1984 Renault 5 Turbo 2 on eBay

I think the R5 Turbo is one of the most ludicrously great cars ever made. It looks insane, like the ugliest hatchback you could draw, but it's ugliness is part of what makes it so freakin' cool. The winning rally history doesn't hurt, either. This street model, imported in the mid-80's by Sun International, is for sale by Autosport Designs, Inc. of Long Island, NY and is listed here on eBay for $39,500 with no reserve.

Not your everyday LeCar, the street-going R5 Turbo had a 158hp mid-mounted 4-cyllinder engine and some radically-modified bodywork. Every time I read about R5 Turbos I have to re-read what the "2" is for - according to Wikipedia the original streetable R5 Turbo was produced in a batch of 400 for FIA homologation and used "many...light alloy components" while the R5 Turbo 2 used "stock R5 parts." Not exactly sure which parts that means, but apparently "the Turbo 2 was less expensive, but had nearly the same levels of performance."

Sun International was the only importer to bring the R5 Turbo to America and had DOT, EPA, and California certification, but now that the car is over 25 years old any exclusivity they had is obsolete. I'm really not even sure if Sun is still around, but their website is still up under the name "Sun Speed." They actually have a pretty strange R5 Turbo for sale on their site (updated 2/09) here for $40,000.

The track versions of the car, being 2WD, had difficulty up against the 4WD cars on dirt rally stages, but were killer on the pavement. Check out this video to see the car stertching it's legs:



Links: eBay Ad, Wikipedia, Sun International