Gallery: modern sports cars get classic rally makeovers

Look back into rallying’s history books and you’ll see all sorts of wild and wonderful competitors, the Lancia Stratos perhaps the wildest and most wonderful of the lot.

Nowadays, it’s all Fiestas, Polos and DS3s. Great rally cars no doubt, but where’s the variety?

That seems to be the thinking behind this gaggle of wonderful, daydream-inducing renders by Car Wow, which mate modern day sports cars to classic motorsport liveries and body kits.

We shall begin with this Ford Mustang, channelling perhaps its only relation that’s sillier and skiddier, the Ford RS200. We’re scared just looking at it.

Next up, this rather glorious Rolls-Royce Wraith, flying through the air like it’s a little Fiesta. And it’s not all fantasy - a classic Rolls Corniche Coupe competed in the Paris-Dakar rally with a livery just like this one. What we’d do to see a modern day interpretation…

Alpine is coming back with a new sports car, which should look a little like the car above. If the French maker decides to live up to its heritage and take it rallying, we’ll be very happy bunnies indeed. Doesn’t it look perfect?

Alfa Romeo Giulia meets Alfa Romeo 155 touring car, upgraded for off-road racing. Martini liveries, of course, also had a glittering rally career thanks to Lancia…

Which brings us on to this. The name ‘Lancia Delta’ is synonymous among car enthusiasts for rallying cool. The most recent Delta was a bit rubbish, so perhaps the classic Alitalia livery (famous on that Stratos) and a good splash of mud can help?

Why a rallying S-Class? Because the big limo’s ancestor - the 300 SEL - was turned into a brutish 6.8-litre racecar nicknamed the Red Pig. This is how a modern day homage might look throwing up dust.

The Porsche 911 has an illustrious motorsport history, on and off road. Advertising cigarettes on racecars might no longer be cool, but surely slinging a 911 around a forest still is?

Audi TT meets Audi Quattro. Hairdresser connotations literally turn to dust.

The Abarth 500 gains a huge dose of aggression thanks to some ginormous spot lights and a silly rear wing. Like it?

We end on perhaps the closest to modern day reality of the lot: a Volkswagen Touran people carrier made infinitely more exciting thanks to the Red Bull colours and air intake addenda of VW’s Dakar efforts. School runs get no more thrilling.