Irrational day rally: Alpine A110 Legende and Toyota GR Yaris

Singapore

RUMBLE up in either of these rallying-inspired cars and your friends will think you've gone bonkers. Neither is a household name, and they cost half a million between them. But it's really their makers who are a bit batty.

Let's start with the Toyota GR Yaris, a car that shouldn't exist. Its genesis is convoluted, but the GR Yaris (the initials stand for Gazoo Racing, the motorsports arm of Toyota) is basically what happens when the racing-mad boss of a giant car company gets first and final say over product development.