A question of aspiration

Getting ahead with 1980s verve in the turbocharged Renault Fuego, V6 Ford Capri and supercharged twin-cam Lancia HPE

- SIMON HUCKNALL

The word 'turbo' epitomised the thrusting, go-getting '80s better than almost any other. Whether it was the Fabergé turbo cologne that 'delivers', Turbosound's ear-ripping T speaker systems or Judas Priest's epic rock anthem Turbo Lover (You won't hear me, but you'll feel me...), the descriptor of an engine's exhaustgas-powered forced-induction device had been serially hijacked by those wanting to, literally, boost their image, sales or impact.

In the UK's mainstream car world 40 years ago, though, turbocharging was still in its relative infancy. Setting aside BMW's brief flirtation with its 2002 turbo, Saab had been first off the block with its 99 turbo of 1978, but the technology was by no means fully resolved and had yet to become the default answer to drawing extra performance from a cooking engine. In 1983, if you were in the market for a rakish, sporting four-seat coupé for less than £10,000, the trio you see here from Renault, Lancia and Ford each offered markedly different powertrain solutions. There was turbocharging, as well as supercharging and atmospheric power, the latter with simply more cubic inches and cylinders added.