Meet your heroes: the Seat Leon Cupra R was raw, analogue, and old school

Toca Race Driver 2. That’s where this all started. I’d just hit double digits when it was released in 2004. I had a basic simulator setup: steering wheel attached to the desk, accelerator and brake pedals on the floor. No third pedal to worry about, wouldn’t have known how. Couldn’t drive back then.

Still, serious business for 10 year old me. And if there’s one car that sticks in my head from it, it’s the MkI Seat Leon Supercopa. This... isn’t that, but it is the basis for that racecar. So today, I’m excited. Except, despite this summer being the hottest on record, it’s been raining cats and dogs all morning. And I’ve asked owner Nathan to drive all the way from his Liverpool home to meet me in Bedfordshire... a 350 mile, six hour round trip. Rotten luck.

Fortunately, the sun decides to show its face around the time he shows up. And I’m immediately relieved to hear that despite its seemingly immaculate condition, this is no garage queen. Since buying this car a few years back, Nathan has made the trip to the Le Mans 24 Hour Race three times with his son, where, he tells me, it regularly embarrasses more prestige cars with the attention it receives.

Photography: Jonny Fleetwood

It’s not hard to see why, because I’m immediately struck by how well its muscular looks have aged. Seat launched the MkI Leon Cupra in 1999 with a 1.8-litre turbo engine producing 178bhp. A couple of years later and having been busy with the spanners, the 207bhp Cupra R was released, which was then followed up by a 222bhp variant. This is the latter.

And not Nathan’s first. Back in 2001 and driving a Vauxhall Corsa he hated, he walked into a Seat dealership and drove away in a base 1.6-litre Leon. He then steadily worked his way up the range and bought his first Cupra R in grey in 2017.

But when this glorious and increasingly rare yellow one popped up in 2022, he couldn’t resist. Nathan tells me in its previous ownership it was treated to a respray to sort the sun fade, but it’s otherwise completely original, including front splitter, suspension and exhaust. And it’ll stay that way.

The turbo whoosh every time you hit 3,000rpm is infectious

Inside feels a little more dated by comparison, but there’s still plenty of nods to its racing pedigree, from the perfectly sized steering wheel with red 12 o’clock band, to the (originally optional) Recaro seats, to the rare as you like Cupra R chequered car mats, which these days fetch hundreds of pounds. It’s surprisingly well equipped for a 20+ year old car too, including a six CD changer hidden in the glovebox.

Turn the key and it’s fairly restrained on startup, but I’m more immediately conscious of the heavy steering – fortunately, I at least manage to avoid stalling it when I have to make a three point turn in front of Nathan. Didn’t have to do that in TOCA.

Once out on the open road, the Cupra starts to show its hot hatchy-ness. The steering weight feels spot on out here, and while the gearshift is fairly light, the engine pulls impressively. Zero to 62mph takes 6.9secs – not massively quick by today’s hot hatch standards, but our perceptions of speed have been ruined by EVs anyway.

The top speed is 150mph, but you needn’t reach for that, the turbo whoosh every time you hit 3,000rpm is infectious. As I grow in confidence, it responds – the more you put your trust in it, the more it rewards you. It’s gloriously raw, gloriously analogue, gloriously... old school.

And for that alone I’m glad I got to meet it. In the face of today’s cars that are increasingly devoid of any emotion, it’s a reminder of what we’re missing. Right, excuse me while I dust off the simulator. I’ve got some racing to do.

Hero: 

Racecar looks, great driving position, old school experience

Zero: 

Light gearshift, firm ride, secondhand parts hard to come by