Check out these awesome touring car renders

The new season of the British Touring Car Championship began at Brands Hatch at the weekend, and with three different winners on Sunday there are signs that the field will be as competitive as ever in 2016.

As well as gauging the speed of the grid, the maiden event of the year gave fans the chance to assess the cars up close for the first time. The colours on display are about as varied as any other facet of motorsport in the world, although it’ll be a matter of years before any of the liveries emerge as fondly-remembered classics.

Meanwhile over at Carwow, a different question altogether was being asked: what would some of the best colour schemes from eras gone by look like on modern day cars?

Cue some extensive rendering, and the following gallery of artwork...

Images courtesy of carwow.co.uk

Here’s what a Giulia of today could look like in the colours of the 155, which gave Alfa the BTCC title in 1994 along with nine race wins. Its success wasn’t just limited to Blighty though, winning touring car championships in Italy, Spain and Germany. Supreme.

BMW are famous for the white, red and blue racing colours, although they’ve been known to deviate from their traditional livery from time to time. Slap Jeff Koons’ ‘Art Car’ design onto the bodywork of a 3 Series, and suddenly you’ve got the makings of a stand-out touring car. This needs to happen.

The Ford Mondeo was victorious in the British Touring Car Championship back in 2000, propelling Alain Menu to the drivers’ title ahead of teammates Anthony Reid and Rickard Rydell in second and third. There’s no telling how the current Mondeo would fare today, although with same paint job it would at least look the part.

Honda revealed a new concept design for the Civic last month, and a Type R currently the reigns supreme in the BTCC world having won the manufacturers title in 2015. Combine the two and you get this. Sure to look right at home on any British racetrack.

Audi’s A4 Quattro helped Frank Biela to the drivers’ title in 1996, with Audi Sport UK collecting 8 wins en route to victory in the team championship that same year. Would an A4 fit into today’s grid? On this evidence, yes. Very much yes.

The French company have long since said goodbye to the Laguna, having stopped its supply of family cars in the UK to focus on better-selling vehicles. This is a shame, because it means there’d be no repeat of their 1997 BTCC title, won again by Alain Menu, who was on the podium in all but three races. Our best hope of seeing the Laguna’s yellow and blue again is on the Megane.

While Nissan, Volvo and Renault were chasing the manufacturers championship in 1998, Peugeot... weren’t. Their 406 finished bottom of the eight-strong table, on the back of two tough years having said goodbye to the 405 in 1996. The green and gold colours are at least remembered with affection, and pitched onto the 508, it’s easy to see why.

Merc teamed up with AMG to enter the 190 E in the German Touring Car Championship between 1990 and 1993, with Klaus Ludwig driving the black-liveried Group A vehicle to the title in 1992. In 2016, the colours wouldn’t look half bad on a C-Class...

The livery shown on the Insignia above was worn by Vauxhall’s title-winning Cavalier in 1995, and has featured on other models since. Vauxhall have also tasted success with the Astra and the VXR since then, although none looked quite as stylish on their way to the chequered flag.

Volvo entered the BTCC with the 850 in 1994, much to the amusement of many sceptics. The joke was on them though: Volvo performed well, coming third in the manufacturers championship in ’95 and 96’. Then came the switch to the S40, which helped Rickard Rydell win outright in 1998.