When The WRC Met Its Match - The Era Of The Kit Car

[@JackohMotors]

An underrated era of the WRC?

[@tamwalker3431]

Definitely

[@naturalborndylla]

Might be because it was my childhood but the late 90s early 00s was the best era of rally for me

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

not just wrc the 2litre naturally aspirated era of the 90s is definitively underrated in motorsport as a whole, just look at btcc in those times

[@platzhirschtv4770]

Yeah absolut underratet. But it is kinda understandebel. Back the thair was only Television or have to be on on the Spot. And TV was Focused on the "big" players. So you kinda had to be a dedicated fan. Or may I just were to young to notice it. Never the less , the Body Kit Kit Cars made an huge impression on me. Thx for this documentary ❤

[@maciekwysocki2009]

Dude never. The best era

[@LesGrosPiedsDeDeejay]

How good are you on tarmac ? French manufacturers : Oui

[@NazriB]

Lies again? West Route 66

[@DamarFadlan25]

Japanese Manufacturers: Hold my "Yada" from coco hayashi.

[@howarddavies136]

The 306 maxi will always be a stunner to me.

[@mhh7544]

Gilles Panizzi was unreal on tarmac with kit cars .

[@OsellaSquadraCorse]

Closely followed by Le Petit Bug

[@drsolar]

​@@OsellaSquadraCorse Philippe

[@nuukkismotorsport8153]

Even faster with the Peugeot 206 ;)

[@mhh7544]

@@nuukkismotorsport8153 He was a suberb tarmac man lol

[@AntoniusTyas]

Gilles was unreal on tarmac full stop. He might be not very good on gravel, mud or snow, but only Seb and Philippe (rest in peace) who can stop him in tarmac.

[@JakePetrolhead]

As a child who grew up on a diet of V-Rally 2 and late 90's British Rally Championship season reviews, I adore the F2 cars. Smaller Super Tourers, but with mudflaps and a gloriously high revving NA engine - some of the most nostalgic cars for me in all of rallying.

[@roystevenson1635]

V rally 2 was one of my introductions to rallying too

[@FOXeye95]

To me it was Rally championship 2000 pc game, so many found memories

[@DamarFadlan25]

​@@roystevenson1635NFS V RALLY 1 also.

[@ocrOPK]

The sound of those engines is legendary. Some points to keep in mind. The 2l kit cars were allowed to have almost 300kg less minimum weight than the WRC cars. This resulted in the opportunity to use softer tyres and the weight advantage outweighed the power deficit (although the Citroen were rumored to have north of 300hp) and on tarmac traction was also pretty good. So, close to WRC power but much lighter. Awesome times.

[@MrLg55555]

The last of the 306 Maxi versions, the Evo 3 had around 325 bhp

[@brdllc]

YES, I love the kit car era. The sounds are incredible and I always love fwd

[@aaronbryan5095]

“Love fwd” 😂😂😂

[@brdllc]

@@aaronbryan5095 ?

[@s_t_r_a_y_e_d]

​@@aaronbryan5095👈 found the fake car guy

[@AcceptYourDeath]

@@s_t_r_a_y_e_d Why fake? Most "car guys" dislike FWD especially with motorsports. As a drivetrain concept it has its limits.

[@sennedegroof4728]

With Rally2 getting faster in 2025 and Rally1 losing hybrid we might see something like this again.

[@winteronice]

Altough it would kill the class in 3 years time, it's going to be glorious!

[@Randomii666]

I wonder if there's gonna be any proper seperation between rally 1 and 2, especially as we've already seen rally 2 cars beating rally 1 cars, even if just due to weather conditions

[@sennedegroof4728]

@@Randomii666 Yes but i believe rally2 is populair at the moment so we will have to see.

[@A-dood]

Rally 1 is gonna lose hybrid? Strange

[@sennedegroof4728]

@@A-dood Yeah they said it was to expensive and complicated and would increase costs to much.

[@Dragoneer]

I always liked the F2 kit car class, because it seemed like the closest match to everyday consumer cars at the time. I imagine it was a great advertisement for those particular car models. They should really bring it back…

[@gobgobcachoo]

Rally2 exists??!

[@bigbuckoramma]

The thing i remember the most about the F2 podiums, and eventual wins by thr Xsara, was all of the WRC drivers complaining about not getting awarded full points. I particularly remember Calos and Juha making the biggest fuss about it. Juha in particular was downright nasty about it, and i can honestly say that whole incident made him lose a lot of standing in my young teenage eyes. I still look back fondly at F2, it is as exactly the kind of underdog story you wanted to see. It was practically BTCC/TOCA SuperTouring Cars on the street. It was just a joy to watch, and the unmistakable sound made it even better. Its sad that while F2 KitCars made the sport fun to watch in the late 90's, that many of the same Apendix-J rules make the sport boring with the current Class1 cars. Personally, i could do with some more S2000 right about now.

[@Vamppas]

​@@alextavoularis8761 Agree on everything. Except that it was right decision to make kits slower. Should have made wrc cars faster.

[@Vamppas]

@@alextavoularis8761yes I know but they could have allowed wrc cars to have bigger restrictor for the turbo, lower min. weight and wider tarmac tyres. But you are right. It is stupid that the lower class was able match the top guns. Brainfart from Fia.

[@pgr3290]

The 306 Maxi with the iconic wide front track and huge arches. Chef's kiss.

[@misael9154]

truly one if not the most underrated rally era and my faviourite, not only for what they have done but because of the concept of their driving. we went from really raw heavy machines sliding all across the track to nimble gentle cars, no unnecessary oversteer, just surgical perfection. the fact that it was N/A didnt stopped them from putting well over 300hp on those engines, some say the xsara reaching 340hp

[@ThaDutchDK1989]

340hp out of a NA 2000cc is crazy hp and not suitable for rallying where you need some low end torq . So that’s fake cause even Super touring cars of btcc had “”only 280-300ho” out of a 2000cc NA engine and these don’t need to do hairpins and stuff. The xsara has 300hp maximum . The megane had 260- 270hp

[@misael9154]

​@@ThaDutchDK1989 yes, but those 300hp from the BTCC cars were at 8500rpm, the kit cars had a range up to 10k rpm so its not crazy to think that those cars could make that power output. all things said its all speculation of course because "officially" the xsara had 280hp. having +340hp in the official numbers would be a scandal for the competition given the huge difference compared to the WRC cars, but its still a posibility.

[@piotrmalewski8178]

@@ThaDutchDK1989 Low-end torque is a misconception. It's only useful for road traffic cars to make them nicer and for off-road vehicles. In racing and rallying it doesn't matter because you can just have very short gearing and convert revs to torque. I remember that Super 1600 would idle at more than 2000, and it would refuse to start moving unless the engine had at least 4000. Back in the 1980s even turboed rally cars did not have low-end torque. Just massive turbo lag and maximum power between 7-8 thousand which since the 90s is N/A territory. If you go further back in time, Escort RS1800 that was winning even world championships back in late 70s/early 80s, the 1.8 liter DOHC 16 valve Cosworth engine would rev to 9500 rpms with maximum power of 260BHP over 8000 rpms. Torque on the wheels was from short gearing and it was up to the driver to keep engine at revs.

[@alxsarti]

Living in Corsica, i had the chance to see WRC juste near m'y school every year. Kit cars were so good to.see and hear. 2.0 l N/A @9000 RPM was huuuge.

[@ggggbfgspyevan3849]

This is the only good video that explains the F2 Kit Car history, congrats, finally ! Maybe another video about the S1600 and/or the S2000 would also be great to see !

[@niclebowski9214]

its one of those super specific things ive been obsessed for a while now, kit cars were amazing and in my opinion the epitome of the 90s. Light, NA, flared fenders with masters of tarmac driving them. What more do you want? This wouldnt have happened without Gran Turismo 4 that actually used the xsara kit car in the game and it was the only rally car using a 2wd system so i had to dig into that....and the rest is history. I'm planning to build one of those cars one day.

[@infamousaidy]

There are already plenty of us trying to build copies as close as we can. I am doing a 106 maxi and a few friends are doing the same, friends are building 306 maxis and one is reproducing all parts from his original 306 maxi so accurate reproductions can be made. The 90s will never die!

[@irtnyc]

Bro. You are sadly mistaken if you think what happened in the real world has anything to do with your video game. You misunderstand the order of operations of reality.

[@friskycalibri2293]

​Mate, you lack reading comprehension.​ They said they discovered the class due to GT4, not that the class began due to it.@@irtnyc

[@AnthonyJones-vk6xq]

Like most people i loved this period in rallying, i competed at national level in the UK for over 20 years, now i would not walk to the end of my drive the watch the WRC pass, the WRC cars now are so divorced from what we could all buy from a dealership. I am convinced that another Group B type ban will happen sooner or later and that rallying as we knew it is finished ! Thanks for video, brought back some great memories.

[@JackohMotors]

I do agree the new wrc cars just don't have the magic of the old ones

[@amr1t_]

@@JackohMotors I kinda hope that more manufacturers get into WRC2, I honestly have a lot of fun watching them this season. They can get surprisingly close to the back of the pack of WRC1, oliver solberg drove phenomenally in sweden

[@yippydoddlecarson6375]

I miss when each car on the grid has a distinct appearance and sound, the new cars are quite cool in my opinion but they are just too samey and honestly a little bit boring. It's why I think the group b era is so beloved.

[@torstikinnunen3801]

WRC really needs to bring back an F2 style class. Simple cars based on actual factory models, 2wd and small displacement engines. Make rally cheap again, at least for manufacturers if not actual private teams.

[@aditya.sagraha]

I remembered picking the 306 in DR2.0 career mode, thinking, "huh, it's FWD and not Gr.A or WRC, probably slower and won't be too hard to handle" Then boom, it went faster than the Gr.B beasts, in Spain, and Finland, and Sweden

[@foxy126pl6]

Rally 4 and rally 5 cars are fwd

[@nibv6996]

FINALLY someone talking about this! Instant susbscribe! The most interesting, underrated, overshadowed and esoteric story and era in Car Racing history! Thank you for talking about it! Unlike some other youtubers who always talk about the same mainstream stuff like F1, Indycar, Nascar, Group B and so on. P.S: F2 Kitcars are the fastest tarmac rally cars ever made period and the sound they make is just otherwordly too.

[@JackohMotors]

Definitely an overlooked part of the sport. Thank you for the support!

[@bayersrig4260]

Awesome cars, I think the 306 is my favourite !

[@Lifeless11111]

My first car was a citroen xsara 1.9d , i always thought that was the most beautiful car ever, (not googly headlights) and i still think so. I kinda miss it now that its gona for scrapper . Now i own a peugeot 207 , gasoline this time and im super happy. The french can really make a good car

[@Pappa_66]

Good video, thank you! As a Finn, following rally since the late 70s, I feel like there has been zillions of changes, for cars, classifications, rules, stages, speed, gravel to tarmac....and a whole bunch of totally different kind of localised rallies but still on international level. We have always had like 10 different level/classes of cars and rallies. It is and has been the same organisation changing rules and cars every year to make rally even more international and interesting to both car companies and people. This year is going to be a "gap year" cause now the rules are......😮😢😢😂😂. And Kalle is having fun with all kinds of things, which moves fast❤❤. That is maybe the "biggest" change that the new generation is bringing with them? I am 23 and I am going to have fun, good for you Kalle❤. Ok, he has been driving since he was 8 yrs. old. First official, international rally at the age of 10 yrs. old.

[@MrLolx2u]

This class would later spawn one of the most junior series of rallying that was equally exciting to watch and that's JWRC. Also, in JWRC, Suzuki dominated it later on with it claiming what I remember was 3 or 4 championship titles in a row with their Swift JWRC which in return spawned one of Japan's hot hatch at that time with the Swift Sport. Suzuki, then on a high, went on and tried the WRC proper with their SX4 WRC but alas, that thing didn't perform well as it was overweight, taller than the other cars thus a higher center of gravity and for some reason, often breaking down or lacking pace against its competitors like the Ford Focus.

[@thaizzz]

Trying any of the Kit Cars on a sim like RBR really gives you a taste on how insane this things were. The car wanting to be on the redline all the time it's NOT an exaggeration when in 2 sec you are in 4th gear and it's a wildly different experience compared to driving anything else.

[@sportquattro8430]

Just love the F2's, the looks, the sound and the driving style

[@whitefr4me445]

YES I love kit cars. Actually we still have Kit Car rally races here in Portugal.

[@itallomagalhaes6621]

the 306 maxi was one of the most beautiful kit cars ever made

[@MrLg55555]

The most beautiful and on tarmac a match for cars with way more power...

[@ThatOneGib]

Grew up with Mobil 1 Rally Championship, love these lil things and I can't wait to have a go at them again in that new WRC game

[@rolux4853]

I really miss those cars! Back then a backyard team could compete and have fun, these days it’s incredibly expensive and impossible..

[@Lux123]

As an owner of a megane rally car, these were absolute beasts. Planning on putting the blue and yellow livery from the megane maxi on mine

[@Mx64MaxyImpress]

Kinda interesting to see those lower spec car that only 2WD fight for victory in flowing tarmac stage like France & Italy, my fav is definitely The 306 from 1997 and the underrated Xsara 1999 which won the rally thanks to Bugalski

[@gillespa]

R.I.P. PHILIPPE BUGALSKI, WE MISS YOU.

[@jenxx49]

Very interesting... however i note loeb was driving the xsara! 😂

[@Hydrazine1000]

I remember watching the Tour de Corse double podium happen live on Eurosport in 1999, when they experimented with live WRC rally coverage for the final rally stage. Such a shame that this TV format wasn't adopted. And that engine sound... that high intensity high rev wail is just epic. Like a god is pissed off at something and just _snarls!_

[@Shenron67]

We had a preview of all this with the Renault 11 Turbo of Jean Ragnotti leading the Tour de Corse 1987 for a long time.

[@hanswurst6712]

Great Video, and a good a reminder of forgotten Rallye legend cars like the Seat Ibiza and the 3 French Cars (Peugeot 306, Renault Megane Coupé und Citroen Xsara). I remember playing those cars a lot in some rallye game on play station at the time, forgot which game it is though... its just to long ago. :D My favourite of those cars is the Peugeot 306 for sure. It just looked really cool in that white/blue livery.

[@JackohMotors]

I'd argue the 306 had one of the best liveries of the 90's!

[@grzesiucustoms195]

As a owner of such kit car I can tell you one thing. Maybe they are not particularly fast but they are very forgiving cars and had just crazy amounts of grip 😄 I have a Ford Puma kit car that I'm building on my own, so more of a junior class machine but still probably the best car I've ever driven. Drives literally like a gokart at any given speed. Plus I was always loving this wide arches, they are just sooo appealing 😄

[@lotuscaterham20]

I grew up with the S1600 and since then I love FWD rally cars. Didn't know so much about the F2 tho! Great video

[@Snarl616]

Some corrections or things to be more precise in this video: 1999 PT.1 -> A controversial year for F2, because Renault won without any official team and beating Hyundai that had two official cars. However, Hyundai skipped some rounds and Renault only won because many winning F2 cars raced but didn't enter the 2Litres championship, like Citroen or Peugeot. This meant that Renault took points with many backmarkers, like in sweden, and with a lot of Renault 18, like in Argentina. Which is weird. 1999 PT.2 -> Actually, the Xsaras raced in Sanremo too, but the twisty mountain roads were not the same thing of Catalunya and Corsica, and they were never competitive. None of the two citroens saw the finish. 1999 PT.3 -> In the Tour de Corse 1999 it actually rained hard on a stage, and still Puras was the fastest with slick tyres. CATALUNYA 1997 -> The 306 Maxi was fighting well with Panizzi and Delecour against the WRC, but the rules allowed the anti-puncture system only to WRC and not to 2Litres cars, and when Panizzi punctured a tyre, it was over for him. THE DECADENCE -> In 2000 the Kit Cars had the minimum wieght raised from 960 kg to 1 ton, and in 2001 FIA added a flange to the air intake that made the Kit Cars uncompetitive, and generally nonsensical.

[@JackohMotors]

Thank you for the notes! Very interesting stuff it seems I completely missed while doing my research.

[@andre6893]

Amazing video! Because I followed closely, I am familiar with the history. I also am originally from Madeira, where I had the opportunity of seeing a great many 306 Maxi, the Megane Maxi and one time the incredible Xsara Kit-Car (an unfortunate issue with the gearbox on the first stage stopped it from winning the event) but these cars were phenomenal to watch on tarmac driven by the likes of Adruzilo Lopes (Peugeot Silver Team Portugal), José Carlos Macedo (Megane Maxi) or the great Panizzi who had to call it quits due to an extremely unfortunate accident with another Peugeot that year. After being banned from the WRC, these cars were the bread and butter to our Regional Championship, us having at one point almost every model running, including a rare and beautiful Astra Kit-Car, Golf IV Kit-Car (had an amazing low rev growl) and what was probably the best 306 Maxi in the world at the time, with an equally incredible red and black livery, driven by local Vitor Sá, with what was dubbed an Evo 9 engine built by Enjolras in Spain rumored to put out around 330 bhp and revving upwards of 11,000 RPM. An all tarmac championship y'all can imagine how competitive and fun things got and how much it fed the passion of the locals for Rallying. To this day, the Rally Vinho Madeira (which was until recently a coefficient 20 in the European Rally Championship, and twice WRC candidate) is the largest sporting event on the island. It's only one follower, but you've won a dedicated one here! Thank you for the memories!

[@alextavoularis8761]

F2 Kit Cars didn't get banned from WRC. They competed in WRC events in many occasions after 1999, but rules were different for them since 2000. They were heavier and less powerful, but it's not a situation like Group B cars (B11 and B12 cars were banned indeed).

[@georgesgranger6362]

If only the US had such rally events, there is no better motorsport than road course rally. Circuit racing is fun sure, but there is no comparison

[@marguskiis7711]

RIP Phil Bugalski, the victim of very ironic accident.

[@FinlayDaG33k]

I bought my 206 CC (GTi but convertible) because this era made me fall in love with 2L NA blocks.

[@axelknutt5065]

Great documentary. Well put together. Most important … no robot voiceover. Very informative. I didn’t get to see gp.B cars in action, but group A in the 90’s was a spectacular era for rally.

[@EnFonde_6]

Very nice video, great work ! Those 306 Maxi and Xsara Kit Car were amazing cars, with Bugalski, Delecour and Panizzi, the onboard video are unreal to watch.

[@kettlebellcarnivore-vr5cw]

This was awesome! I love F2. I really loved rallying a fwd car, and think the FIA could field a similar category now, and get way more buy-in than the current WRC classes.

[@ramadhanisme7]

Coincidentally when I'm curious about a statement that citroen xsara is the fastest tarmac rally car and your video came in my youtube, thank you for your superb video

[@FR4NKYEtheIV]

Great docu, I am proud of our Skoda for their successes in this category

[@kl75182]

That 306 was such a monster.

[@BYardleyOfficial]

Finally someone recognised the 1999 CITROËN XSARA kit car it's the best rally car in my opinion

[@heikoscheuermann]

Maybe the best F2. Think about it, how can a car that is only on one surface competitive be best RALLY car?

[@BYardleyOfficial]

@@heikoscheuermann bro I don't like the car because of it's competitiveness I love it because it was the first ever car I drove in gran turismo and I really liked it because of the way it looked, I didn't even know that it achieved anything until I saw that video Edit: I always thought it was a failure because I didn't know that the F2 class was thing I thought that the car was meant to be racing against lancers and imprezas and other group A cars on the same grid that's why I was angry at CITROËN because why would someone build an FF rally car? But after I watched the video I understood why So basically I don't care if a car is competitive or not I just loved the XSARA because of the way it looked

[@SetsunaTheFandom]

Still a big fan of these F2 Kit Cars myself, and always will be. These are some of the cars that are more interesting in the 90s rally spectrum and added a flavor to the championships they are in. The 306 Maxi II, the Xsara, the Team Diac Megane, and the Hyundai Coupe EVO II will always get me on chokehold whenever this category gets mentioned.

[@TheMarineGamerIGGHQ]

This is why I love throwing my Xsara VTS around, no VVTI no VVL no fancy crap. Just pure 2L goodness. One of the greatest sounding 4cyl engines

[@nuukkismotorsport8153]

Good stuff! Happy to see that the 90s rallying community is still going strong :)

[@JackohMotors]

Got to keep the dream alive!

[@fontheking5]

There is nothing to this day, that sounds anything like a Peugeot 306 Maxi F2 at 10 000 rpm, and that 's something i really wish we could recreate with todays current breed of rally cars 👍

[@gothicpagan.666]

F2 goes back further than that. Peugeot campaigned the 309 Gti, while Renault had the clio 16valve which was 1800cc. Peugeot had introduced a 16 valve power unit XU9 J4RS, based on the existing XU 9 J2. Both at 1905cc but with the torque available with the 88mm stroke in the Peugeot unit and now with a cylider head that could breath well enough for the torque to hang on untill 8k+ rpm, the Clio was now outclassed and uncompetitive so Renault they came up with the 2.0Ltr Clio Williams which more than levelled up the field untill Peugeot came out with the 306, but instead of using the inon block xu10 j4rs 2.0 unit they based their power unit on the ux7 j4 alloy block unit sacrificing some top end power due to that unit having smaller valves, but it was proven in testing that the reduction in mass of the lighter unit more than made up for the power deficit, when is came to speed in the corners due to lower polar moments. The WRC should have adopted the F2 category, it's what auto makers at the time were selling. Again race on sunday sell on Monday. The program costing a fraction of the then wrc budget requirements

[@retardray5701]

Yeah, I think F2 (or Group A, Class 7) began in the early 80's, around the same time as the other Classes under Groups B, A and N. When VW won the Group A title in 1986 with the Golf, it probably was an F2 car due to the lack of turbo and 4wd. Adopting the F2 Class as the main category could've been smart, but I guess 4wd had gained such a place in the sport that many people weren't willing to take the step back. Maybe it was Mitsubishi and Subaru who were most in favour of 4wd, since they also had popular cars to sell for Group N, which they could develop alongside.

[@gothicpagan.666]

@@retardray5701 Don't know if you remember the BRC from mid to late 90's There was not a single mass producer of cars not involved either in F2 2Ltrs or s1600. Great sight and just as important, sound. The only exception to the above was Fiat. A Stillo was out in GrN run by Walkers? Andy Dawson looked at the Punto kit car as a preperation company (He has been around since Hillman Imps, Mk2 Escort with coil spring rear end, and Datsun competitions manager) which would have been truly competitive in s1600 Happy days

[@gamernamedjacob]

I'm pretty sure the 1.8 xu7jp4 was only used in the later WRC 206 and WRC xsara, kit cars used xu10j4rs. I think the biggest factor was that the engine was tilted backwards 30°

[@gothicpagan.666]

@@gamernamedjacob 206 wrc used EW 10 unit

[@sneekeruk]

The 306 maxi was based on the mi16 xu9j4 engine as it was based on the original 306 s16. I had a 306 years ago with the xu7j4 alloy 1.8, and it was an interesting engine, you could swap parts with the xu10rs from the gti6, the inlet and exhaust manifolds fitted, I had the cams from a gti6 in my little 1.8, it was basically the same engine but alloy block and a short stroke crank. The 'problem' with them was the ecu couldnt be mapped like the one on the gti6, so really they needed a standalone ecu if you built a frankenstien 1.8. Also I never knew anyone get standard power figures out of one on a dyno, peugeot listed them as 112bhp. I never saw anyone go on a dyno and come out with less then 120bhp, mine with just an exhast did 125bhp.

[@melvyncox3361]

Great video.Loved the Kit Cars and their giant killing antics, especially the Peugeot 306 Maxi👍❤️!

[@antecalic8881]

I'll never forget my PS2 Collin McRae rally game back in '04 with the Citroen Xsara on it's cover.

[@StefanDLazarov]

Will never forget the first time i saw 306 maxi in action, 2001 Hebros rally, Bulgaria!

[@DamarFadlan25]

Citroen back then in 1999 to 2001 are considered to be the giant killer in WRC.

[@Drunken_Hamster]

Really wish I could build or buy something comparable to a kit car. I saw someone driving one in Dirt Rally 2, and holy hell... That thing drives exactly how I want a car to drive. I've never seen a better example of a car that "dances" through the corners with the driver than that.

[@nicknickolas4936]

My first car was a 306, even the road car was very good at turning and redlining all the time

[@DJBassBoomBottom]

Also shoutout to those liverys, cheesy yet fun.

[@ChikaTC42]

My favourite class of rally cars to drive in games!

[@elimeir8558]

Excellent video, I still have VWM parts catalogues from back then, and in the early 2000 Vw ran the 16v in a mk4 here in the US.

[@adamcichon6957]

Hey y'all, imagine an alternative scenario for year 2000. Each team would have to build a 2-liter kit car to be able to win the asphalt WRC rounds. It would be quite comical, but also very interesting to watch 950kg, FWD n/a 2-liter two door Impreza, Corolla, Focus... Mitsubishi would have to switch for 2 or 3-door hatchback Mirage. Peugeot and Seat would give their drivers 306 and Ibiza, and Skoda would swapped 2-litre engines into Felicia or even build ad hoc newer 2-liter Fabia... I would liked to watch them, especially a Subaru Impreza Maxi based on 2 door WRC. PRODRIVE would have to swap metal wheel arches to composite ones, took out whole rear wheels drive and plug the hole in a transmission... tune up the engine without turbo... That would be very, very interesting car.

[@neddy1287]

The 2WD kit cars were savages on the tarmac roads as they would just go so fast while banging off the rev limiter and it was definitely fun to watch but nowadays it missing that magical spark in my opinion

[@martingorosito3966]

ARGENTINA MENTIONED 🇦🇷🥳 You know, the R18 is the most successful car on the Argentine rally championship. Designed by Oreste Berta (legendary designer on Argentina) and having Jorge Recalde behind the wheel (only Argentine to score a win on the WRC) the R18 proved to be tremendously reliable and managed to dominate the rally scene for almost two decades, beating iconic cars like the Delta, Quattro, Lancer, long etc. Although it's still pretty ugly, I give you that 😅

[@HomeWithDrew]

I loved the kit on the Saxo when it first ca,e out, enjoying playing with this and the Seat in Colin Mcrae Rally and V-Rally....and I re,ember the Escort WRC and Imprezza WRC tooked the style of the F2 cha,pionship and into the WRC...Then Richard Burns in the mighty 206 looked epic!!

[@MotoPasjeKamila]

Hey! You've made a great film here. I remember this times very good, and as a hardcore rally fan I'd love to see cars like this in WRC today. My all time favourite F2 car is Renault MAXI Clio, but it was MAXI Megane that won Polish National Championship in 1997 with WRC cars!!! Polish Championship conststs of about 6-8 rounds, out of which a maximum of 2 are run on gravel, so for an F2 car it was easier. Still Janusz Kulig beat 4 WRC cars accros the season. I miss those cars. Cheers from Poland!

[@YegoYTP]

This is my personal favourite class of all time purely due to the sheer number of manufacturers competing in it, as well as how close these kit cars were to those of which you could walk into a dealership and buy at the time. There was even companies like Dimma back in the day which would take your Mk1 Clio or Peugeot 306 and make it look like its rallying counterpart.

[@yippydoddlecarson6375]

Ive always seen these cars in videos and games and wondered what they were, thanks for the video!

[@tantona9315]

Love playing these on EA WRC.

[@santiagoibarra1137]

Oh boy I can't believe that I heard my car's name. Renault 18 (but GTL) Also the Renault 18 was the most successful rally car in Argentina

[@AustenValentine]

I love your videos. Thank you so much for sharing your passion this way. It makes me more interested in the stories behind these cool cars.

[@FrostMPB]

just found your channel and im on a rally kick atm, i know what im going to be binging all day at work haha

[@TheRUBrally]

This is a super video!! Congrats mate 😉

[@JackohMotors]

Thanks for all the help!

[@kostasnls4566]

That's why i love and adore my megane coupe...! the handling is amazing and this car can recive alot of abuse and then later ask for more!

[@mrwisher1250]

I've always thought that F2 was honestly not that far off from being a FWD group B. Certainly seemed like more of a successor to group B than group A ever was.

[@markholroyde9412]

Like listening to paint dry on the Humber Bridge, oh the enthusiasm 🤣

[@AxsWeber]

I'm a simple man I see a Citroen AX I hit like

[@MitchellClarkson]

The introductory footage combined with the music makes for one of the very damn best openings to a motorsports (if not YT in general) video I've ever seen. Holy hell, keep it up you're doing God's work.

[@JackohMotors]

Thank you for the support, glad you enjoyed it!

[@martijnkosters9024]

Loved the soundtrack of these machines.

[@MarktheRude]

They evidently had a working formula for the world rally championship with the WRC-kit-car thing. Why change it?

[@hovis1647]

What made me fall in love with the old frenchies❤

[@FailedRacers]

I like the bit at 0:40 it feels somehow familiar

[@bayersrig4260]

Reminds me of intros to old racing games

[@chrisward978]

Great video. Not something I thought I was interested in. Guess I am now....

[@Stratos1988]

I own 2 Renault Megane Coupe after face lift and I would love to make one of them look like a kit-car.

[@Blackbird_Rally]

Brilliant video mate, proper quality content!

[@JackohMotors]

Thank you so much, glad you enjoyed it!

[@PeterM0911]

Every single time a motorsport branch was more exciting than F1, FIA quickly found out there is too much cost involved and need to change the ruled. DTM, BTCC, STC, WRC. Now we got boring of everything. The only class was survived for decades was Supercar V8's, because it never been an FIA event. Even now when Holden closed, V8 still going strong. FIA is the cancer of motorsport

[@LeoSag-b7p]

Seat was dominant only because they particpated in all rallies ..in all rally events. Other teamd particpated only in very few rallies during season.

[@aaronbryan5095]

I like how a car manufacturer like Citroen, that has never made a road car that's anywhere near to a WRC car, had won 8 WRC championships, that's when you know WRC really strayed away from what it used to be and even until today has never returned to form.

[@davidvitan3590]

Same could be said for Peugeot and VW and that's why they simply hire people from all over who know how to build a WRC car.

[@aaronbryan5095]

@@davidvitan3590 yep, and WRC totally lost the point that it used to have, and their viewership has been getting less an less too, which I'm not the slightest bit surprised that that's the case. Motorsport series that become less and less enjoyable to watch thanks to some dumb changes to their rules.

[@CAST2325-b9b]

This is awesome. Thank you so much for putting this together. :)

[@JackohMotors]

Thank you, glad you enjoyed it!

[@super_slav91]

Motorsport in general was more fun back then. Should have kept factory spec bodies.

[@16jan1986]

We need to get back to this

[@legoferrari14]

It may be a gross oversimplification, but practically F2 kit cars were Super Tourers with a lift-kit and a second seat.

[@pariodeusex]

the more modern red Astra kit car in the British championship was slight to behold. This class was better suited for national championships, they should not have run them on the same rallys as WRC then they could have co existed longer, s2000 was never as popular for rally compared to F2, it also sounded better with a NA engine.

[@chrismitchell9114]

I’m sure the RS2000 Maxi was launched late 1997 replacing the updated kit car that had the Cosworth style wheel arches as seen with the bright yellow RS2000 from the 97 BRC

[@timwoodruff7906]

Poor Bugalski 😢😢

[@roguedogx]

6:01 I wonder if the planes for these could be located? I'd imagine quite a few people would like a kit car rally car project

[@MrAdzh]

Let's go man. Been a fan of your content for a bit now. Smashing it mate. Please continue,

[@JackohMotors]

Thank you so much! Glad you enjoyed the video.