The wacky world of homologation specials

The world of homologation specials is filled with dozens of crazy, barely legal road cars built with the sole intention of going racing with them. But while some of these cars are worthy of praise due to their ingenuity, others barely fit the bill. And operate within one of motorsports' biggest grey areas.

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#racecar #motorsport #racing #rally #lemans #wec #imsa #supercars

[LegendRazgriz]

The insane loopholes were great. For GT1, the car needed to have a trunk you could fit a suitcase into, but the rules never specified that trunk couldn't be the fuel tank, so Toyota made the GT-One (project code TS020), put a suitcase in the empty fuel tank, said that was the trunk, and then homologated what was literally a prototype into GT1.

[mrporgmotorsport]

Homologation Specials are by far the best looking race cars ever made. No matter the era, no matter the series, they are always top tier

[StudioVRM]

I love those "bodywork only" homologation specials. They were stupidly expensive and disappointing on paper. But they made it possible to buy the extra add-on pieces from the dealer, which you could then bolt on to your track or race car to make them functional pieces with historical significance.

[nst]

My favourite homologated car is the Celica GT4. So much is shared between the rally car and the road car, they even have the same wiring loom. So any electronic device/ecu/driver aid fitted to the rally car can be retrofitted to the road car and it is all plug and play. Want anti lag on your celica GT4, just find the ecu that does it and just plug it in

[Argent_]

My favorite ’homolagtion special’ was the AMX Javelin that Roger Penske put together for the trans am series in the early ‘70s. There were all sorts wild stories about that car (like the 5m fuel rig they used), but the best one bar none was the brakes they used. Story goes Penske took four disc brakes to an AMC dealership and had them entered into the vehicles parts catalog. Since the brakes had to be ‘stock’, this was a neat way of sliding the state-of-the-art disc brakes from the Porsche 917/30 right past the scrutineers…

[emdotrod]

Speaking of homologation specials, one that isn’t mentioned in this video is the Australian “supercar scare” caused by homologation specials created to race in Australian Touring Car Championship. The government was so scared that these car could potentially dangerous for public road and they just banned it not only for the competition but for public sale.

[Kacijo]

Just drop by to say that your materials are great. The stories that are full of racing and chasing a speed spoken in our specific way. During listening to you everything sound so simple 🔥 Great job your materials are making my day better. So glad that i clicked on the video about Renault 5

[cossie]

One of the facts around the homologation of the Ford Sierra RS500 was that you got the front fog lights in a box in the boot from the dealership. The holes where they normally would be placed in the front bumper were designed for brake cooling ducts in the race car. You could still fit them after purchasing if you wished.

[effisjens]

Never knew about the "bodywork only" rules for homoligating cars. Back when the NSX GT was added in Forza horizon 4, we all questioned the giant roof scoop... Question answered 😅

For real, the Super GT homoligation cars are some of the most obscure in racing games. The one for the 350Z for example i only have seen in 1 game, being the fast and furious Tokyo drift (PS2/PSP).

[shadowgaming]

9:39 the Rally1 cars have to have the same roofline, just not the same chassis. So the aero advantage of the GR Yaris homologation has helped them, especially with rear downforce.

[camilleverchel]

I swear the Venn diagram of ace combat fans and racing fans is surprisingly big. Great video man, can't wait for the next one !

[chifurbr]

this happends with bikes also, for example Honda currently has the RC213V-S, which is a "road legal" (more of a track day) MotoGP bike, they made them so they could go around the rules that don't allow the riders to use race bikes to practice outside race weekends

[jeracerx]

My favorite homoligation special story is the Pontiac GTO, because apparently Pontiac didn't actually pay attention to what the GTO acronym even meant, and when they found out they just kinda threw the GTO into Group 3 so that the acronym actually meant something

[camryt]

I absolutely love anything homologation specials. As a Toyota fan there is plenty to choose from, but I love two anegdotes: Toyota GT-One’s fueltank acting as a luggage compartment, and limited run of Celica GT-Four (ST205) called WRC edition, that lacked ABS but had factory plumbing for anti-lag system!

I own one homologation special myself, it’s a 1992 Toyota Carina E GTi, which uses a 3SGE engine and very complicated front Super Strut Suspension. From what I know, they ditched the trick suspension for Supertouring cars after testing as it wasn’t strong enough. Similarily, road going Celica ST205 had this suspension setup, while the rally car went for regular MacPherson strut. Later this type of suspension was copied by Chevrolet and Renault for Clio RS.

[dusannestorovic]

My friend had a 206 RC, he gutted the interior and tuned it up to 220 hp
That thing was very quick...

[meierb]

One of my favorite (little known) homologation cars was the 2006 Corvette Z06. Since Corvette was dominating the GTS/GT1 races, a rule was set that displacement had to match with a number of production cars so the Corvette got a 7.0L V-8.

[StrikeWyvern]

I adore the fact that you use Ace Combat music as background music to these videos, definitely earned a sub from me!

[Adam-ubnu]

That black Nismo R390 is absolutely tits, one of my favorite cars ever made and that's saying a lot because I love a LOT of cars!

[jondouglas]

I own a homologation special, it's a 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2 + 2, or an Aerocoupe Grand Prix, it was a GM G-Body car that fitted a more rounded, aerodynamic nose, a more fastback style rear glass, and a dovetail spoiler on the trunk lid. It has a massive trunk, it's the exact same size as a standard G-Body, but the new rear glass does not open, and the new trunk lid is only about 1 foot tall, so you have a massive trunk, just with almost no way to put things into it. There's a reason it was described on prerelease test drives as "an ill-fitting grocery getter."

[Rafagafanhotobra]

I love the videos from this channel, as it delves into stories and small details on obscure cars and scopes from the world of racing (such as racecar builders and the Renault 5 GT story) that are often ignored by other channels. Sometimes, overlooked just for the sake of nostalgia of other, more famous stuff. Congrats, nice work!