The eight weirdest racing cars of all time

Peugeot 806

Most Peugeot 806s have been long forgotten after a life of school runs, trips to the tip and the general strains of the daily grind. But this one had a claim to fame is the Procar class of the 1995 Spa 24 Hours. It was fielded by Peugeot’s Belgian distributor and built by Kronos Racing. Out went six seats and in came 405 Mi16 running gear, the engine block from a Group A 306 and the cylinder head from a 405 Supertouring. Taking 12^th on the grid (and 3^rd in class) was enough to silence the cynics, but it failed to finish due to an engine problem.

Rolls-Royce Corniche

OK, this one isn’t quite what it seems. With its tubular chassis, composite body and Chevrolet V8 engine it’s more kit car than Rolls-Royce, but who can’t fail to be captivated by the sight of (what appears to be) ultimate luxury ripping through the dessert. The jacked-up, knobbly tyred look is backed up by Toyota Land Cruiser axles and the whole idea was dreamed up during an over-dinner wager that a Rolls-Royce could take on the gruelling Paris-Dakar rally in 1981. Sadly, an illegal repair meant the car wasn’t classified in the results, but it was lying as high as 13^th at the half way mark.

Tatra T603

Another luxury car turned racer. The Tatra T603 was a high speed express with a reputation for tricky handling, its air-cooled V8 flung out aft of the rear axle acting as a pendulum to catch out the unwary. Not the easiest car to pilot around the challenging Nürburgring for 84 hours (yes, 84!). The Marathon de la Route evolved from a road race to an extremely lengthy endurance race around the Nordschleife, and in 1967 the Tatra achieved a top-five finish. It was no fluke: the T603 won 60 out of the 79 races it entered. Goodwood Revival visitors have been able to see it in action in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

Iso Isetta

Before BMW took on the rights to build the Isetta bubblecar, it looked set to become an Italian icon having been designed and built by Iso. And it was in Italy where it took on its pluckiest motorsport challenge – the 1954 Mille Miglia. It was the first to depart and the last to arrive, taking 22 hours, 10 minutes and 2 seconds to complete the course. But the fact that it finished is more than can be said for some of its competitors, and therefore something of an achievement in itself.

Smart ForTwo

The Smart ForTwo is arguably the spiritual successor to the Isetta, but for its own competition exploits it’s only competing against itself in one of the most unlikely single-make race series since gridfuls of Citroën 2CVs first took to race circuits. The site of a pack of upright two-seaters – not known for their handling prowess – vying for position is one you need to witness. Italy has a series for the electric powered Smart EQ.

SsangYong Musso

If city car single-make racing seems unlikely, then about a herd of marauding builders’ pick-ups? SsangYong thought that would be a good idea, and the SsangYong Racing Challenge was born in 2017. It wasn’t the first of its kind – New Zealand had a SsangYong single-make pick-up (or should we say ute?) series as early as 2014 with the Actyon.

Volvo 240 Turbo

A decade before Volvo 850 estates appeared in British Touring Car Championship, the 240 saloon was making its presence felt in the European Touring Car Championship. And, where the 850 struggled to keep pace with the competition, the 240 was capable of sticking it to its ostensibly sportier rivals from BMW and Jaguar. The flying brick took the ETCC title in 1985 after winning six rounds out of 14.

Škoda Estelle 130 LR

In the 1980s, the Škoda Estelle has none of the retro cool vibes that bolster its image today – instead, it was the butt of many jokes that those of us old enough still remember by rote. The Estelle 130 LR, or ‘Surprsing Škoda’ as toy-maker Matchbox hailed it, was fitted with a limited slip differential and side-draught Weber carburettors, and went some way to turning the jokes back on the critics. It racked up numerous class wins and podium finishes, but it was the car’s robust construction that really impressed – it finished a remarkable 82.5 per cent of the events it entered. That’s quite a punchline.

Tatra image courtesy of Motorsport Images.