The British Touring Car Championship was first held in 1958, as the British Saloon Car Championship, and was a huge immediate success. The main appeal to the public was having the chance to see racing versions of their ordinary road cars driven at extremely high speeds. In the early years, many great British manufacturers, such as Jaguar, Triumph, Lotus, Austin, Mini, Sunbeam, Hillman and Ford, took part and won the championship.

DVD Highlights of the BTCC

By the 1980s the British Touring Car Championship began to attract international manufacturers too, including Alfa Romeo, Toyota and Mazda, and by the end of the decade the championship regularly featured the exploits of the BMW M3 and Ford Sierra RS500. In 1990, the BTCC introduced a 2.0L formula and this led to closer races with large TV audiences to match.

During its history races having taken place on many famous circuits, such as Brands Hatch, Silverstone, Donington Park, Oulton Park and Rockingham.