It feels like every time a race series tries to ‘reinvent itself,’ it’s chasing the spirit of 1980s touring car racing.
Affordable budgets, close racing, and fan engagement – that’s all a race series can wish for, and luckily, motorsport seems to be in a healthy place right now. Let’s be honest, though; we’re still a long way from the iconic stature 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 across Germany and mainland Europe. Weight ballast, turbocharging, and intense competition made for a fiercely contested field, as did lower weight limits and wider tyres for the underdogs.
The E30 BMW M3, Ford Sierra RS Cosworth, and Mercedes-Benz 190 E Evo are the most fondly-remembered DTM machines, but let’s not forget earlier DPM cars like the BMW 635CSi, Volvo 240 Turbo, and V8 Rover SD1 Vitesse, which were still highly competitive in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft’s early years.
In fact, the 1986 DTM champion was none other than Kurt Thiim, who piloted a Rover Vitesse with an epic Toshiba livery. Yes, my British pride has just kicked in hard…
…though, as a traitor and a BMW enthusiast, I’d be remiss not to mention my favourite DTM liveries: the black Schnitzer 635CSi and the blue/green Vogelsang BMW Motorsport E30 M3. My hot take: the Vogelsang stripes – blue/green/green – were the perfect anti-hero to the red/purple/blue BMWs of the era, especially on Harald Grohs’ black M3 in 1987.
I’d love to own one – road-legal, of course, with all decals removed except the stripes. Either that or an Opel Omega Evo 500, the precursor to the Omega 3000 24V seen below in Kissling Motorsport’s livery. Though it 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-tinted glasses here – DTM was a victim of its own success. With every year, the competition pushed teams to pour more and more money into their cars, and by 1992, the Group A era had come to an end. The next three years of technical warfare between teams ultimately led to less exciting racing as the cars became more complex and fragile as a result.
Active aero, weight transfer systems, sequential gearboxes, electronic diffs in four-wheel-drive systems, and traction control – by the time the 1990s rolled around, the rawness was gone. DTM was effectively absorbed into the ‘International Touring Car’ series by 1996, and by 1997, the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft was effectively dead. While the German Super-Tourenwagen series tried 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 coupés based on the CLK, Astra Coupé prototype, and TT silhouettes, respectively. While initially successful, over the next 20 years, DTM regulations would find varying degrees of success and complexity before succumbing to GT3-based regulations to keep – you guessed it – ever-rising costs in check.
Today, the racing is fantastic, but so is GT3 racing around the world. DTM isn’t alone in losing its unique character, and it points to a deeper problem: how technical advances have drained the rawness from motorsport – and, in many ways, enjoyment in 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 wonderful old race cars, shall we? That’s exactly what I did at the 2024 Essen Motor Show.
Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn, mariochristou.world
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