These special edition cars actually made ‘boring’ models cool

Bringing out a special edition of an otherwise 'boring' car is a surefire way to get people excited about the model.

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In recent years, we have seen many examples of this: the ClubSport Commodore, FPV Falcon, the GR Yaris/Corolla, and the entire Hyundai N range.

All of these examples are special in their own right, but before them some pretty special models of otherwise ordinary cars were flying off the design boards in the 1980s and 1990s.

These are some of the weirdest and best special editios that made 'boring' cars cool.

It's hard to make a list about special edition cars without thinking about one of the wildest SUVs to ever come out of a factory.

The Pajero Evolution was built to adhere to the homologation rules of the T2 Dakar Rally class. Homologation rules meant that a certain number of road-going vehicles had to be constructed and offered publicly to customers for the car to be eligible for the class.

Mitsubishi's engineers quickly realised its range of second-generation Pajero – including the Mini (a 660cc Pajero-shaped Kei car), the Junior (a slightly larger version of the Kei Pajero with an 1100cc engine), the Pajero IO (a slightly larger but still half-sized model), the short-wheelbase version, and the standard Pajero – would not suit the competitive nature of the Dakar Rally, which requires vehicles to travel thousands of kilometres across some of the world's most demanding environments.

Mitsubishi's solution? Take a short wheelbase Pajero and produce 2693 examples of the most most outlandish SUVs you've ever seen.

Mitsubishi ripped out the standard 3.5L V6, tore the car down to a bare shell and started throwing purpose-built race parts at the Pajero. Fitting a 3.0L 24 valve V6 with DOHC heads, MIVEC variable valve timing and a dual plenum intake, upped the power ante from the sluggish stock SWB Pajero from 153kW to 205kW.

The entire suspension package was revised with double wishbones all around. The biggest changes were in the rear, where the solid axle differential was ripped out in lieu of a spectacular independent multi-link setup. Both the front and rear were fitted with Torsen differentials.

The wheel track was widened, and the suspension raised over the stock short wheelbase model. To even it out, Mitsubishi added a drop-dead gorgeous wide-body kit that moulded to a new front and rear bumper, as well as that now iconic rear spoiler sprouting from the tailgate like a demon's wings.

Sadly, we never got the Pajero Evolution in Australia, but a few have made it here via personal import. They frequently hover around the $40,000 to $50,000 mark, which is quite cheap for a homologation car.

Imagine you're working in the Volkswagen advertising department, and the boss has just slapped another boring hatchback on your desk and told you to "make a fun advert".

Instead of making another brochure with all the colour options lined up next to each other, you decide to branch out and showcase all the options of this little hatchback on one car with several different colour panels and mismatched wheels.

Now imagine that your advertising campaign is so successful that people see this car that looks like it's out of a toddler's colouring book and think, "Hey, we actually want that". In fact, the public pestered Volkswagen so much that they managed to convince one of the biggest car manufacturers in the world to put the car into production.

Even the brochure noted this by saying, "The Harlequin started life as a car show gimmick to indicate the colours available. Of course, the orders flooded in. Since bowing to public pressure, we haven't had a moment's peace."

Born was the Volkswagen Polo (and later, Mk3 Golf) Harlequin, or Harlekin if you want to be a true German. It features four different colours: yellow, Flash Red, Chagall Blue, and Pistachio Green, with multiple different combinations available throughout the years.

It was based on the 1.4L CL variant of the Mk3 Polo, and you could pick one up brand new in 1995 for £11,095 ($AUD21,620). Volkswagen was supposed to only make 1000 of them, but again, consumers pressured the German brand into more than tripling that number to 3806, with 500 of those being raffled in a German McDonald's promotion.

Like almost everything cool car-related, we did not get these in Australia, but the Volkswagen community has widely mimicked them, so you occasionally see a replica up for grabs.

While the British were living it up on the other side of the world with their Ford Escort Cosworths, Australia needed a solution for a hot hatch for the Down Under market.

Out of all the cars Ford decided to give the sportscar treatment to, it settled on the second-generation Ford Laser, with its 53kW of fury powering the front wheels.

Funnily enough, under the skin, the Laser was a rebadged Mazda Familia (323), so when Mazda got its hands on the lethargic base model Laser, it ripped out the entire driveline and suspension setup. 

In place of the single-overhead cam naturally aspirated 1.6L four-cylinder, a dual-overhead cam turbocharged 1.6L four-cylinder Mazda engine nearly doubled the power to 101kW.

That pesky front-wheel drive gearbox was also replaced by an all-wheel drive system, which included an independent rear suspension and differential setup. 

The suspension was swapped out for electronically adjustable shocks, while the centre diff could be locked for some serious sporting action. It wasn't just a Laser with some pieces thrown on; it was a full-on sports car. Ford only gave this treatment to the Laser's three-door shells, although you did have the choice between a KF lift-back coupe or a KE hatch. 

Unlike the non-TX3 Laser, which was constructed in Sydney, Australia, the special edition AWD TX3 was built in Japan and imported to Australia. 

They were around the $25,000 mark, depending on the year you bought one, which doesn't sound like a lot, but the base model KC started at $11,784 plus on-road costs. 

If you want one, you'll be waiting a while; they were all snapped up by hoons and racing enthusiasts and have been, usually, thrashed to within an inch of their lives. They occasionally pop up for around $15,000. 

Hold your Holden horses; it's easy to look back on the lifespan of the Commodore and say, "Well, they've always been cool".

The base model VB Commodore was based on the European GM subsidiary's Opel Rekord albeit with a larger nose cone moulded to suit the Holden pushrod straight-six engine. 

The VB did come with a choice between the 4.2L sedan, and 5.0L wagon and SL/E sedan V8 iron-lion. However, they were still very much just a large commuter car for the masses. 

The VB's production timeline was just two years before the face-lifted VC had yet another short run, and then it was time for the VH to shine. 

Peter Brock was dominating the Australian Touring Car Championship, and consumers were foaming at the mouth for something close to what was dominating Bathurst.

While Holden did offer a few expensive dress-up options to the public so the car could adhere to homologation rules, none of them really offered all that race-car appeal for the road; they were heavy, slow, and expensive. 

Finally, when the VH rolled around in 1981, Holden teased the possibility of an "SS" Commodore for the next year's model and started Australia's long love-affair with the "Super Sports" version of the Commodore.

Despite the fact that the SS shared the same 4.2L V8 as the SL/E model, it sported a different colour scheme, special interior, SS badges, limited-slip differential, 14-inch honeycomb alloy wheels and the option to upgrade for the 5.0L V8.

The SS was such a special edition that Holden no longer saw the need to produce these cars in limited numbers, instead it made a permanent mark on the line-up until the death of the Australian made Commodore in 2017.

If you really wanted to up the ante on your brand new VH SS, you could take it to Peter Brock's ATTC homologation rule bending HDT workshop for a number of different sports treatments.

HDT offered four different options for its customers, all with V8s: the Group One 4.2, Group Two 4.2, Group Three 4.2, and Group Three 5.0. All four models featured upgraded suspension over the base model SS, a different brake master cylinder, some interior styling changes, and a special edition paint job. 

The Group Two featured adjustments to the cylinder heads, extractors, flowed intake manifold, and additional styling features.

The Group Three employed all of the same performance modifications offered on the Group Two but with new wheels, a body kit, and some engine enhancements to the 4.2. The Group Three also offered a 180kW HDT tuned 5.0L for an extra $1500. 

While the Group 3 with the 5.0L was the top dog in terms of VH Commodores, the Group One is actually one of the rarest out of the range due to most customers deciding to spend their extra pocket money to go the full way with the 5.0L Group Three. 

Again, yes, any VH Commodore is cool by today's standards, but compare the four-cylinder Starfire engine-powered base model to a 5.0L Group Three, and suddenly, this is one very cool special edition car against a very average passenger sedan. 

In terms of objectively boring cars, many would place the eighth-generation (AE112) Toyota Corolla in that category.

Sure, Toyota raced in the World Rally Championship with an extremely modified version of this model which was essentially a GT-Four Celica with a Corolla body on top, but a homologation production version never really made it to market. Instead, we got the yawn fest of an engine that the 1.8L four-cylinder 7A-FE that powered the front wheels.

Australia got the absolute dregs of this generation of Corolla, five doors only and the only country the eighth generation was sold in that didn't get the 1ZZ engine update (the same motor you'll find in a Lotus Elise).

However, for one year only, Toyota Australia decided to treat us with a very limited run of Turbo models, signalling the first turbo Corolla to ever go on sale here.

Very few people know about this special edition car, thanks to the frankly boring reputation this model line had enjoyed up until then.

The AE112R Corolla Sportivo was built with feedback from Toyota Australia, which ended up being the only market in which these cars were sold. Only 110 were ever made, and they are numbered via their special edition badging.

To make matters even more strange, the 7A-FE was turbocharged for this model and this model only, meaning that there are only 110 factory turbo editions of this engine worldwide, and they are all in Australia.

Very little was changed about the stock engine before the turbo-kit was added, even sharing the same compression ratio of 9.5:1. This bumped the power from a measly 85kW to an impressive 115kW from the factory.

Apart from the engine, the Sportivo received stiffer suspension and a seriously cool body kit consisting of front and rear lips, side skirts, and a big spoiler. It was also finished in only one colour – gold.

In terms of pricing, they were much more expensive than the base model 2001 Corolla. A manual Ascent would cost around $21,680 plus on-roads, while the Sportivo went on sale for a whopping $37,990.

They haven't held their value very well. When they do come up for sale, they usually hover around the $10,000 mark and sometimes even less. It's quite cheap for a Japanese-built car, and only 110 of them exist in the entire world.

How did we go? What are your favourite special editions of otherwise pretty ordinary cars. Let us know in the comments below.