Wearing a set of wings and wheels to rival a Max Power cover car, the Evo II was the product of Mercedes' burning desire to win the German Touring Car Championship and the homologation requirements to build 500 road versions. Subtle it ain't, but then for a startling £55,000 I guess you'd want people to notice you.
Powered by a 235bhp, 2.5-litre, 16-valve, four-cylinder engine, the Evo was also Mercedes' answer to BMW's more common but similarly race-inspired M3. The fact it never entered series production like the M3 - and only six cars were officially imported into the UK - ensured it attained cult status almost immediately, and seeing one in the metal now is a rare treat. The looks raise your expectations hugely, and with all those aerofoils, spoilers and striking 17in wheels, it's hard to hold onto the fact that it is in fact a 190E saloon underneath. The interior is typical M-B. Big steering wheel, clear but characterless instruments and wide, flat seats. Only the manual gearbox with its unusual dog-leg first gear hints that maybe this 190 is something special.
The engine sounds loose and tappety (they all do apparently) and doesn't feel like 2.5 litres. Peak torque comes at 5000rpm while all 235 horses come on stream at 7200rpm, so it's best to treat it like a Honda VTEC motor, holding onto the gears and nudging the redline to keep it on the boil. Do this and the Evo feels genuinely quick, although perhaps not as fast as you'd hope. It also feels very short-geared for the first three cogs, presumably to keep the fire stoked, but this does exacerbate the feeling that you have to work the Evo hard to extract its performance. Not that the engine seems to mind.
The hardcore rasp from the engine complements the darty feel of the chassis perfectly. Pitch the left-hooker Evo into a mid-speed corner and there's more body roll than you'd expect, but the chassis has a rare balance and progressive nature that eggs you on. It's precise too, and you soon forget that you're sat on the 'wrong' side of the car, giving you the confidence to place the gorgeous alloys within inches of your chosen apex, despite a disappointing lack of information through the big steering wheel.
While hardly your typical understated Q-car, the Evo II can still swallow four people and all their luggage. It can also indulge the lucky driver with the sort of thrills and finely-honed four-wheeled entertainment normally reserved for those in pure-bred sports cars with two seats and two doors.

Others have tried to build super-saloons. Some have been good...
The challenge of building the ultimate Q-car has lured many a sensible manufacturer into creating unfeasibly fast four-door supercars. Strangest but surely one of the most enticing was the Lancia Thema 8.32. In typically crazy Italian style, the Fiat group took the quirky-looking Thema saloon and dropped a 3.0-litre V8 derived from the Ferrari 328 into the front. The result was a 215bhp, front-wheel-drive super-saloon that could nudge five people to 150mph. The fact that the bespoke nature of its re-engineered power plant made it a mechanical timebomb is almost beside the point.
Renault went Lotus Carlton-chasing with the super-subtle Safrane Biturbo. Apart from a mean set of 17in alloys there was little to warn other road users that this particular Renault repmobile packed a twin-turbo, 268bhp V6 (developed from the Alpine A610 unit by BMW tuners Hartge), all-wheel-drive transmission and a 155mph top whack. Sadly it was never built in right-hand-drive form, but the French Government did enjoy using Biturbos in the Presidential motorcade.
The Japanese aren't blind to the charms of blistering four-doors either. How else can you explain the soon-to-be-unleashed Nissan Skyline saloon? Based entirely on the legendaryn R33 Skyline Coupe, the saloon uses the same 280bhp, twin-turbo straight-six engine and ultra-trick, computer-controlled four-wheel-drive transmission. When the Japanese tuners get hold of it, expect psychotic 1000bhp versions to hit the streets of Tokyo.
Until then the current king of the four-door hill is the EV12, a monstrous 7.3-litre, 582bhp V12-powered Mercedes E-class built by Benz tuninq experts Brabus. A favourite with well-heeled thugs from around the globe, the EV12 is the fastest and most expensive saloon ever made. Capable of hitting 60mph in under 5secs l00mph in 10secs and a top speed of 206mph it makes one helluva getaway car. But then at £200,000 you'd have to rob a bank to afford it.

Many thanks to Jez Coates for the loan of his Lotus Carlton. Martin Pearse for his Mercedes 190 Evo II. Dale Minton for his BMW M5 and Dave Brodie for tracking down.