Awesome performance cars you may never have heard of

We all know a heap of odd cars and love what we love (mine is 80s BMWs, thanks). But I was inspired to run you guys through some properly odd performance cars that different parts of the world (or generations of readers) may have never heard of before. 

I've plucked these cars out of my wormhole of a brain at random, so hit me back with weird performance cars you think people may not have heard of. If this story whets your appetite, you can also read about some others HERE when I ran through some of South Africa's wildest E30s (I didn't even talk about the 745i)

Many of us know the common all-wheel-drive turbo four-cylinder performance cars from the 90s. Think of the GTi-R, WRX, Evo... even the Escort Cossie RS and Lancia Delta Integrale. What about the Ford KE Laser TX-3 Turbo 4WD?

Originally launched in 1987 and built in Japan off the same platform as the Mazda Familia 323 these three-door turbo hot hatches were fully imported from Japan packing hardware Australia hadn't seen before. Under the bonnet was a DOHC turbo 1600cc four-cylinder making 100kW (which was almost as much as the 5L V8 found in the VL Commodore of the time), They even had height-adjustable suspension that could be tweaked from inside the cabin - this was truly Back To The Future stuff of the time.

While the front-drive model did 15.8s on the quarter, the heavier AWD did a 16.2 that was still very respectable. They were hampered by a gearbox as frail as a kitten with a chest infection, only 412 AWD TX-3 Turbos were sold until the model ended in 1990.

This thing is a Mazda Familia GT-R in quirkier, rarer clothes and has become a cult classic for small Ford performance fans in Australia. 

If you're after a classic chrome-bumper small car that has genuine race legacy, you could opt for a Ford Escort RS, Isuzu Gemini, or a Triumph Dolomite Sprint... wait, what? 

Sporting a 16-valve SOHC two-litre four-cylinder producing a not-inconsiderable (for the day) 127hp. This gave the tiny four-door a 0-100km/h time of just 8.4-seconds, while the handling was sharpened and the Sprint scored alloy wheels (a first for a UK production car).

The compact dimensions, four-door space, and rear-drive layout meant the Sprint became a go-to model for people wanting a practical small car that was also fun. Triumph dealers were also known to fit larger carburettors, upgraded camshafts and other high-performance accessories, as a way of homologating them for racing.  

While the UK scored nearly 23,000 Dolomite Sprints,  only 620 were imported to Australia in the 70s, and it is believed that less than 80 survive today. They're most commonly seen in historic racing as the Sprint was a commonly-featured touring car in the four-cylinder classes of Aussie Group C racing in the 70s. 

American performance cars in mid-70s were pretty bloody average things (in general) thanks to skyrocketing oil prices, insurance refusing to cover tyre-burning big-block muscle cars, and incoming safety and efficiency requirements. Chevy tried spicing up their sub-compact Vega model with a bunch of mods that were WAY ahead of their time, including a super-swish DOHC cylinder head from the English racing Gods at Cosworth Engineering. Behold, the Chevrolet Cosworth Vega. 

Facing an incredible battle from imported European and Japanese cars that went fast around corners and stopped quickly, Chevy responded with the Cosworth Vega and, by all period accounts, it was a really good thing. 

Sporting an all-aluminium DOHC 2-litre four-cylinder, headers, Bendix EFI, and even a 5-speed manual (1976 models), the production car only made 110hp so it could pass emissions regulations in all 50 states (the only GM performance car to do so) while a raced-up version of this engine produced 260hp way back in 1970!

Impressively, road tests of the day reckon the Cossie Vega actually handled and rode better than pretty much any American car of the day, too. It even beat the hottest European rivals from Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and BMW in magazine tests, not just in a straight line but around corners and under brakes too.

All up only 2061 Cosworth Vegas were sold in black, with gold pinstriping (way ahead of the famous John Player Special BMW models or Lotus F1 cars). Unfortunately, the Cossie Vega was always intended as a limited-edition model and, with EFI being in its absolute infancy at the time, the market wasn't ready for maintaining these types of cars. 

Later on, but still YONKS AGO (aka back in 1991), GMC blew Americans out of the water with the most radical reinvention of a muscle car we've ever seen. You've heard of the Buick Grand National, but there are a couple of other, more impressive turbo V6 GM speed machines: the Syclone & Typhoon.

With a 280hp 4.3-litre V6 copping 14psi from a TD06 turbo the Syclone could do 0-100km/h in 5.3-seconds, with a quarter mile time in the low 13s. This made it faster than a lot of supercars of the day..  

Now, the idea of a powerful mid-sized pick-up truck wasn't new as Chevy put big-block V8s in their El Camino utes back in the '60s and '70s, but what really flipped the script was the Syclone's use of an all-wheel-drive drivetrain. This thing gripped and ripped, baby.

In 1992, GMC opened up the range with a three-door SUV called the Typhoon. It's basically the same thing, except Clint Eastwood (the coolest guy in Hollywood) famously owned one and used it as his daily for decades. Only 4697 Typhoons were built in their three-year run, as they were essentially hand-assembled off the normal GM production line, while only 2998 Syclones were built as they lasted just one year.

While America is renowned for their brash take on performance cars, South Africa really doesn't get the kudos it deserves for creating such wild pieces of kit as the Capri Perana and Ford Sierra XR8. South Africa also built some incredibly special BMWs (check the link to the 333i and 325iS at the top of this story) and here I'll talk about their take on the E23 745i.

BMW's 7-series has always been their luxo barge for wafting fat cats from corporate lunches to the golf course. Back in the late 70s BMW even sold a factory turbocharged 745i model in the E23-generation. Unfortunately the M102 and M106 engines didn't work in right-hand-drive models, so when BMW South Africa wanted to go touring car racing they slapped the M88 DOHC straight six from the M1 supercar and E28 M5 into the big 7. Behold, the "745i SA".

Replacing a turbo 6 for an aspirated one sounds pretty lame, but the 3.4-litre M88/3 engine sported over 280hp and that was God-like in a four-door sedan back in 1983. It was also more than 30hp over what the turbo engines were producing, plus the sound is up there with the best 6-cylinder engines of all time. 

Only 209 were built, all in South Africa, with all but 17 copping automatic transmissions. One of the 17 cars equipped with the close-ratio five-speed manual transmissions was turned into a race car, had 400hp jammed up its bratwurst explusion tube, and was let loose on the Modified Saloon Car Championship, where it won the Class A title in 1985. Against Alfa Romeo GTVs, Ford Sierras, and Mazda RX-7s.

This was the only BMW-sanctioned motorsport 7-series in the marque's history.

When it comes to rare, unknown performance cars, the king should surely be the BMW E36 M3R. Ok, we all know about BMW M3s, and the E36 is definitely not unknown, but only 15 M3Rs were built, all in Australia, making them one of the rarest performance BMWs around. 

The man behind this kangaroo-cooked hottie is a legend called Frank Gardner. I could write several blog posts about how big a legend Gardner was (he's the bloke responsible for connecting John Player Special and BMW touring cars) but this is one of Frank's best unknown stories. 

His race team bought a handful of the lightest spec '95 M3s they could order, and then beefed up the brakes and handling, ditched weight throughout, and installed shorter gears. Tipping the scales at 1360kg the NA machine did 0-100km/h in 5.7-seconds which was rapid for the time.

They took the atmo 3.0-litre S50 engine and added upgraded cams, ported the cylinder head, changed the exhaust, PgUpped the tune, and added a second oil pick-up to make 320hp - the most powerful E36 M3 road car BMW "made". 

You couldn't buy it without a racing licence and Gardner was never intending it to be a volume seller. Such is the rarity of the M3R it has fed a legend amongst the BMW M Sport faithful who crave unicorns like this.

Paul Walker even had one of the 15 before his untimely passing.