OPINION: We need more cars like the Porsche 911 GT3 RS

The consensus seems to be that it's too over-the-top for the road. Should that criticism ever be levelled at a car built specifically for track days? Probably not. And then there's the price. Not long ago, you'd pay less than £100,000 for a GT3 RS. Now, you won't get much change from £200,000.

With neither 200 nor anywhere near 10k to spare on a GT3 homologated road car, it's not an issue I need to wrestle with. But the Porsche's rock-solid residuals and the sheer driver focus it packs make it a much better purchase than, say, an electrified Ferrari with floorboard-shattering depreciation and an aloof feel. 

Admittedly, Porsche will make you jump through more hoops than an agility dog at Crufts to buy an RS, but as I've yet to buy a new car, this isn't an issue for me either. 

But, like it or not, I'm glad the GT3 RS exists; I wish there were more cars like it. Once upon a time, you didn't need to spend big bucks to get your hands on a car with a pure-racing pedigree. 

In the 1990s, you could have a Peugeot 106 Rallye for the same price as a basic Ford Escort. The Peugeot had windy windows, no sound deadening, a 1.3-litre carburetted motor with a sporty cam, a 7,200rpm redline, and a delinquent attitude that I would buy if bottled. 

Sadly, nowadays, the chances of getting your hands on a new car with an 825kg kerb weight and unassisted steering for the price of an entry-level Ford Focus are, well, zero. This explains the whopping asking prices on Rallye's with boot floors composed entirely of that fantastically lightweight material otherwise known as rust.

But don't despair. If you want a homologated rally car yet to set the auction houses alight, the Suzuki Ignis Sport has comparable levels of back-to-basics thrills as the Peugeot but without the Midas touch values to go with it.

My childhood was littered with cars with pure motorsport pedigree that can now be yours for a few thousand pounds. Pedigree doesn't get much purer than the Subaru Impreza WRX, which encapsulates the WRC in the late 90s/early 00s better than anything else.

Prices of the rare models (22bs, P1s and the like) are getting silly, but I'd argue the basic car gives you at least 80 per cent of the experience and is cheap enough to be enjoyed; driven as it should be without having to worry your priceless rally artifact will get irreparably damaged. 

Mitsubishi Evos are much the same, in fact, even BMW lived the homologation dream by building the 320si, an unexceptional car with the carbon fibre intake from a DTM racer. 

Aside from wanting to buy cars like these, they serve a deeper purpose, bringing a cast-iron connection between the cars you watch compete at the weekend and the ones you can buy in the showrooms after the race.

But there could be some light at the end of the tunnel, and it shines from the headlights of EVs. Nothing shifts cars like the glamour of a motorsport connection and the relative affordability of watching EVs race bring motorsport to a new audience.

Could the easy packaging of EVs also translate into a new generation of homologated road cars? Let's hope so.