28 of the Wildest Homologation Specials Ever Built
These really are race cars with license plates.
Racing homologation rules have produced some of the craziest cars to ever be sold for driving on public roads. In some cases, it's hard to believe automakers were crazy enough to build these cars at all, but motorsport is known to inspire strange behavior. Here are some of the best.
Panoz Esperante GTR-1
The road-going version of Panoz's wonderful Esperante GTR-1 race car came near the end of the 1990s. In order to qualify it for racing, the company had to build two examples. Like the race car, it uses a 6.0-liter V-8 making north of 600 horsepower. It also looks menacing.
Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR
Like the 911 GT1, the CLK GTR was built to compete in the FIA GT Championship, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Unlike the normal CLK, it sports a mid-mounted V-12 engine and a carbon fiber monocoque.
BMW M3 (E30)
The first M3 was built to homologate BMW's racing in Group A, designed to compete against Mercedes-Benz and its 190E. The race car would go on to win the Nurburgring 24-Hour five times, while the road car has become a desirable collector's item.
Subaru Impreza 22B STI
If you're a fan of the today's WRX STI, this is the car you have to thank. For the 22B, Subaru took the standard Impreza STI's 2.0-liter engine and increased displacement to 2.2 liters, with power rising to 280-hp. Big fender flares and a rear wing set the visual template for all STIs to come. Only 424 were built and apparently only two live in the U.S.
Subaru didn't have to make the 22B to qualify its rally cars for competition at the time—according to whichcar.com, it just needed to make normal Imprezas to meet the rules. But we're definitely glad it exists.
Opel Manta 400
The Manta 400 was built to homologate a racing version for Group B rally. But by the time it was ready for primetime, the series had moved onto cars equipped with turbochargers and all-wheel drive—neither of which the Manta 400 had. Still, it was nice to look at, and extremely fun to drive.
Mitsubishi Pajero Evolution
Say "Mitsubishi Evolution" and immediately, images of Tommi Mäkinen throwing a Lancer Evo rally car sideways spring to mind. It's not the only Mitsubishi to wear an "Evolution" badge, though. Mitsubishi built 2500 Pajero Evolutions to homologate a more durable and competition focused truck for the T2 class, which featured stock production cars, in the Dakar rally. Beefed-up suspension, a 276-hp V-6 and other off-road goodies helped Mitsubishi win the Dakar overall in 1998.
Ford Sierra RS500 Cosworth
Developed by Ford to compete in the World Touring Car Championship in 1987, just 500 road-going versions of the RS500 were built. The biggest upgrade was the engine—a 2.0-liter unit built by Cosworth that made 224 horsepower.
Celica GT-Four
Though it might not be as popular as some of the other rally homologation cars on this list, the Celica GT-Four is still serious business. It makes 250 horsepower through a turbo inline-four, and gets power to all four corners via a permanent all-wheel drive system.
Porsche 911 GT1
Though it sports 996-generation 911 headlights, the 911 GT1 is far from a 911. It has a flat-six engine, but it's mounted in the middle, and water-cooled. The body is made up of carbon fiber, and the transmission is a six-speed sequential. It was built so Porsche could go racing in the FIA's GT Championship.
SARD MC8
We can forgive you for not knowing what the SARD MC8 is. Just one exists, after all. The Japanese tuner team wanted to race at Le Mans with a highly modified twin-turbo V-8-powered Toyota MR2 in the 1990s, so it built a single road car to align with homologation rules. The car went into hiding for years before popping up on YouTube in 2015, then again on Twitter in 2018.
MG Metro 6R4
Unlike most Group B homologation specials, Rover's Metro 6R4 didn't use any sort of forced induction. It had a naturally aspirated V-6 with Cosworth underpinnings that later found a home in twin-turbo form in the Jaguar XJ220. It also had a chassis designed by Williams, making it very, very quick.
Ferrari 288 GTO
The 288 GTO was originally designed to compete in Group B rally, but failed to race in any events before the series was banned. We never got to see the actual rally car hit the stages, but that almost doesn't matter considering how great the road car is to drive.
Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1
A loophole in Chevy's custom ordering process let a handful of dealers order the baddest Camaro imagined back in 1969. It had a big block 427 V-8 like many other Camaros, only its V-8 was all-aluminum and designed for Can Am racers. There were plenty of fast Camaros in the late-1960s, but this was totally unhinged.
Ford GT
The homologation special is mostly dead today, but Ford brought it back in spirit with the new GT. From the outset, it's abundantly clear Ford had top-level racing in mind when designing the new GT: The street car's engine is adapted from a Daytona Prototype powerplant. The GT road car might not be as raw and untamed as some of the other cars on this list, but it's philosophically similar.
Dauer 962 Le Mans
One of the weirder footnotes in Le Mans history is the Dauer 962, which won the race in 1994 thanks to some creative rulebook interpretation. Dauer took a handful of Porsche 962s, which were the dominant car of the Group C era, and modified them for street use. It is one of the most extraordinary cars to be sold for the streets, but that's what allowed Porsche to enter the 962 in the GT category at Le Mans in 1994.
Plymouth Road Runner Superbird/1969 Dodge Charger Daytona
NASCAR these days produces great racing, but the cars have no relationship to what you can buy in dealerships. In the late 1960s, though, an ingenious interpretation of the rulebook gave us these, the Plymouth Road Runner Superbird and the Dodge Charger Daytona. These bewinged NASCAR racers were so good they were effectively banned in 1971, but not before a handful of highly desirable road cars were built. One of the greatest icons of the muscle car era.
A car enthusiast since childhood, Chris Perkins served as Road & Track's engineering nerd and Porsche apologist.
Brian Silvestro is Hearst Autos' former lead deputy editor for rankings content. He spent over seven years as a staff writer for Road & Track Magazine where he contributed car reviews, industry interviews, and more. He has a taste for high-mileage, rusted-out projects and amateur endurance racing.
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