It fitted the titanium-bladed turbocharger from the proper homologation Evos for the World Rally Championship, a quicker steering rack, improved aero and ‘Tarmac’ suspension settings that put you 10mm closer to the road.
The decals were a £700 option in 2001 – just the cherry on top. Contrast that with Citroën’s C4 by Loeb, a breathtakingly banal special edition, of which aesthetic tweaks were the main event. There’s one for sale in Tonbridge for £1295.
Name-checking legends of motorsport doesn’t have to be done either expensively or cynically, though. I’ve always had a soft spot for the Fiat Stilo Schumacher GP: five-pot tickled to 170bhp, some smart wheels, Prodrive-tuned suspension. Nice.
Most of the special-edition landscape is, of course, opportunistic drivel. Aston Martin is a repeat offender with its Bond-referencing and Pagani often feels a bespoke paint job is reason enough to deploy a press release.
I don’t have a problem with that old Audi favourite, the Black Edition, often seen on A3s and so on, because such cars are usually good value, throwing lots of kit into the mix.
And I don’t mind the silly stuff either (the Volkswagen Polo Harlequin, haute-couture Fiat 500s), but they’re just that: very silly.
But still, the expertly executed, well-targeted, performance-flavoured special remains a rarity.
So what’s out there now that already happens to be temptingly priced? In recent years, BMW has revived the CS line and the F82-shape M4 CS is now a fine proposition.
One-owner cars with 30k miles can be had for around £40k – a fair chunk, sure, and the lightweight door cards and so on do have an impact in terms of usability, but what a machine.
So light and fizzing, and meaningfully different to the regular car. Today you will notice a slight lack of structural stiffness compared with the G82 M4, but for new Golf GTI money you’re getting 454bhp of meticulously fettled, right-sized M car that cost its first owner nearly six figures. The M3 version is just as good.
