These Films Prove It’s OK To Root For The Underdog

Would you drive a Chrysler Turbine Car across Europe, roll your family car onto the starting grid, or attempt to outrun the authorities in a Tatra? That’s what this week’s selection of films shows, only the star cars aren’t the usual suspects from Porsche or Ferrari. No, these videos show the challengers—both with amateur drivers and oddball vehicles.

Saloon car racing in the UK was notable simply because it offered amateurs a chance to race against professional—or at semi-professional—pilots. All that’s needed is a car…number…

How different was the DeLorean? For one owner, it’s the perfect oddball car to cruise around in.

Even at its most serious, classic touring car racing was delightfully light, as this Murray Walker-play-by-play of the 1969 British Saloon Car Championship shows.

Having a roar car run using a gas turbine was an extremely fanciful idea that we’re went as far as it did. In this case, a Chrysler Turbine car in a promotional film called Passport To Five Continents where it gets driven around the world.

Built for privateers, the Fiat 1100 by Stanguellini is a car that gave many locals enough performance to challenge faster cars driven by pilots unfamiliar with the local roads.

Being the most successful turbine-powered racing car ever built makes the Howmet TX both an impressive feat of engineering—and one with just two outright race wins. Despite its awesome sound and powerful engine, the car quickly found itself uncompetitive.

Tatra “Happy Journey” is a clip long passed around on automotive forums. After the terrible whistling, the film shows a high-speed pursuit using the then-advanced Tatra T603—a V8-powered sedan only really available to certain people within Eastern European governments. Could you imagine Mercedes-Benz doing a film like this?