1980s DTM Retrospective

Well, I was right about Kubica qualifying second today at the Canada Grand Prix. But with Hamilton finishing ahead of him by 6/10 of a second, I'm not sure the Pole can clinch his first win tomorrow.

While we wait for the race to start, here is a look back at the winning cars of DTM in the 1980s. The similarities between DTM and the Australian V8 Supercars series are striking. Today, DTM has just two manufacturers, locals Audi and Mercedes. Today, the Australian series only has locals Ford and Holden. Both series had much more diverse fields in the 1980s. In fact, the winners (the cars, not the drivers) of the two series often overlapped.

1984. The inaugural season was won by a BMW 635CSi, even though it never won a single race.

1985. The turbo era begun with a Volvo 240 Turbo winning the championship.

1986. The Rover Vitesse/SD1, possibly one of the worst Rovers ever built, won in 1986.

1987. The fabled E30 M3 began its winning tradition in '87.


1988. The Ford RS500, one of my favorite cars of all time, finished first in 1988.

1989. The M3 won in a close battle against the Mercedes 190E 2.3-16. More on that soon.

CKY