Renault 5 Turbo Turbo 2

Renault 5 Turbo Turbo 2

The Renault 5 Turbo is one of the most outrageous road cars of the 1980s. It looks like a Renault 5 supermini that's been inflated to three times its width. And in a sense, that's exactly what it is — except the engine has been moved from the front to behind the seats, the rear wheels are driven instead of the fronts, and there's a turbocharger strapped to the engine.

The R5 Turbo was created for Group 4 (and later Group B) rally homologation. Renault needed a mid-engined car to compete with the Lancia Stratos, and their solution was brilliantly insane: take the humble Renault 5, rip out everything behind the front seats, stuff a turbocharged 1.4-liter engine where the rear seats used to be, widen the rear by over 200mm per side to accommodate massive rear tires, and add an independent rear suspension where the original had a crude torsion beam.

The result was a car that shared almost nothing with the standard R5 except the windscreen, roof, and front headlights. The Turbo 1 (1980-1982) had an aluminum body and bespoke interior; the Turbo 2 (1983-1986) used steel body panels and a more standard R5 interior to reduce costs for broader homologation.

In rally trim, the R5 Turbo was devastating. Jean Ragnotti won the 1981 Monte Carlo Rally, and the car took multiple WRC podiums. In road trim, it was a wild ride — mid-engine snap oversteer, turbo lag followed by a rush of boost, and the surreal sensation of driving a widebody city car with a racing engine screaming inches behind your head.

Total production was 4,987 units (1,820 Turbo 1 + 3,167 Turbo 2). The Turbo 1, with its aluminum panels and unique interior, is significantly more valuable.