If there's one thing that separates great automakers from the rest, it's success in motorsports. By excelling in motorsports, automakers show that their engineering skills and technologies are more advanced than their competitors, which in turn lures impressed buyers into their dealerships.

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To participate in the most renowned racing competitions, automakers are required to field racing cars that are largely based on road-legal production cars offered to the public. These homologation specials, as they're called, must have fundamental mechanical similarities with the racing versions, which is why manufacturers can even spend years developing them. Over the years, there have been many European classic cars built to meet homologation requirements for various competitions, including the World Rally Championship, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and more. Let's explore ten of the greatest.

10 Ferrari 250 GTO

1962 Ferrari 250 GTO By Paul Pappalardo
Via LeithCars

Ask any gearhead to name the greatest Ferraris of all time, and the 250 GTO will likely be near the top of the list. Introduced in 1962, the 250 GTO is a GT car that Ferrari developed for homologation into the FIA's Group 3 GT category, where it competed against other icons like the Jaguar E-Type and the Shelby Cobra.

Ferrari 250 GTO
Via Driving.ca

The 250 GTO is powered by a race-proven 3.0-liter V12 with 296 horsepower on tap, allowing it to achieve a top speed of 158 mph. With only 36 examples produced, the 250 GTO is super rare. It's no surprise that it currently holds the record for the most expensive car sold at an auction.

9 1984 Audi Sport Quattro

1985 Audi Sport Quattro
Via: Concours Virtual

After years of development, Audi unveiled the Quattro in 1980 and turned the rallying scene on its head. The Quattro was the true definition of a game-changer when it came out, and it was rewarded with several wins. However, it didn't take long for other manufacturers to catch up. By 1984, the Quattro was struggling to win its races, so Audi got back to the drawing board and came up with the 1984 Sport Quattro.

Audi Sport Quattro S1
Via: Squir

The Sport Quattro has a shorter wheelbase than its predecessor to boost handling and was powered by a turbocharged inline-five with 302 horsepower on tap.

8 1988 BMW M3 (E30)

BMW M3 E30
Via BMW M

The BMW M3 has been one of the best sedans for several decades. However, the first M3 was not developed out of a desire to build a fast sedan — it was born out of BMW's desire to win touring car races. Mercedes-Benz had introduced the legendary 190E to the DTM, and BMW couldn't sit back and watch them dominate the competition. BMW's plan worked like a charm, as the M3 ended up winning multiple championships across the globe.

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BMW M3 E30
Via BMW M

The M3 was powered by a high-revving BMW S-14 four-cylinder engine producing 235 horsepower. A six-cylinder engine was also available in both turbocharged and naturally-aspirated forms.

7 Lancia Stratos

Lancia Stratos parked in a field
Via sherdog.com

Lancia completely changed how rally cars were built when it came up with the Stratos. Essentially, the Italian automaker built the rally car first and then made 200 units with just enough road-going components to make them road-legal — this was the opposite of how rally cars were developed previously.

Lancia Stratos
Via Silodrome

The Stratos was a stunning car — it had a gorgeous design penned by the same guy responsible for the Lamborghini Miura and was powered by a mid-mounted 190-horsepower V6 sourced from the Ferrari Dino 246. The Stratos ended up winning three World Rally Championships in the 70s.

6 1997 Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion

Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion
Porsche

GT racing was heating up in the mid-90s, with cars from McLaren, Ferrari, and more competing for glory. Porsche had been competing in the GT2 class for years but had never made it to the GT1 class where the big boys were. Tired of being left out, Porsche got to work and came up with the 911 GT1.

Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion
Via Steemit

Although it carries the iconic 911 name, the 911 GT1 was mid-engined and was based on a 962 Group C race car chassis. The road-legal version — dubbed the 911 GT1 Strassenversion — had twin-turbo flat-six under the hood producing an impressive 537 horses and 443 pound-feet of torque.

5 Ford RS200

Ford RS200
via Pinterest

The RS200 is a crazy mid-engined car developed by Ford of Europe to compete in the infamous Group B rallying. Despite having 450 horsepower, an advanced suspension system, and four-wheel-drive, the RS200 lost most races as it couldn't keep up with the Audis, Lancias, and Peugeots. It was also involved in fatal accidents that eventually led to the disbandment of Group B rallying in 1987.

Ford RS200 Evolution
Via Wallpaper Safari

That said, the RS200 is still one of the best cars developed by the Ford RS division. People love its unusual design and fantastic handling.

4 1989 Volkswagen Golf G60 Rallye

1989 Volkswagen Golf G60 Rallye
Via PistonHeads

In the late 80s, Volkswagen wanted a piece of the rallying pie, so it developed the Golf G60 as a Rallye homologation special. The G60 Rallye was visually different from the base Golf GTI — it had a redesigned front bumper, wider fenders with a boxy look, extended side sills, and rectangular headlights instead of round ones.

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1989 Volkswagen Golf G60 Rallye
Via Pinterest

Under the hood was an eight-valve, G-supercharged 1.8-liter engine producing 160 horsepower, paired with a five-speed manual transmission and a Syncro four-wheel-drive system. Volkswagen built 5,000 examples and sold each at almost twice the price of the base Golf GTI.

3 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16 EVO II

Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16V EVO II
YouTube

Introduced in 1990, the Evo II was designed for one purpose — to beat the BMW M3 E30 in the DTM touring car competition. After getting trounced during the 1989 season, Mercedes-Benz went to work and updated its 190E Evolution. The resultant Evo II debuted at the 1990 Geneva Motor Show, and all planned 502 road cars sold out immediately.

Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.5-16V EVO II rear end
Twitter

The Evo II was powered by a variant of the venerable Mercedes-Benz 2.5-liter inline-four engine producing 231 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque, making it one of the fastest four-door sedans at the time.

2 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR

Mercedes-Benz-AMG-CLK-GTR
Mercedesblog

Back in the 1990s, Mercedes-Benz was interested in participating in the FIA GT Championship, so it developed the CLK GTR from scratch as a true-blue competition machine. Mercedes-Benz had to build 25 road-legal versions to be allowed to participate, but instead of offering a much less powerful and toned-down car, they offered something almost similar to the racing car. According to Mercedes-Benz, this ensured that buyers would get the authentic race car experience in a road-legal car.

Mercedes-Benz-CLK-GTR
via highnobiety

The CLK GTR had a fire-breathing 6.9-liter V12 under the hood pumping out 604 horsepower and 572 pound-feet of torque, giving it a 0-60 mph time of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 214 mph.

1 Peugeot 205 T16

Peugeot 205 T16
Via Classic Driver

The legendary Peugeot 205 T16 is one of the most successful rally cars in history, having accumulated a long list of WRC victories in the 80s. Unlike the Ford RS200, Renault R5 Turbo, and MG Metro R64 that had occasional race wins, the T16 enjoyed a consistent triumph, earning itself a significant cult following in the process.

Peugeot 205 turbo T16
via fontsinuse.com

Peugeot built 200 road-going versions of the T16 and sold each for the same price as the Ferrari 308 GTB. Engine output was around 200 horsepower, making the little hatchback incredibly quick and fun to drive.

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