Help us pick the greatest ever motorsport game‑changer

With everything from Delage to Metro, these are the cars that changed the shape of motorsport. Choose your favourite from the following list and click here to vote...

Delage 15 S8 – the fabulously complex 1.5-litre straight-8 Delage swept all before it in 1927, en route to the Grand Prix World Championship.

Mercedes-Benz W125 – the supercharged 5.6-litre W125 of 1937 produced nearly 650bhp. It remained the most powerful Grand Prix for nearly 50 years.

Lancia Delta S4 – with supercharger and turbocharger, the S4 was both brutally fast and tragically dangerous. Henri Toivonen’s fatal accident on the Tour de Corse heralded the end of Group B.

Chaparral 2E – Jim Hall pioneered the use of high wings for extra downforce. They were subsequently adopted in F1, but were soon banned on safety grounds.

Lotus 56 – the turbine-engined 56 nearly won the Indy 500 on its debut in 1968. The US authorities stepped in and banned turbines the following year.

Porsche 917/30 – known as ‘the Can-Am killer’, the monstrous 917/30 produced nearly 1500bhp, and was so dominant the Can-Am series folded the following year.

Penske PC23 – exploiting a loophole in the rules, the PC23 used a purpose-built push rod V8, producing 1000bhp, to dominate the 1994 Indy 500. It was banned immediately after the race.

Honda RC116 – revving to 21,500rpm, the RC116 produced 16bhp from just 50cc. To control costs, multi-cylinder 50cc bikes were soon banned.

BRM V16 – the supercharged V16 BRM was massively complicated and cripplingly expensive. The 1.5-litre supercharged formula was abandoned before it could be made successful.

Brabham BT46B – with its gearbox-driven fan generating maximum downforce even at low speeds, the ‘fan car’ only raced once, taking a dominant victory at Anderstorp before it was withdrawn.

Williams FW08B – developed to aid traction and maximise the length of its ground effect tunnels, the six-wheeled FW08B was tested but never raced. Six-wheeled cars were subsequently banned.

Williams FW14B – with active suspension and traction control, the FW14B was perhaps the most dominant F1 car ever made. Nigel Mansell waltzed to the 1992 World Championship. ‘Driver aids’ were soon banned.

Lotus 97T – Ayrton Senna took seven pole positions in 1985, proving the 97T to be the fastest car on the grid, if not the most reliable. Turbos were soon restricted to limit power, and eventually banned altogether.  

Ferrari F2004 – with 3-litre V10 engines producing nearly 1000bhp, and unrestricted tyre development, the F1 cars of 2004 still hold many lap records, 13 years later!

Ferrari P3/4 – 1967 was the final year of ‘unlimited’ sports car, before engine capacity was limited from 1968. Ferrari won the World Championship, beating the larger engined Fords and Chaparrals.

Ferrari 512M – with the astonishingly fast 5-litre Group 5 cars due to be outlawed at the end of the 1971 season, Ferrari withdrew its works team. Penske continued to develop this car, to create the ultimate 512M.

Alfa Romeo 155 DTM – in the mid-1990s the DTM and ITC spawned a new generation of high-tech touring cars. Hugely spectacular, they were also eye-wateringly expensive, and both series collapsed.

MG Metro 6R4 (Silkolene) – after Group B was banned in rallying, the cars found a new home in rallycross. Will Gollop fitted twin turbos to his 6R4 and won the European Championship in 1992.

Ferrari 412 T2 – the last V12-engined car to win a Grand Prix, the 412 T2 marked the end of the road for an engine format that had always been synonymous with Ferrari

Audi RS002 – the proposed replacement for Group B was Group S, which gave manufacturers even more freedom. Sadly it was banned before it even started, leaving the mid-engined RS002 as a tantalising ‘might have been’.

Photography courtesy of LAT Images