Racing homologation specials of the 90's - Where are they and how are they doing :)

Lancia Delta HF Integrale EVO 2

The Lancia Delta HF is the icon of rally in the transition period from the 80’s to the 90’s. Featuring a robust 4x4 drivetrain, the bulletproof 2.0 turbo engine with 215hp, it was a blast to drive. Today it is regarded as a collectors car but is also still used for enthusiast racing and as a track car. Values of this car are on the rise. Only 2479 (2,481 includes 7 special editions: 220 Giallo Ginestra, 20 Club HiFi, 8 Club Italia, 365 La Perla, 215 Blu Lagos, 177 Dealer Collection, and 251 Edizione Finale) where produced in the EVO2 trim. Beware of rusty or badly repaired examples because they tend to have cracked chassis. The mechanical parts are relatively easy to find because it shares the basic engine components with the later Fiat Coupe and Bravo turbo including some Alfa Romeo models. Prices for the good EVO I sample will set You back for around 15.000 euros and as for the good EVO II, the prices start at 30-35.000 euros and can reach up to 150.000 euros for mint condition ones in special color and liveries.

Toyota Celica ST184 GT-Four Carlos Sainz

Toyota Celica dominated the early 90’s rally’s across the world. Built by TTE Europe, a Toyota Europe based motorsport company to compete in WRC series. The car also had success in the Dakar and Kenia rally’s. Out of 5000 units, 1800 were for Japanese market, 3000 were allocated to Europe, 150 were delivered to Australia, 25 for Singapore, and very few made a trip to New Zealand and general markets. Today it is estimated that only 2000 examples exist in drive-able and original state and prices are on the rise. Featuring a highly tune-able 3SGTE gen2 engine with stock power of 203Hp it was a little bit slow for today’s standards due to the curb weight of 1450-1500kg. The stock engine and drive-train according to specialized Toyota forums can safely withstand high boost applications and powers up to 500hp with stock internals. It’s still popular in enthusiast racing circles due to cheap and easy to find parts and it is highly tuneable. The price is still relatively low but is also on the rise. A future classic. Prices for a love needing example will set You back about 8.000 euros and as of mint condition examples, the prices are starting from 15.000 euros and are rising steep.

Mercedes 190E 2.5 16v EVO II

The rarest car of the bunch, the Mercedes EVO II was made in only 502 examples for homologation in DTM. It became the archenemy of the BMW M3, but it never managed to be as successful as the BMW e30 M3 It is today regarded as the collectors car. It has a remarkable high revving 2.5 inline for engine producing 235hp and electronically adjustable suspension witch was rare back in the days. It’s Cosworth developed engine was for the EVO II version tuned by AMG, featuring a shorter stroke, higher red line and modified intake and exhaust, especially the larger throttlebody. 500 were made in “blauschwarz” blue/black metallic. But the last two, numbers 501 and 502 were made in astral silver. The EVO I used cars can be found for about 20-25.000 euros but for the mint EVO II examples the prices are pretty steep and can reach up to 300.000(!) euros for top examples. Average price is about 100.000 euros.

Ford Escort RS Cosworth

It was designed to qualify as a Group A car for the World Rally Championship, in which it competed between 1993 and 1998. It was Ford’s flavor of the homologation special based on the fifth generation of the european version of Ford Escort. They made about 1929 cars but now days it’s a rare car because of the popularity in enthusiast and professional racing. There are currently about 800 cars in existence that are in drive-able state of which about 250-300 are in original, factory state. The prices for a used good condition car are on the steep rise so get one while You still can. The car featured a full body kit, excellent handling, an all wheel drive system and a excellent 2.0 litre turbocharged inline four engine, the Cosworth developed YBP engine producing 227hp. This rare beast can be found for around 12.000 euros but be prepared for a long time investment hole. Mint condition ones can be found for around 30.000-35.000 euros.

Volkswagen Golf A59

Designed to compete in the WRC world of the 90’s, unfortunately, the Golf MK3 A59 never reached beyond prototype phase. There were rumors of a VW car compeeting in the prototype class races. It was suposed to be produced in 2500 examples with the price of 80.000 DEM in 1993. The A59 was to be a Group A / Group N machine, meaning 2500 would have been produced to homogate the car for the World Rally Championship. One of the more interesting aspects of the A59’s design was that SMS did not use anything even close to a standard VW engine. VW’s standard family of inline-4 motors are hopelessly undersquare. This is ideal for torque and average drivers and average driving conditions, but undersquare motors don’t like to rev. A racing motor needs to rev. So rather than take the standard 1984cc 82mm x 92.8mm 16v engine and adapt that to competition use, a clean sheet design was used, with a perfectly square 86mm bore and 86mm stroke. In standard form, the engine was making 275hp and was turbocharged. An new permanent all wheel drive was developed for this car. There were only two made. You can buy this version of the Golf only if You are Jay Leno :D

Subaru Impreza WRX Sti

The first thing that associates me with the name Subaru is the 90’s Impreza with Collin McRae at the wheel and playing old GranTourismo on PS1 and PS2, great times. The Subaru Impreza was a car designed so well that it stayed in the original form from 1992 to 2000 year, only with annual modifications being made to mechanical components and minimal cosmetic details. The best editions made were the 1997-1998 models with the 2.2 litre 22B engine witch was developed from the 2.0 litre engine that originaly powered the Impreza. It featured a turbocharger, permanent all wheel drive, 280hp and a wide body kit with under-body protection. It was also very light and agile with a curb weight of only 1270kg. It was made in different colors but the one that should be in Your collection is the Subaru Blue model and if possible in the special 555 edition. The racing versions were prepared by the famous Prodrive. Prices are on the rise for mint condition cars. The 1998 model was produced in only 1000 units. It was also produced in coupe version. The used ones are starting from 12.000 euros but mint condition ones are about 17.000 to 20.000 euro. Prices are on the rise for the early generation cars.

Opel/Vauxhall Lotus Omega

The Lotus Carlton was a Vauxhall Carlton saloon modified by Lotus into a 176 mph (283 km/h) supercar. Like all Lotus vehicles, it was given a type designation — Type 104 in this case. The external differences were minimal to the five seater with only the rear spoiler, a couple of air intakes on the bonnet, and Lotus badges on the front wings and boot-lid, telling it apart from any other Carlton. The car was only sold in one color, Imperial Green, a very dark green that in anything but direct light appears black. Lotus’ modifications included an upgraded engine, which was stroked from the standard Vauxhall 3 L 6 cylinder, used in the GSi, to a capacity of 3615 cc. Lotus then added twin Garrett T25 turbochargers to give 377 hp (557 N·m). A six-speed manual ZF transmission from a Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 was used to transfer this power to the rear wheels. The car was capable of 0-60 mph in 5.2 seconds and had massive 12.5 in (330 mm) AP ventilated disc brakes with racing calipers all round so it could still stop with all its new-found power. As well as being sold as the Vauxhall Lotus Carlton in the UK, it was sold in Europe as the Opel Lotus Omega. Production of the Lotus Carlton began in 1990, four years after the original Carlton went on sale. General Motors (the parent company) had hoped to build 1,100 cars in total, but due to the recession of the early 1990s, the £48,000 cars were not selling as well and production stopped at Lotus in December 1992. Only 950 were completed, 320 Vauxhalls and 630 Opels, 150 short of the original target. It was made for competing in the DTM. It was the fastest four door saloon car of his era. Today it is hard to find a mind condition one for a reasonable price because of the hard to find parts that were specially made by Lotus. Prices for a used one start at 25.000 euro, the mint condition ones start from 32.000 euro and are rapidly rising.

Mitsubishi Lancer EVO V

The Lancer platform was completely changed in 1996, and along with it, the Evolution, which had become extremely popular throughout the world. The engine and transaxle was rotated 180° to better balance the weight and eliminate torque steer. There were two versions available, The RS and GSR. The RS version was produced as a competition car with a limited-slip front differential and a friction type LSD at the rear. It also came with GLX seats and a choice of either 16” or 17” OZ light weight racing wheels. In 1998 car was again changed wich brought us the best drivers Evo, the fifth generation. It produced turbocharged 280ps from a 4G63T engine, featured an permanent all wheel drive system. Curb weight was 1260kg wich made it very agile and responsive. Prices start at 10.000 euro for a used one in good condition and for 15.000 euro You can find a mint condition one. The prices for unmodified original cars are on the rise.

If I failed to acknowledge any other memorable homologation specials of the 90’s, feel free to leave it in the comments :)