RENAULT 5 TURBO

No car screams “TURBO!” quite like the Renault 5, er, Turbo. The clue is in the name. And in the not-so-subtle badges and stickers that wrap this so-ugly-it’s-gorgeous little homologation-special hatchback.

- Richard Head

This is arguably the car with more right to be here than any other in our set, because when it comes to turbocharging, Renault was a true disciple. It might not have been among the first to adopt the technology, but once it had got on board it really ran with it, taking forced induction to the very top of the top echelons of motorsport – on track in Formula One and off it in Group B – and introducing it to the French buying public with a slew of road machines headlined by the fabulous 5 Turbo.

Unveiled at the 1978 Paris Salon, the wildest 5’s purpose was clear. This was not a car for popping to the shops (even if it was perfectly capable of it), because the rear seats and boot were gone, replaced by a bespoke rear chassis housing all-new double-wishbone suspension and a mid-mounted screamer of an engine. No, this was a thinly disguised silhouette racer, built for a serious tilt at the top category of the World Rally Championship.