Autoblog

UPDATE: Images removed by request of owner

In the eighties, David Sutton owned the company that prepared rally cars for Audi UK. It turns out he was collecting cars at the same time as he was preparing them, and putting them in his Historic Motors Ltd museum. The assortment includes seven Audis, some of which are Group B monsters, as well as an RS200 Cosworth, a couple of Lancias, a 1944 Volvo, and even a Skoda. Now the lot's being sold, 22 cars in all, through Morris & Welford. It's the kind of collection that, even if you had the time, money, and connections, would probably take you years to assemble individually. But you can have it all, right now... if you have what is likely to be an enormous sum of cash. Check out the other items on offer in the gallery below.

[Source: Motive Magazine]

How many times have you heard someone use the phrase, "That thing handles like a go-kart." Well, in the case of the Lancia Delta S4 of Group B fame, it's true. The video embedded after the jump was taken at an indoor track. Killer stuff, and it had to have sounded incredible in there while this was going on. Wherever this is, there's some pretty sweet hardware parked inside the tire barriers, too. Based on some Googling we've done, we're guessing the pilot is Bruno Ianello, who appears to have been driving this particular Delta S4 in recent years at historic rallies. We found some nice shots of the car here and here, if you'd like to have a better look at it.

Follow the jump for the video of the indoor action.

[Source: Dieselstation]

In the early '80s, the FIA devised a new set of rules for production based race cars that could be used for both track racing and rallying. The Group B rules spawned some of the wildest homologation specials devised at that time. Under the rules, a minimum of 200 production models had to be built (not necessarilly sold) and then evolution specials could be derived from those. Some of the products of Group B were the MG Metro 6R4, Ford RS200, Peugeot 205 Ti16, Ferrari 288 GTO and the Porsche 959.

Only a couple of GTO Evoluzione models were built and they eventually spawned the legendary F40. Most of the Group B cars ended up competing in rallies around the world and were the ancestors of the later World Rally Cars like the Subaru WRX and Mitsubishi Evo. Many of the production models remained unsold for years and ended up going at fire sale prices, especially after a spate of rally accidents with the high powered Group B cars that prompted the FIA to cancel the whole category.

There's more after the jump including two incredible videos of the 959 in action.

[Source: Jalopnik]

In the YouTube clip embedded after the jump, former Audi driver Michele Mouton briefly reminisces about her time behind the wheel during the crazy Group B days.She talks about some of the things that were the most emotionally stirring and tells the documentary crew," If I have some emotion, of course it's the noise of the Quattro. I mean, nobody can forget the noise. Even today, I think we miss this kind of noise."

From there it cuts to around 30 seconds of the Quattro at full tilt, making that glorious roar peppered with the occasional backfire pop. If that sound can't get a rise out of you, you're a soulless corpse. Watch (and listen) after the jump.

[Source: YouTube]

Put together by the same person who assembled the clip we brought you yesterday, here's another round of hot, slippery, and sublime Group B action. The more you watch, the more you appreciate the skill of these drivers. Not only did they have to contend with their supremely powerful cars and the tricky rally courses they hurtled through, but they had to do it all in the midst of a fan base that seemingly had a collective death wish, stepping out of the cars' paths at the last possible second.

Amazing video, and eternally enjoyable.

[Source: YouTube]

I'm guessing that I had you at "Group B."

Click on the video above and take the time machine back to the days of Group B, where the rally cars were audacious and overpowered, the drivers heroic, and the action unrivaled and dangerous. All you hear are the cars and the crowds, and as car-related videos go, this is about as close to porn as it gets.

Happy Friday.

[Source: YouTube]

If a Porsche 959 is just too commonplace or not quite raw enough to satisfy your primal rally-car lust, how about a Ford RS 200 Evolution? Where as the German vehicle was much like a well-dressed triathlete with social skills, Ford's entry into the Group B madness of the 1980s had a personality more along the lines of a serial killer.

Cosworth was put in charge of squeezing serious power from the turbocharged 2.1L four-banger, and it succeeded to the tune of something in the neighborhood of 650 HP in the Evolution models. Combine that with the weight distribution afforded by a front-mounted transmission (odd for a mid-engined AWD car), and the RS 200 Evo could supposedly scratch its way to 60 MPH in just over two seconds. The distinctive bodywork was designed by Ghia, while a significant number of parts came from the Ford of Europe parts bin.

200 of the vehicles were originally built, with 24 later receiving the conversion to Evolution status. In other words, if something like this strikes your fancy, we'd suggest not passing up the chance.

[Source: Autoweek Classifieds]