Skylines, Supras, EVOs and Impreza’s. Hear these names and images of souped up cars with massive wings and spoilers tearing down the local streets, turbos whistling and wastegates wasting away. In truth, the car that started off the Japanese sportscar revolution was a little more simple.

Totally kickass site from SAAB. One of the best Automobile promotional sites i’ve seen. (Great car too!) Click here to view

The latest BMW M5, powered by a 5 litre V10 engine, this unit pumps out a massive 507 Brake Horsepower and 520NM of torque. That’s ALOT of power! Mated to a 7-speed SMG Drivelogic transmission, the M5 goes from 0-100km/h in about 4.7 seconds and bangs on all the way to a limited top speed of 250km/h. Unrestricted, it will hit almost 330km/h. That’s just immensely quick. 330km/h for a car that can carry 5 passengers comfortably is pretty amazing in my book.

The Fiat X/19 Bertone. Some people call it the “Baby-Ferrari”. Debuting to the World in 1972. It was a mid-engined rear wheel drive sports car and it was small. Really small. But, it had a very unique wedge shaped styling which was attractive as well. The design allowed for 2 seperate luggage storage compartments. Performance wise, the engine pumped out a meagre 75HP (Very litle by today’s standards. But remember, this car is now over 30 years old!) But the weight as kept low and coupled with the mid engined layout, allowed for some really fun handling. I had the chance to sit in one of these before and it was really a small car, the seating position was really low as well. But, it had character. I still like the car quite alot and maybe one day, i would like to have one for myself. It wasn’t very fast though, but i guess with most classic sports car, you don’t need to be going fast to enjoy the car. Top speed was quoted to be at 170km/h. Yeah right…

The BMW M1, the first ever car to wear that much coveted M badge. It was a sight to behold. Designed by Giugaro and initially to be built by Lamborghini. It had the looks, the power and the pedigree. The development of BMW’s mid-engined M1 project began in 1976, though it was to be built by Lamborghini, the Italian supercar maker ran into financial difficulty and caused BMW to move production over to Baur. (Who made their convertibles) But by the time production resumed, the homologation rules for international Group 5 racing had been changed. Since BMW had not met the required sales figures of 400 cars in 24 months, the M1 went to the new Procar series instead. By the time BMW had sold enough cars, the M1 was no longer competitive for Group 5 racing. Quite a waste really.