend and became the template for decades to come.
Peter Schellhammer met world leaders, royalty and celebrities in his role as Mercedes-Benz factory specialist, visiting 130 countries to deliver 600s and educate drivers and mechanics.
Sbarro was infamous for his radical creations. But, cutting up a Ferrari 308 GTB and turning it into a mid-engined hatchback was surely one of his more unexpected masterpieces.
Known predominantly for tuning Mercedes-Benz engines, in 1989 Brabus applied the same principle to the 190 E 3.6S, but then ventured into territory it had never explored before.
Any excuse is acceptable to drive a Ferrari Testarossa, but we got our hands on the very car that Pininfarina used for the 1984 world premiere in Paris.
Maserati was on life support in the 1970s when De Tomaso came to the rescue. The resulting Kyalami was much more than a rebadged Longchamp though, as we found out.
Decades ago anything larger than a 5 Series with an M badge was unthinkable. BMW South Africa had a status aparte though, so they created their own unofficial M7.