The anatomy of a Group B rally car - history and tech of rallying's golden era | Evo

After a failed Escort RS 1700T, started development for a purpose built rally car, the RS200, featuring a plastic-fiberglass composite body, mid-mounted Cosworth engine and four-wheel drive, a winning formula used by many manufacturers. Sadly is didn’t manage more then a third-place because it started a chain of crashes that led FIA to abolish Group B rally.

Was the fastest street-legal production car. It was considered the most technologically advanced road car. The production started with the Porsche 953, who won the ‘84 Paris-Dakar Rally with 1st and 6th places. The 959 had a tumultuous run, first started asa a body over the 953 chassis, later fitted with twin-turbochargers. It finished 1st, 2nd and 6th in the ‘86 Paris-Dakar Rally. Unfortunately, when the 959 was ready for production and homologation in 1987, FIA canceled Group B.

The legendary Quattro, Probably the most famous Rally car, who started the trend for reliable all-wheel drive. It used an inline 5 cylinder with an excess of 500hp and one of the first iterations of a dual clutch automatic gearbox(DSG), which is common these days. The legend had a short life, after a gruesome crash, Audi withdrew from rallying, but the legacy would last forever.

On 2 May 1986, The drivers of the Lancia Delta S4 left the road, and thus this is know as the las incident in Group B, as FIA canceled this group of racing. After many crashes and incidents, the Group B was deemed to dangerous for both drivers and spectators, but it will be always remembered as the golden age of rallying.