Best turbocharged classic cars

There was a time – quite a long time, in fact, roughly between about 1975 and 1990 – when to mention that your new car was a 'turbo' would draw envious looks all around. Yes, back at the dawn of the turbo era, an awful lot of admiration and mystique clung to this piece of kit. But what did it do, and where was it seen to its best advantage?

These turbocharged classics are still highly desirable today and should be covered with classic car insurance from specialists like Lancaster to protect them from accident and theft.

Let’s take a more in-depth look at these fast and furious dream machines, from hot hatches to rallying royalty.

What is a turbo engine?

First, let's get the science bit out of the way. What exactly is a turbocharged engine, and how does it affect a car's performance?

A turbocharged, or 'turbo' engine creates forced induction – essentially, extra compressed air pushed into your engine’s combustion chamber. That extra air means that more fuel gets pulled into the combustion process, resulting in increased power. In fact, the car's power increases exponentially, because the extra fuel also combusts at a faster rate than an engine using natural aspiration.

Against this, there's always, famously, that moment of 'turbo lag': the brief gap – typically a matter of seconds – between you pushing down on the accelerator for more power, and the engine delivering that power, by pushing that extra compressed air into the combustion chamber. That's because a turbocharger needs exhaust gas to power the turbine, and when the car is at rest or travelling at a low speed, it takes more time to build up the exhaust gases needed.

The ‘70s and '80s: peak time for turbo

The '70s and '80s saw an upsurge in turbocharged engines, with new generations of owners demanding high performance from mass-market cars (the 'hot hatch' grew out of the same era, and overlapped significantly with the turbo generation). Specifically, the '70s and '80s saw the birth of many turbocharged icons such as the Porsche 911 Turbo or Ford Sierra RS Cosworth.

Here are some of our favourite turbocharged classics.

Porsche 911 Turbo

When people think of the Porsche 911 in its many generations, as likely as not it's the first, 1964-1989 iteration (the original 911) that they're thinking of. And a large part of that car's legendary status is probably down to its 1970s Turbo variant.

When it appeared in 1975, the 911 Turbo made shockwaves across the performance car landscape. A power output of 260bhp and a top speed of 150mph, at a more or less affordable price with rear seats for kids and some decent luggage space. Buyers were seduced, and no wonder. More was to come: in 1977, the flagship 911 Turbo got a new 3.3-litre engine that brought power up to a bulldozing 300bhp, and top speed up to 160mph.

The 911 in any guise was a proper driver's car – incredibly nimble, verging on the skittish around the bend, with its rear-mounted engine and tail-happy handling. This was all the more true of the Turbo, which had its own peculiar quirks, such as oversteer and turbo lag. Still to this day (and perhaps partly because of those peculiarities) a cast-iron classic of the turbocharged world.

Lancia Delta Integrale

Two cars dominated the world of rallying in the 1980s: first the Audi Quattro, then – for what seemed like an eternity from 1987 to 1992 – the Lancia Delta Integrale.

These epoch-making cars had two key features in common: four-wheel drive, and oodles of turbocharged power. The Integrale was the last in a series of turbocharged variants of the original Lancia Delta – a well-liked but hardly spectacular player on the family hatchback scene since 1979, and winner of the 1980 European Car of the Year award.

First came the HF variant, which went on sale from September 1983, with a turbocharged 1.6-litre engine. Next was the two-litre, twin-cam, eight-valve and turbocharged HF 4WD. Last, bringing matters to a pretty awesome head, was the turbocharged, all-wheel-drive HF Integrale in 1987.

We can trot out dozens of statistics indicating the incredible power and velocity of this souped-up family hatch: but they don't really tell the true story of the Delta Integrale. Those six WRC wins on the trot do, of course, but the car's unique magic is best experienced from behind the wheel, where its combination of incredible grip and serious grunt make for a joyous and almost unparalleled hot-hatch driving experience.

You'll need fairly deep pockets to actually get behind the wheel of an Integrale, as well maintained examples now change hands for sums north of £30,000. You're then free to experience all that it can do – as soon as you have protected it with the level of classic car insurance that it deserves.

Saab 99 Turbo

With its beautifully engineered cars that catered to discerning drivers who liked a little extra performance, Saab was clearly born to enter the turbo market. And, when it did, it made a very fine start of it. The 99 Turbo was arguably the first genuinely successful mass-produced turbo car, winning legions of admirers right from its original appearance in 1978.

The normal 99 offered a respectable 118bhp: this was hiked up to 145 for the Turbo. As such, the release of the 99 Turbo was probably the moment when Saab gained that cool, those-in-the-know reputation that clung to them from then on. Laggy but, when it got into its stride, strikingly quick, the 99 Turbo became a huge hit. And a quick one, too – when a second fuel crisis bit in 1979, many drivers wanted to downsize from their big V8 and V6 engines, without losing too much performance. The fuel-efficient, hard-working and punchy 99 Turbo was just the ticket.

Ford Sierra RS Cosworth

Few cars visually summarise a place, time and movement as eloquently as a white Ford Escort RS Cosworth (or 'Cossie') evokes Britain's boy-racers of the 1980s and 1990s. Producing 204bhp from the 2.0-litre engine built by Northamptonshire engineers Cosworth, the speedy Sierra gave an irresistible combination of blistering performance and grin-inducing rear-wheel drive handling.

One of its most distinctive features, of course, was that enormous rear spoiler, which gave the Cossie the aerodynamic excellence it needed when being thrashed along a B-road. Other key attributes included the wide nose intake – to feed air to the intercooler, vital in preventing this hard-worked engine from overheating. Four-wheel disc brakes with ABS meant that, when you did have to stop, you did so safely.

Nowadays, if you want to pick up one of these '80s icons, key things to look out for are originality (no garish aftermarket parts), a lack of rust and rot, and a scrupulously maintained service schedule. A decent 'Cossie' could be yours for somewhere between £20,000 and £30,000 – or pay £15,000 and get stuck into some restoration work. Get hold of some classic car cover, though, before you start on your labours, as these cars can have a complex history behind them.

Renault 5 Turbo

Think of 1980s French hot hatches and one car comes to mind: Peugeot's unbeatable, unrepeatable 205 GTi. Well, at the time the naturally aspirated 205 GTi had a decent rival in the shape of the Renault 5 Turbo. A homologation special, the Turbo was originally built to allow Renault to take the 5 rallying – however, it proved such a popular model that it ended up getting a production run of almost 5,000.

Yes, back in the big, brash 1980s, the small but muscular 5 Turbo was a class-leading turbocharged hot hatch, offering a seductive mix of beefed-up looks (remember those massive air intakes in front of the rear wheels?) with performance that could rival an Escort RS Turbo.

Its diminutive 1397cc engine gave the 5 an impressive 120mph top speed, as well as a 0-60mph dash in 7.3 seconds. It also handled beautifully and offered plenty of torque right through the gears – a car as enjoyable to drive as it was arresting to look at.

Lotus Esprit Turbo

When the Lotus Esprit emerged in the mid-1970s, its low, angular, futuristic looks won it plenty of admirers from the get-go. For some, though, the car's performance – a top speed of 133mph and an 0-60 time of around eight seconds – didn't quite match the promises made by those superb, rakish looks.

When the Esprit Turbo came along in 1980, however, the doubters were silenced. A brand new Esprit Turbo set buyers back a not-inconsiderable £20,999. However, when they heard the Garrett turbocharger doing its stuff, bringing in a 152mph top speed and a 5.5-second 0-60 sprint, any qualms must have been forgotten. Finally, the Esprit had the performance that those space-age looks demanded.

Mind you, the latter also got a bit of an upgrade, with the car's creator, the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro, giving the car an all-new, aerodynamic body kit. A rear lip spoiler and louvred rear hatch were joined by bigger bumpers and a deeper front air dam. Result: '80s turbo royalty.

Mitsubishi Starion

The 1980s were a good time for Japanese grand tourers. The Datsun 240Z, Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7, Honda Prelude – there were some handsome and high-performing larger sports cars coming out of the Land of the Rising Sun that decade.

One of the most interesting of the lot was the Starion, the first sports car to come from the young Japanese company, Mitsubishi. The Starion's list price of £11,734 sat slightly above similar sporting coupes such as the Alfa Romeo 2.5 GTV6 and the £9,199 Mazda RX-7.

From the off, the car got a 168bph, 2.0-litre engine, its performance boosted by both a turbocharger and computer-controlled fuel injection. That power output got an upgrade in 1985, heading up to 177bhp and a 138mph top speed. Visually, the biggest change came in 1987, with a wider body stance – including those bulging wheel arches, giving the car the sense of purpose that those performance figures demanded.

MG Maestro Turbo

Like its little sister, the Metro Turbo, the MG Maestro Turbo was a fascinating anomaly of a car. After all, its parent car, the Austin Maestro, had a sensible, unspectacular reputation clinging to it right from its launch in 1983.

Perhaps aware of this, the Austin Rover Group made the decision to rebrand the sportier Maestro variants as MGs. The hottest of them all was the Maestro Turbo, a car that was capable of some impressive hot-hatch heroics, while still looking like something that your grandparents drove to the supermarket.

Yes, the practical five doors and upright, sensible styling meant that the Maestro Turbo came a poor third to the Ford Escort XR3i and VW Golf GTI when it came to showroom appeal. But – especially in its 2.0-litre guise – the MG was actually a very capable hot hatch. A 0-60mph time of 6.7 seconds meant that Maestro drivers could sit confidently next to their XR3i counterparts at the traffic lights, while a top speed of a little under 130mph gave them everything they needed and more out on the open road.

Unfortunately, the Maestro has succumbed, like its Metro and Montego siblings, to rust, meaning that relatively few are left on our roads (or in garages) now. Any still surviving are likely to be restoration projects – but you'll find plenty of expertise on hand, courtesy of the friendly Maestro & Montego Owners Club. Did you know that some car clubs can actually secure you a discount on your classic car insurance?

Now, the car should be remembered as an intriguing gamble by Austin Rover – and proof that a decent turbocharger could transform even the most workaday daily driver into a fire-breathing performance special.

Classic car insurance for turbo classics

Enjoying your turbocharged classic to the full means having specialist classic car insurance in place.

Remember, we can offer discounts for limited mileage if you only take your turbo out on special occasions. And we can offer cover for historic rallies or static displays if you want to show off your turbo to other admiring enthusiasts.

Get a quote from Lancaster today.

Policy benefits, features and discounts offered may very between insurance schemes or cover selected and are subject to underwriting criteria. Information contained within this article is accurate at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.