Think of saloon car racing in 00s competition and the Touring Car series springs to mind. The cars in question are entered directly by their manufacturers with the purpose in mind of "improving the breed":- it is often used as a method of proving the excellence of their products to the big, wide world Motorsport was made for. If Mr and Mrs Average are after a car, one which has had great success in championship racing is going to stick much longer in the mind than a car which has not. It gives production vehicles street cred, and although many argue that today's race cars are virtually unrelated to their standard counterparts, image still manages to trickle down into strong sales.

Saloon car racing came of age in the 60s when real championships were set up for professional drivers in sophisticated technological masterpieces. Before sophistication, however, came the plain bog-standard as motors such as the Jaguar MkIs and MkIIs settled onto the grid looking horribly similiar to the cars parked in the nearby shopping centre. Tyres may have been inflated with hubcaps removed from the standard specification but for all it's worth, the alarming roll angles provided by footage of those cars gave the game away. Safety was not a prime consideration until well into the following decade; although helmets were still worn on occasion.

Many made their claim-to-fame out of racing saloon cars. Graham Hill started his career in this fashion while John Cooper played a part in bringing the Mini onto the racetrack (cue the Cooper badging which graces the flanks of sporty MINIs to this day). The role also helped legends such as Ken Tyrrell, John Rhodes and James Hunt off the starting grid and into the big time. Jim Clark and Stirling Moss drove elsewhere while Gerry Marshall fielded brash V8-powered Vauxhalls in the 70s.

P ALIGN=left>America's form of saloon/sedan racing was for "stock" (standard) cars. In the mid-1930s a mixed sand/asphalt event stretching for some 200 miles (322km) was opened on Daytona Beach in Florida. The same location was transformed into a banked oval circuit for the 1959 season. The new track was only two miles in length but under the NASCAR (National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing) similiar proposals were made across the country to ensure growth for the sport. It worked, and the speed was there: a decade later, 200mph (322kph) was not a rare sight and aerodynamics ensured things could only move upwards.

Other classes which included sedans were the mid-60s battles between the Mustangs and Camaros inspired by the AC Cobra and Chevrolet Corvette races in Sports Car Club of America. Mexico had a little something to show for the efforts as well, in the shape of the insane Carrerra Panamericana which only existed for four years until the death of participants forced the closure. Oddly enough it returned for 1991.

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