Superstars of the stage
There is something captivating about watching a high-powered car skitter sideways on a muddy or gravelly track, or even a Tarmac road, its powerplant climbing through the rev range, seas of spectators cheering.
Even when the dust has settled, the exhaust note faded and the atmosphere is still, rally cars have a character few other vehicles can match.
Here’s our pick of some of the coolest classic rally cars of all time.
1. Lancia Delta HF Integrale Group A
Lancia is the most successful manufacturer in World Rally Championship history and the Delta was one of the cars to build that impressive legacy.
It was introduced for the 1987 WRC season, with Miki Biasion, Juha Kankkunen and Markku Alén all taking turns at the helm.
The Integrale obliterated the competition and eventually walked away with 46 wins, turning it – and its drivers – into rally legends.
2. Ford Escort Mk1 RS 1600
The Mk2 Ford Escort RS 1800 was remembered as the conqueror of the rally scene in the mid to late ’70s, but it wouldn’t have climbed the ranks without a leg up from the RS 1600.
The RS 1600’s smooth bodywork hid racing mechanicals, making it the perfect rally machine
Cosworth tweaked the 1600’s internals, which pushed power to around 240bhp and upped its displacement to 2 litres.
In 1968, Roger Clark and Jim Porter claimed the RS 1600’s first rally victory at the Circuit of Ireland – a star was born.
3. Audi quattro
Going on looks alone, the Audi quattro is a car that makes a monumental statement: flared bodywork, large intakes – and just look at that huge rear spoiler.
Only 20 of these Group B rally cars were made, with the first-gen models producing around 476bhp while the second-gen cars had around 600bhp, courtesy of a redesigned turbocharger and tweaked internals.
Very little could touch the quattro in Group B, until the majestic two-wheel-drive Lancia 037 came along, that is. More on that later.
4. Lancia Stratos
A lot of the Lancia Stratos’ styling cues were taken from the Lamborghini Miura, such as the dual clamshell and the door pillars resembling bull's horns.
While it looked like a car for the roads of the French Riviera, the Stratos was a rambunctious Ferrari-powered rally car.
Lancia walked away with the WRC manufacturers’ title three years in a row and dominated the Tour de France Automobile with five victories.
Overall, the Lancia Stratos won 80 international rallies during the mid to late ’70s.
5. Toyota Celica GT-Four ST185
Toyota managed to fine-tune the GT-Four ST185's 3S GTE engine to produce 295bhp, making the most of the 300bhp Group A power limit.
The model’s first foray into competition was on the 1992 Rallye Monte-Carlo, the opening round of the World Rally Championship.
It wasn’t an immediate success, but did take seven WRC wins in 1993, including the Monte with Didier Auriol/Bernard Occelli and the RAC with Juha Kankkunen/Nicky Grist, en route to that year’s manufacturers’ title.
To meet homologation requirements, 5000 GT-Four RC production cars were built and sold in Europe, Australia and Japan.
There’s just something incredibly cool about a two-door coupé with pop-up headlights nailing it on a rally stage.
6. Peugeot 205 T16
When it came to the T16, Peugeot opted to ignore the typical layout and instead put the engine in the middle of the car for better weight distribution.
In combination with a purpose-built chassis, that made it a strong competitor. Its wide rear and front, together with thinner side skirts, cemented its capabilities.
It became almost unbeatable at the end of the 1984 WRC season, as Peugeot claimed third in the manufacturers’ championship, and it forced Audi to revise its Sport quattro.
7. Subaru Impreza
Being large and powerful didn’t exactly mean ‘success’ in Group A rallying, and Prodrive noticed this in 1993.
It had its eyes on a smaller, more nimble car – and the Subaru Impreza fit the bill perfectly.
Prodrive took an Impreza road car, chopped 160mm off the overall length and gave it a 60mm shorter wheelbase; this meant a balanced front/rear weight ratio.
In 1995, the FIA then attempted to slow rally cars by mandating more restrictive air intakes. Subaru met fire with fire and fitted a new boxer engine with a different compression ratio and revised camshafts to climb the FIA-imposed hurdle.
8. Mitsubishi Lancer Evo
We find it hard to pick just one of this super-cool succession of models, because with Tommi Mäkinen at the wheel, Mitsubishi achieved world-beating results.
Indeed, in Evos III-VI, he claimed four WRC drivers’ titles.
Those who bought a roadgoing version, such as the Evolution VI Tommi Mäkinen Edition pictured, had serious rally DNA under their right foot.
9. Rolls-Royce Corniche
This is something rather different – and definitely cool.
Usually, you’d find the Spirit of Ecstasy traversing slowly through tarred streets as onlookers guess which celebrity is being chauffeured – but not here.
Instead, this one was caked in Paris-Dakar Rally mud. The story started in 1981 when two Frenchmen bought a Corniche and replaced every body panel, except the doors, with a glassfibre replica.
The chassis was binned for a tubular spaceframe, and a Toyota HJ45 drivetrain with live axles and leaf-spring suspension was dropped in, plus the smooth 6.75-litre engine was replaced by a 5.7-litre Chevrolet unit.
10. Ford RS 200
Even today, the Ford RS 200’s shapley glassfibre bodywork is still recognised internationally.
Ford was working on a new Group B rally car, dubbed the Escort RS 1700T, but development issues saw the project being abandoned, leaving Ford without a contender.
A new car, the RS 200, was then built by Reliant on behalf of Ford, due to its experience in glassfibre bodywork.
To aid weight distribution, the RS 200 was given a bizarre drivetrain set-up, in which power would run from the mid-mounted engine to the front-mounted transmission and then run back to the rear.
11. Fiat 131 Abarth
Who would’ve thought a family saloon would win the WRC manufacturers’ crown three times? Fiat, that’s who.
Originally, Fiat was working on a rally-ready version of its X1/9, but this was canned and attention shifted to the then-new 131.
Each rally 131 was taken from the production line, and fitted with glassfibre wheelarches, bonnet and boot to save weight.
In addition, the production car’s live axle was removed in favour of an independent suspension system and the 1.6-litre engine’s capacity was increased to 2 litres.
And we think it looks super cool, too.
12. Ford Focus WRC
The Ford Focus is another example of a family car that saw success in the World Rally Championship – and with Colin McRae, no less.
This M-Sport-built WRC contender was for Colin McRae and Nicky Grist, the famous pair taking it to victory in 2001’s Argentina, Cyprus and Acropolis rallies.
Come the end of the season, McRae/Grist were locked in a battle for the championship with Richard Burns/Robert Reid’s Subaru Impreza.
It went down to the wire at the final round, in Britain. McRae was reeling in the finish line of the Rhondda stage in Wales with Burns hot on his heels, but McRae then cut a corner too deep, hit a hole and the Focus rolled three times – Burns snatched the title.
M-Sport rebuilt this car and it was campaigned on selected WRC rounds in 2002. On 5 March 2002, this car was sold by Silverstone Auctions (now known as Iconic Auctioneers) for £423,300.
13. Lancia 037
Audi’s quattro owned the rally scene in 1982 with no direct competitor – that was until the 037 showed up.
The Lancia 037 made its competition debut in 1982, but success was limited. It claimed its first win at 1983’s Rallye Monte-Carlo, with the crew of Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer, and went on to take that year’s manufacturers’ title.
14. Opel Ascona 400
Both Irmscher and Cosworth were hired to create the Group 4 Ascona 400.
A 2-litre engine was taken from a Kadett GT/E but was upped to 2.4 litres and used Cosworth’s 16-valve head, which gave up to around 260bhp.
In 1982, the Opel Ascona 400 of Walter Röhrl/Christian Geistdörfer vied for top honours all season long against the likes of Hannu Mikkola/Arne Hertz, Stig Blomqvist/Björn Cederberg and Michèle Mouton/Fabrizia Pons in their Audi quattros – while Audi prevailed to take the manufacturers’ title, Röhrl took his Opel to the drivers’ crown.
15. Porsche 959 Dakar
This could easily be one of the snazziest cars on our list – and it is definitely very cool.
Not only was the Porsche 959 once the world’s fastest production car, but three were also built to take on the gruelling Paris-Dakar Rally.
Porsche already had its 953 rally car, which was used as a development platform for the 959’s four-wheel-drive system.
In 1985, the first 959 Dakar arrived, using a standard 911 engine and early four-wheel-drive system. The cars failed to finish, so Porsche upped its game and used a twin-turbo set-up.
The result? In 1986, the Porsche 959s finished the Paris-Dakar Rally first and second, with René Metge/Dominique Lemoine and Jacky Ickx/Claude Brasseur respectively.
16. Alpine-Renault A110
The A110 is just super-cool – and the model’s 21st-century rebirth has made the original even more so.
The story has been told many times, but is worth recapping briefly.
Motorsport enthusiast Jean Rédélé became Renault’s youngest-ever concessionaire at the age of 25 and started modifying the 4CV for competition and although competitive, he wanted more.
Unable to get Renault’s support, Rédélé went it alone and after several attempts, his vision was perfected in the R8-based A110.
Alpine-Renault A110s filled the podium at 1973’s Rallye Monte-Carlo and Alpine-Renault took that year’s manufacturers’ title by quite some margin.
17. Morris Mini Cooper ‘S’
Is this one of the most famous rally cars of all time? Quite probably.
The big victory for this small car came on 21 January 1964, when Paddy Hopkirk and co-driver Henry Liddon won Rallye Monte-Carlo, a mixture of formidable driving skill, a great-handling car and the correct choice of tyres combining to help the crew to a famous win.
Minis also scooped the top prize at Rallye Monte-Carlo in 1965 and ’67, with Timo Mäkinen/Paul Easter and Rauno Aaltonen/Henry Liddon respectively.
18. Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak
It’s often the case that rally cars are recognisably linked to their roadgoing counterparts, but it’s hard to see the standard Grand Vitara or Escudo, as it is known in some markets, from the car pictured here.
Well, you need something special to tame the fearsome Pikes Peak.
Suzuki’s first Escudo Pikes Peak car had two 1.6-litre turbocharged engines, one on the front and one at the back, which produced 450bhp each – incredible in a car weighing less than 900kg.
Later, this evolved into a 1000bhp bi-turbo V6 and the car became famous for its appearance in the game Gran Turismo 2.
19. Peugeot 405 T16
What better way to highlight a new car than to send it sideways on a rally stage – which is exactly what Peugeot did to promote its then-new 405.
The 405 T16 was to support the 205 T16 in the Rallye-Raid events in 1988, but it went on to dominate the competitions it entered such as the Rally of Tunisia and the Atlas, the Baja Espana-Aragon and Pharaohs Rally, and then the Paris-Dakar in 1989.
Many of the body parts were made from either carbonfibre or Kevlar, and it used the 205’s 1.9-litre engine, which was positioned at the rear.
20. MG Metro 6R4
Another Group B icon that had to make our list is the wild-looking MG Metro 6R4.
With its bespoke, 3-litre V6, it is said that the ‘Clubman’ or roadgoing version had around 250bhp, this rocketing to up to around 410bhp in the full-blown, international-rally version.
No Metro 6R4 ever won a WRC rally, but it was successful in other championships – the model’s maiden international rally victory was with David Llewellin/Phil Short on 1986’s Circuit of Ireland.
We hope you enjoyed reading. Please click the ‘Follow’ button for more super stories from Classic & Sports Car.