Homologation Race Specials: A rule that changed the world of boring cars

Homologation refers to a racing class requires that the vehicles raced be production vehicles only slightly adapted for racing, manufacturers typically produce a limited run of such vehicles for public sale so that they can legitimately race them in the class. These vehicles are commonly called “homologation specials”.

So, homologation specials are cars that are made according to an exclusive recipe or to a specific motorsport sanctioning body. Cars are manufactured to meet the standards of different race sanctions such as FIA and to allow the car to compete in racing series like Touring Car and Rally Championship Series.

This FIA rule has given rise to several iconic cars. The Ford GT, the E30 M3, the Mercedes 190E 2.3 16V, the Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, the MC12 Stradale, Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion, Ford RS 2000... to name a few. 

For gearheads like us this means some of the craziest cars we could ever imagine. So we should thank the racing homologation rules that inspired automakers to produce these machines.

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