P1eased0nteatme

The late ‘70s wasn’t a great period for the American automotive industry. As the story (which you’ve probably heard a trillion times) goes, the oil crisis presented a need for more economical cars. The American marques had no interest in economy up until this time, caring about performance mostly, though Japanese and European manufacturers started importing, stealing all the sales from the domestics. In order to keep up, Cars like the Mustang and Camaro suffered dearly, with the most powerful factory Camaro (for example) for sale in 1979 having little over 200HP.

(Yes, I know, another silly Mercedes MPV. I promise, this is the last one.) So, you have a bunch of 6.2-litre, naturally aspirated V8s lying around. What could you possibly do with them? Build a fantastic sports saloon to give M3s and RS4s a run for their money? Done. Stick some in a small 2-door coupé to provide for lots of sideways antics and slight chance of snappy-twitchy-into-treeyness? Check. Make a flagship luxury GT car with an appetite for tyres? Way ahead of you. What else could you possibly do? SUV? Already done. What on Earth else could you concoct?

The 8-series is a car I’ve always loved. In my eyes, it’s always been the last proper personal luxury car, despite not having a Cadillac/ Lincoln badge on the back. A huge, silky smooth, understressed V12 provided for effortless acceleration, and the seemingly endless array of luxuries allowing for comfort wherever you may be. All this in a car from nearly 30 years ago. Often, people see the top of the range 850CSi as a standard Beamer, when in actual fact, it’s an M-tuned vehicle.

The image that pops into your mind when you hear ‘B-class’ is most likely either that of a class of racing in Forza, or of a typical, rather boring small people carrier. In this case, the latter. Whilst really very unlike any other B-class, this particular vehicle would be easily mistaken for a B200 from any angle besides the rear.

You’re probably wondering to yourself right now, what I mean by reincarnation. Surely there was never an A1 prior to this, and sure as hell there wasn’t one that looked like a RallyCross homologation special? That’s because there wasn’t. But I’m thinking back quite a while… …Yup, that far. The Audi Sport Quattro. The rally-ready legend we all know and love. What does this have to do with a small economy car with some aero bits stuck on? More than you would think.

In the 1980s, rallying was getting out of control. The Group B era was in its prime, cars were getting more powerful each year, and with the boosted performance, also more dangerous. Many big players in the automotive industry were using it as a method of showing the world what they could do, and Citroën wanted to get in on the act. Their vehicle of choice? The quaint little Visa.

The W168 Mercedes A-class is known for a variety of things. Some good, such as the first use of the ‘sandwich’ engine mounting method, some bad, like the dramatic fail at the elk test. One thing not known to many, however, is the existence of an AMG, hardcore model.

I’d like to think that most of us have played a racing game of some sorts at least once in our lives. If not, I’m not judging, as it’s not for everybody. I thought I’d like to share my best (handling) cars for each normal class in Forza 6 (excluding R, P and X). Enjoy! E: SB3 Honda Civic Si Originally built for a 100HP challenge and later adapted for a FailRace Vs the Community, this little machine turned out to be a top 1000 car around Lime Rock. To get the PI up, I fitted race compound tyres (full width) along with race-spec brakes, suspension, rollcage and ARBs.

Assuming that many have heard of the 908 already, I thought I’d make a small blog about it. The Peugeot 908 was the first ever LMP car I saw, and has been my favourite ever since. I know Peugeot’s styling during this period wasn’t exactly their greatest, but I personally think they hit the nail right on the head. This beast was powered in the early stages by a 5.5 litre twin turbo-diesel V12, which churned out 730HP and a collossal 890 lb/ft of torque. In a car that weighed less than a tonne, it goes without saying that this was a serious force to be reckoned with.