Nope, Stuart Milne says the best Gallic grin generators come in small packages, like the stonking Renault 5 GT Turbo.

Back in the 1980s, the Renault 5 GT Turbo ruled the roost. Combining a 1.4-litre turbo'd engine and a body weighing the same as a ball of wool, performance was blistering.

Twenty years on, hardly any are left; victims of rust, bad driving or worse modifications.

The Five lived fast and died young.

When Renault built the Five, it was against a backdrop of rally success. It wanted to get involved with the ultra-competitive Group 4 rally - which later evolved into Group B - but needed a car to do it in.

In 1980, the first Five turbos were unleashed on an unsuspecting public. By strapping a 160bhp, turbocharged 1.4-litre engine to a modified chassis they created a storming mid-engined hatchback that won the Monte Carlo Rally on its first outing.

The Turbo I model, as it became known, had massive wheel arches with vents to cool the brakes. It looked like it meant business.

But the fast was about to get faster, with the Maxi 5 Turbo producing a barely-believable 350bhp from its 1.4-litre motor.

That's all the more amazing when you consider its engine could trace its lineage back to the 1950s.

In 1985, the first GT Turbo came out. Although it was instantly recognisable as a Five, critics thought the lairy Turbo had grown up. The bulging wheel arches and mid-engined layout disappeared, and was replaced by more sober looks and its engine moved to the front.

Another three years sped by until it was replaced with the Phase II model which immediately found favour with Europe's modifiers.

A water-cooled turbocharger replaced the previous air-cooled units which increased its reliability, but more importantly for performance junkies was the extra tuning potential.

It's not uncommon to find Fives packing twice the standard 120bhp - and some are producing well over 300bhp in a car weighing less than 900kg.

So what'll a Five set you back? Unsurprisingly, the original Turbos will set you back a fortune. Collectors will pay up to £25,500 for a Turbo I or II, while a tidy tuned example will cost around the five grand mark. But if you're looking for turbo thrills on a budget, you'll only need £1,000.