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(res: 1600x1200) Hannu Mikkola’s Audi Quattro A1

Introduced in 1981 the Audi Quattro A1 was with out doubt a milestone in rallying history. This was the first car not only with 4-wheel drive but also the first with a turbo charged engine. The first year was not as successful as hoped due to mechanical problems and sheer bad luck which seemed to follow Hannu Mikkola however 1982 saw the Quattro win 7 out of 11 rallies it entered and secured the manufacturers title for Audi. In fact Tony Pond was prompted to say at the RAC rally that year - ‘So long as Audi have no trouble, Hannu could easily win by 34 minutes.’ Not quite 34 minutes but an 11 minute margin was still impressive. I think Hannu Mikkola summed up the Quattro quite well in Motoring News, 1981 - ‘It is the most terrifying effective way of covering loose surface at speed ever devised by man.’ The Quattro was developed further eventually to the monster Sport Evolutions of Group B but it was the A1 we can thank for the 4-wheel drive turbo rally cars we see today.

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(res: 1600x1200) Markku Alèn’s Lancia 037

The Lancia 037 was introduced at the end of 1982 and was really old before its time as it was 2-wheel drive in a world where everyone was planning or running 4-wheel drive cars. Its engineers deliberately went for a 2-wheel drive, mid-engined race car design as they thought 4-wheel drive would only be an advantage on the roughest stages and the weight penalty would be too great however they were to be proved wrong but not by much! The 037 was a superb car and its handling and throttle response made it a good match for the heavier Audi Quattro. In fact Lancia using all its wile and wisdom managed to win the 1983 manufacturers championship with superb drives by Markku Alèn and Walter Röhrl with some unfortunate break downs by the Quattro helping them along the way. The 1984 season really was the nail in the coffin of the 037 as Peugeot introduced the 4-wheel drive T16. The Lancia was more reliable but the 4-wheel drive cars were faster over the gravel. Markku drove like a madman on his home ground, the 1000 Lakes Rally, wringing everything he could from the car but was eventually overhauled by the T16. Markku commented - ‘Here I am going flat out in a museum car.’  Delays in homologation of the new 4-wheel drive replacement - the Delta S4 meant the 037 ran until the end of 1985. It appeared in the points a few times but was never a contender.

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(res: 1024x768) Lancia Delta 037 Homologation car

This is the homologation version of the Lancia 037. 200 road going cars were required to be built for homologation.

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(res: 1024x768) Lancia Delta S4 Homologation car

This is the homologation version of the Group B Lancia Delta S4. This was Lancia’s first try at 4-wheel drive after starting from a blank sheet consequently the handling was not up to scratch to start off with but was eventually sorted. Lancia came up with a typical Italian way of over coming turbo-lag. The engine was not only turbocharged but also supercharged! The supercharger would work until the turbocharger could kick in. It was an incredibly complex solution but it was very effective and meant there was loads of torque at low revs and produced in access of 450Bhp. It was introduced at the end of 1985 after a long delay. Its life was short lived however after a series of tragic accidents with uncontrollable crowds. In fact the decision to finally ban Group B came soon after Henri Toivonen’s fatal accident when he left the road at high speed in his S4 and it exploded leaving the car totally unrecognisable.

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Austin Rover Group MG Metro 6R4

Austin Rover were reluctant at first to enter into the new 4-wheel drive rally scene of Group B but were persuaded by its competitions manager John Davenport that it could have a winner on its hands. While everyone else was going for forced induction ARG decided to use a normally aspirated 3-litre V6 engine reasoning that a) it would not be penalised by the FISA restrictions  regarding forced induction  and b) that response time would be quicker than either turbo or super charging. The 6R4 was the first car in rallying to take fitting aerodynamic wings seriously with not only a rear wing but a front wing to improve traction and handling. At the time Peugeot were having trouble getting their T16 rear wing through the homologation rules so ARG came up with a radical answer. Rather than build 200 road cars for homologation and convert a few to rally spec (where the problems usually occured with fitting the wings) ARG built 220 rally cars, all with wings and spoilers! Although the 6R4 engine would indeed have better response low down the advantage it gained was off set by the low power output compared to the competition. Reliability was also a major problem. Engineers had only been given 16 months to get the car from the drawing board to the rally stage and although it came 3rd on its debut at the RAC Rally in 1985 with Tony Pond at the helm there was a plague of non-finishes due to engine failure the following season. Unfortunately with the death of Group B and the discovery that its team manager had milked off thousands of pounds from the rally budget into his own pocket ARG left the rallying scene never to return.

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Dylynx Audi Quattro

Sorry but I know nothing about  this car!