It feels like every time a racing series tries to ‘reinvent’ itself, it’s chasing the spirit of ’80s touring car racing.
Affordable budgets, close racing and fan involvement – that’s all a racing series could ask for, and thankfully motorsport seems to be in a healthy situation at the moment. But let’s be honest; we are still a long way from the iconic status of the Group A era in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (DTM).
Launched in 1986 as a successor to the short-lived Deutsche Produktionswagen Meisterschaft (DPM) and the earlier Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (DRM), the DTM Championship exploded in popularity in Germany and mainland Europe. Weight ballast, turbocharging and fierce competition made for a hotly contested field, as did lower weight limits and wider tires for the underdogs.
The E30 BMW M3, Ford Sierra RS Cosworth and Mercedes-Benz 190 E Evo are the most treasured DTM machines, but let’s not forget earlier DPM cars such as the BMW 635CSi, Volvo 240 Turbo and V8 Rover SD1 Vitesse, which are still very competitive in the early years of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft.
In fact, the 1986 DTM champion was none other than Kurt Thiim, driving a Rover Vitesse with an epic Toshiba livery. Yes, my British pride has just hit hard…
…although as a traitor and BMW enthusiast I would be remiss not to mention my favorite DTM liveries: the black Schnitzer 635CSi and the blue/green Vogelsang BMW Motorsport E30 M3. My favorite pick: The Vogelsang stripes – blue/green/green – were the perfect anti-hero to the red/purple/blue BMWs of the time, especially on Harald Grohs’ black M3 in 1987.
I would love to have one – road legal of course, with all stickers removed except the stripes. That or an Opel Omega Evo 500, the predecessor of the Omega 3000 24V, seen below in the Kissling Motorsport livery. Although the car never raced in the DTM, it laid the foundation for Opel’s future Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft campaign.
Back to the matter at hand – and no, I’m not being blinded by my rose-colored glasses here – DTM was a victim of its own success. Every year the competition forced the teams to pour more and more money into their cars, and in 1992 the Group A era was over. The next three years of technical warfare between teams ultimately led to less exciting racing, as it made the cars more complex and fragile.
Active aerodynamics, weight transfer systems, sequential gearboxes, electronic differentials in four-wheel drive systems and traction control – by the time the 1990s arrived, the rawness was gone. DTM was effectively incorporated into the ‘International Touring Car’ series in 1996 and by 1997 the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft was effectively dead. While the German Super-Tourenwagen series attempted to pick up where the DTM left off, it wasn’t until 2000 that German touring cars were back in force.
Mercedes-Benz, Opel and Audi (via ABT) introduced a new breed of V8 coupes, based on the CLK, Astra Coupé prototype and TT silhouettes respectively. Although initially successful, DTM regulations would see varying degrees of success and complexity over the next twenty years before succumbing to GT3-based regulations to – you guessed it – keep ever-increasing costs in check.
These days the racing is fantastic, but so is GT3 racing around the world. DTM isn’t alone in losing its uniqueness, and it points to a deeper problem: how technical progress has taken the rawness out of motorsport – and, in many ways, the fun out of our everyday lives.
But I’m not here to discuss the moral dilemmas of the 21st century. So let’s put all that aside and just enjoy these beautiful old race cars, shall we? That’s exactly what I did at the Essen Motor Show 2024.
Mario Christou
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