12 tuners embraced by car makers

Go-faster specials approved by the factory

Performance tuners have been hotting up production cars almost since the origins of the automobile, and while many of these companies are backstreet affairs (some highly reputable, others not so much) a select number have developed official working relationships with mainstream car manufacturers – often adding the reassurance of OEM-level quality and warranties to what’s normally an aftermarket offering.

Over the following slides, in alphabetical order, you’ll find everything from go-faster Minis to hotted-up muscle cars and even a record-breaking rooftop skiing challenge courtesy of a tuned Sierra – all with an official factory link.

1. Abarth

Today Abarth is most commonly associated with hot versions of the Fiat 500 sold officially under the Abarth name by Fiat’s FCA parent. The Fiat badge is actually replaced by the Abarth Scorpion logo, and these supermini hot hatches go head-to-head with John Cooper Works Minis, badged Abarth 595, 695 etc.

But it all started in Bologna back in March 1949 with Carlo Abarth (an Austrian ex-pat born in 1908 under the star sign – yes – Scorpio) and his friend and business partner Guido Scagliarini.

The first cars were based on Cisitalia models, because Cisitalia was in receivership and owed Abarth money. Tazio Nuvolari actually won his last race in the Cisitalia-Abarth 204A, while the Fiat Abarth 750 Record set distance records in the 1950s – a Fiat-powered racing car with slippery Bertone bodywork.

Abarth (cont.)

Rather more affordably, Abarth subsequently offered aftermarket tuning equipment – notably racing exhausts lined with glass wool for the Fiat 500, which led to more complete tuning kits.

Abarth was eventually bought by Fiat in 1971, where Abarth formalised its unofficial links with Fiat rally programmes, including the Fiat 124 Abarth Rally and Fiat 131 Abarth (pictured) of 1975, which bagged Fiat its first world rally constructors’ championship.

2. Alpina

Alpina has long been positioned as a kind of thinking man’s BMW M car – owners still get an abundance of power, but there’s typically a greater focus on torque (Alpina often offered turbo models in an era when BMW had few), an auto gearbox and a generally more luxurious experience.

Oh, and don’t forget the most important part of the Alpina offering – the distinctive multi-spoke alloys and decorative pinstripes, officially known as the Alpina Deco-set.

The Alpina story starts back in 1962, when founder Burkard Bovensiepen offered a twin Weber carb kit for the BMW 1500, which soon caught BMW’s attention – and allowed Alpina customers to keep the full BMW warranty. It’s why there’s a carburettor on the Alpina logo.

Alpina (cont.)

Motorsport built the brand from 1968, with the likes of Bell, Ickx, Hunt, Lauda and Stuck all racing Alpina Touring Cars, and Alpina actually leading development of the 3.0 CSL ‘Batmobile’.

Road cars followed, including the Alpina B6 2.8 (a six-cylinder 3 Series before BMW offered them) and the 6 Series-based B7 Turbo Coupé, both of which are shown here and sold through select BMW dealers, including in the UK.

After more than half a century of BMW-supported independence, Alpina finally sold out to BMW this year. Here’s hoping the upcoming models can be as authentic as its back catalogue.

3. AMG

These days AMG is the bona-fide Mercedes-Benz high-performance division, but when the tuning company was founded in the 1960s – by former Daimler-Benz engineers Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher in the town of Großpach – AMG was entirely independent.

AMG engines first earned a reputation in racing, with the big milestone coming in 1971, when the AMG Mercedes 300 SEL 6.8 placed second overall and took first-in-class at the 1971 24 Hours of Spa – a huge upset for a luxury saloon dubbed the ‘Red Pig’ (pictured) racing against smaller, lighter machinery.

A move to new workshops in Affalterbach followed, as did performance-tuned road cars – typically big engines transplanted into standard bodies. That philosophy is perhaps best personified by ‘The Hammer’ introduced in 1986, an E-Class with a 5.0-litre V8.

AMG (cont.)

AMG’s partnership with Daimler-Benz was formalised in the late 1980s, initially purely in motorsport, but by 1990 road-car customers could buy AMG products through Mercedes dealers, and in 1993 came the first jointly developed car – the C36.

More recently we’ve even had high-performance cars purely developed as AMG models, including the SLS, AMG GT and today’s AMG One hypercar.

AMG remains based in Affalterbach, and still builds engines to a one-man-one-engine philosophy grounded in its motorsport roots.

4. Andy Rouse Engineering

Engineer and racer Andy Rouse is synonymous with campaigning Ford Sierras in the British Touring Car Championship – he won in 1985 driving the US-derived XR4Ti before switching to the Sierra Cosworth RS500 from 1987 to 1990, winning his class twice.

Alongside racing, Rouse established Andy Rouse Engineering in 1981 and was awarded the Ford works contract for the Cosworth.

An extension into road cars was the logical next step, and when the Sierra Sapphire Cosworth four-door saloon arrived, Rouse produced his semi-official version – known as the 302-R for rear-wheel-drive models or 304-R for those with all-wheel drive.

Andy Rouse Engineering (cont.)

The conversion cost £4450 plus VAT new, and most notably boosted power by 28 per cent to 260bhp thanks to a new Garrett hybrid T25 turbo and modified induction and exhaust systems.

Customers also got a Rouse bodykit, Rouse Sport Recaro seats and – for a shade more luxury – extra soundproofing, too. A total of 78 were produced from a planned production run of 100.

A young Australian chap called Alan Gow was instrumental in the 302-R/304-R project, too, liaising with Ford dealers to sell the car through Ford’s official network. And by 1991, Rouse and Gow had joined forces with Prodrive’s David Richards and Vauxhall’s David Cook to secure the rights to the BTCC.
 

5. Gordini

The Gordini brand currently lies dormant somewhere deep inside Renault HQ, but it takes its name from Amédée Gordini, who was born in Italy and first worked as a mechanic for Alfieri Maserati, then later moved to Paris in the 1920s.

Initially known for developing and racing Fiats and Simcas, Gordini struck up an enduring and official partnership with Renault in 1957.

The Renault Dauphine Gordini came first, upping the standard car’s Ventoux engine from 27bhp to 36bhp, but the ball really got rolling with the R8 Gordini (pictured), first as a 1.1-litre model with a punchy 89bhp, later as a 1.3 with what remains a very healthy 99bhp (spot it by quad headlights).

Gordini (cont.)

Subsequent Renault 12 and 17 versions weren’t as well received, but the UK-only 5 Gordini (Alpine elsewhere) is arguably the first hot hatch and very good, too.

Gordini sold out to Renault when he retired in 1968, who later merged Gordini with Alpine, creating Renault Sport in 1976.

The brand made a brief return in the 2010s, but was cynically applied to Renaultsport Clio and Twingo models, adding extra aesthetic appeal rather than meaningfully mechanical upgrades.

The Wind Gordini of 2013 was the final nail in the coffin. Since then, Renault’s focus has switched to Alpine’s renaissance.

6. Irmscher

Irmscher’s history dates back to 1968 and a residential garage near Stuttgart, Germany, owned by rally driver and mechanic Günther Irmscher, where he’d prep his latest projects.

Those earliest days are grounded in motorsport competition, including Walter Röhrl driving an Irmscher-prepped Opel Commodore on the 1973 Rallye Monte-Carlo (a Irmscher-modified Commodore is pictured).

It also created the Manta i2800 in 1976 – a Manta B road car fitted with a 2.8-litre straight-six from the Opel Commodore.

Irmscher (cont.)

The Opel association led to Irmscher’s official involvement with factory products, perhaps most notably the Manta 400 rally car – a joint project between Opel, Irmscher and Cosworth.

The road cars came in two batches: phase one versions got a 2.0-litre engine with a Cosworth 16-valve cylinder head and a claimed 144bhp, while phase 2 models were more convincing rally cars for the road, with bulging front and rear arches, 10-inch wide Ronal alloys and power pushed to 230bhp – well over 100bhp-per-litre.

Those models also led to further official i200 and i240 road cars, the 500-unit Nova Sport with its Irmscher-supplied twin carbs and airbox, while Irmscher bodykits continue to be offered for Vauxhall-Opel cars.
 

7. John Cooper

Is John Cooper the most famous factory-approved tuner of all time? Quite possibly. Like so many of his contemporaries, the factory links begin with motorsport, if not with the Mini.

Cooper single-seaters of the 1950s revolutionised racing with their rear mid-mounted motorbike engines, winning the Cooper Car Company Formula One manufacturer championships in both 1959 and 1960, and giving the name great currency among car makers and the public alike.

Cooper’s friendship with Mini creator Alec Issigonis led to the creation of the Mini Cooper in 1961, a Group 2 homologation special with the standard 848cc 34bhp engine bumped to 997cc and 55bhp.

John Cooper (cont.)

The Cooper was followed by the Cooper ‘S’ in 1963 with a 1071cc engine good for 70bhp, and it was the Cooper ‘S’ that famously won the Rallye Monte-Carlo in 1964, ’65 and ’67 in the hands of Hopkirk, Mäkinen and Aaltonen respectively.

The domination proved a small, light but relatively powerful car could out-manoeuvre larger, more potent machinery, giving Mini sales a much needed boost in the process.

Today, the Cooper name is now officially licensed to BMW, with Cooper, Cooper ‘S’ and John Cooper Works denoting increasingly more potent versions of the latest Mini.

8. Shelby Dodge

Carroll Shelby might be inextricably linked with Ford (more on that later), but after the deal ended in 1973 and Shelby took a kind of retirement (going on safari in Africa for months every year, launching his Texas Brand Chili Mix food, running the Shelby Wheel Company…), he later hooked up again with old Ford acquaintance Lee Iacoca.

Iacoca had proved pivotal in pushing the Cobra programme through Dearborn’s corridors of power, but had moved to Chrysler in 1978 and wanted high-performance models to lift Dodge’s dowdy image.

A Shelby-Dodge relationship was created in 1982, and the first fruit was the Dodge Shelby Charger (pictured) of 1983, which was designed and engineered at the Chrysler Shelby Performance Center in California with uprated suspension, styling and performance, but built on the factory production line.

Shelby Dodge (cont.)

Shelby was also involved in the Dodge OMNI GLH, which stood for Goes Like Hell, and was like a front-wheel drive Talbot Sunbeam.

He even created the Shelby Dakota (pictured), a mid-sized pick-up packing a V8 engine, a production first.

Despite his muscle-car V8 background, Shelby moved with the times to embrace turbocharging as a substitute for cubic inches.

A total of 22 Shelby-enhanced Dodges were offered through to 1989.

9. Shelby Ford

Following his racing career (which wasn’t shabby, given his win at Le Mans 1959 with Roy Salvadori in an Aston Martin DBR1), Carroll Shelby famously struck up a relationship with Ford to supply V8 engines to his AC Ace-based Cobra, which led to the Ford-powered Shelby Daytona and GT40 race programmes.

Shelby also added stardust to Ford’s then just-launched Mustang, starting with the Shelby GT350. Launched in 1965, the GT350 featured a 4.7-litre Windsor V8s modified to 271bhp with a four-barrel Holley carb as well as Cobra-style stripes and logos. You could even order an optional supercharger.

The GT500 was later added to the line-up with a 7.0-litre V8 and 355bhp. GT350 Hertz models were also available to hire, because Ford was a major shareholder in the rental company.

Shelby Ford (cont.)

Shelby Mustangs slowly succumbed to customer demand for extra comfort and equipment, making the earlier models the more driver-focused and arguably more collectible.

Ford riffed on the earlier Hertz model with its official Shelby GT-H Mustang in 2006, and again in 2016, and has turned out various twists on the theme since – it still offers an official Mustang Shelby GT500 on its website today.
 

10. Tickford

Newport Pagnell-based Tickford has its roots in coachbuilding and was founded by Joseph Salmons in the 1800s, his company going on to produce bodies for Daimler, Hillman, MG, Rover, Standard, Triumph and Vauxhall.

When Aston Martin Lagonda owner David Brown bought the company in 1955 – a logical move given his cars were always fitted with Tickford bodies – he moved Aston production wholesale to the Tickford site, where it stayed until the DB7 era brought a switch to Bloxham.

Perhaps eyeing the success Lotus enjoyed with third-party projects, Aston set up Aston Martin Tickford as an engineering consultancy in 1981, and arguably its most famous project was the Tickford Capri, developed in collaboration with Ford.

Tickford (cont.)

Based on a 2.8-litre Mk3 Capri, the Tickford featured a turbocharged version of the Cologne V6 engine that was good for 205mph, accelerated to 137mph and was adorned with more skirts than a cross-channel hovercraft – the latter courtesy of Simon Saunders, now synonymous with the Ariel Atom.

Tickford also produced the Sierra Cosworth RS500 for Group A homologation purposes, as well as the wide-arched Ford Racing Puma. All its Ford tie-ups remain incredibly sought after today.

11. Turbo Technics

Turbo Technics is most commonly associated with forced-induction Fords, but the story actually begins back in 1981 in Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, where a team of five people developed a turbo kit for the Austin Metro.

Featuring Garrett’s smallest T3 turbocharger, it boosted power from 70bhp to 95bhp and dropped the 50-70mph in-gear performance from 14.5 secs to just 8.2.

The conversion cost £825 plus VAT and was approved for distribution through select dealers by British Leyland. That led to another official project – the Metro Turbo Group A racer.

Turbo Technics (cont.)

By 1982 Ford had caught wind of Turbo Technics’ expertise and commissioned a turbo kit for the XR3 for a single-model rally series. Though that series never came to fruition, the Blue Oval bought the engineering designs and patterns for its series 1 RS Turbo, while Turbo Technics still produced its own versions.

By 1984, the company had moved to Northampton and developed a turbo kit for the Cologne V6 in Capri 2.8 and Sierra XR4 models.

Which goes some way to explaining our opening image: speed skiiers the Wilkie brothers approached Ford in the hope of setting a ‘rooftop skiing’ record, and Ford promptly pointed them in Turbo Technics’ direction. The result was a record-breaking 125.9mph at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground.

12. Yenko Camaro

Don Yenko was a racing driver who competed in Chevrolet Corvettes, contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans and won the Sports Car Club of America series four times.

Much of that motorsport stardust rubbed off on his Yenko Chevrolet dealership in Pennsylvania.

The first-generation Camaro had made its debut in 1967 with a range of either straight-six or V8 engines, but when General Motors restricted engine capacity to a miserly (!) 6.6-litre V8, Yenko spied an opportunity.

Yenko Camaro (cont.)

Starting in 1967, he ordered top-spec SS Camaros with factory features including uprated suspension and aggressive final-drive ratios, then transplanted the Corvette’s L72 7.0-litre V8 to create the Yenko Super Camaro.

By 1969 the relationship became more formalised, with Yenko customers placing orders and those L72 engines being fitted on the factory production line.

In all, 201 Yenko Camaros were produced (a figure that doesn’t appear to include the small number with earlier engine swaps at the Yenko dealership), and today they represent the holy grail of Camaros – Barrett-Jackson sold a Yenko for $632,500 at its Scottsdale, Arizona, auction in 2022. Blimey.