http://www.carthrottle.com/post/sP20rW/
Those sounds are absolutely fantastic, especially in the towns and canyons. Oh and the drivers are certifiably insane along with the crowds. Can you imagine how many lawsuits there would be if they could run like that in the States?
The joy that was the Group B era.........until it all came to an abrupt and tragic end. You can really see the development to the wagging rear drive Nissan 240RS, Celica and Opel, to the beauty Quatro and the silky smooth Pug 205 The Lancia 037 is my all time favorite.......the present WRC cars may go down the stages faster but they don't have that raw appeal to them do they!
Tom
I don't post too many videos or things from other websites anymore but when I saw this, I watched less than two minutes before I knew where to put it.
Thanks for all the positive comments guys!
Tom1200 wrote: The joy that was the Group B era.........until it all came to an abrupt and tragic end. You can really see the development to the wagging rear drive Nissan 240RS, Celica and Opel, to the beauty Quatro and the silky smooth Pug 205 The Lancia 037 is my all time favorite.......the present WRC cars may go down the stages faster but they don't have that raw appeal to them do they! Tom
I agree that the 037 is my all time fav too. People forget it was really the first Groupe B car.. and managed to hold off the awd audis for a year while Lancia developed the Delta Integrale. Never was there a prettier Rally car
Mad_machine my son and I discuss "lotto cars" and the 037 is always on the list. There was/is a Stradale version at the Imperial Palace car collection and they are every bit as cool in the flesh. I once was privileged enough to drive a Group B spec Quatro on a road course, it wasn't the SWB version but it was a beast. 450-500hp may not seem like a lot these days but it was fairly physical so I can't imagine how much work it was on a stage.
Tom
Tom1200 wrote: Mad_machine my son and I discuss "lotto cars" and the 037 is always on the list.
Disagree Stratos!
if I were to build a rally car.. there was one car that would have left the Stratos for dead.. but Fiat chose not to build it.. the X 1/9 rally car. The Abarth X 1/9 Prototipo. They were working on it to replace the 124 and it was -faster- through the stages than the mighty stratos.. So they built the 131 instead
NOTHING sounds better than a Audi 5cyl at full trot!
Ok maybe a V12 but nothing in the rally world. I kinda like the Rover too.
I can vividly remember Hannu Mickalla arriving out of the darkness at around 1am in his Audi Quattro in a bitterly cold Rhigos forest stage above Treherbert in the South Wales in the 1986 Lombard RAC Rally. Back in those days of the death throws of Group B Rallying the excitement and noise, brake discs red hot, huge turbo lag and backfiring of the exhaust as those Quattros sped by. Even though it's nearly thirty years ago, the winters were particularly cold, i think it was snowing or had recently snowed in the Rhigos area of the Valleys, and it only cost £4 to enter the stage.
What have we got today, under powered almost production cars in drag, and being asked to pay £26 to enter a tightly controlled forest stage.
Where's the old school race commentary? It was cool, and I have to hand it to those race drivers. Those roads are really narrow, they have to be on point all the time to drive balls out and stay on it.
Thanks for the link! +1 on the Lancia 037 love. The first purpose-built Group B car, kicked Audi's unreliable ass up and down the block for a couple of seasons. The 10-year-old me thought it was one of the most beautiful rally cars, and the current me still agrees. And unlike the Stratos, I might be able to fit in one! I was once offered a ride in a genuine Stratos at a trackday; I could sit in the car, have a helmet on, or close the door, but not more than one of the three at a time, let alone all three...one of the bigger letdowns I've experienced.
If you haven't subscribed to Marvdogger's Youtube page, do so.
My GrB weakness has always been the underdogs: the Manta 400, the 240RS, the Toyota Twin-Cam Turbo, and so on -- the modified 2wd production cars. Russell Brookes (he of the "ANDREWS HEAT FOR HIRE" British Championship livery) campaigned a special lightweight Manta 400 Evolution that clocked in at all of 1800 lbs.
There are a bunch of British and Irish Championship rallies on Youtube from all through the Eighties, and the Ulster, Circuit of Ireland and Manx International are the ones to watch as far as I'm concerned. Tarmac, fast as hell, and even into the post-GpB era you had Manta 400s duking it out with M3s, Escort Mk.2s and Sierra Cossies.
And from the same rally, let's take a ride with Ari Vatanen and Terry Harryman in an Opel.
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