Lots of times when we run rally videos, they contain all number of horrendous crashes and wipe outs but this is not one of those times. Instead you are going to see the greatest fleet of rally cars that ever were. We’ve told you the story of the famed “Group B” rally cars from the early 1980s before but it bears at least a quick revisit for the purposes of getting you up to speed on what you’re about to watch. Long story short, “Group B” rally cars were completely bat shit crazy due to loose rules that allowed factory engineers to probe the depths of their own insanity and create rally cars with nearly 1,000hp our of very small displacement turbocharged engines.
The famous cars you’ll see in this video are the ones that defined Group B during its short life span. We’re talking Audi Quattros, Lacias, Renault 5 turbos, and Peugeot 205s. These guys are flying them, sliding them, and flat footing them over very narrow dirt courses that weave through all different types of scenery. One thing that struck us, especially watching the cars jump, is how flat the Audis fly as opposed to the others which all seem to nose in hard on their landings. The Quattros soar evenly and land perfectly, rocketing down whatever cow path was the race course that day.
Racing these cars had to have been alternately exciting and terrifying. People died in them, which isn’t a huge shock when you know how fast they were and the conditions they were normally competing in. Rocks and trees tend to win EVERY FIGHT EVER against a car, no matter the robust nature of the ‘cage. But this video isn’t about crashes, it isn’t about explosions, fire, or anything of that nature. It is about the beauty and fury of these cars when they were in the right hands and driven to the limits of their capability. You don’t have to know a damned thing about rally racing to sit and enjoy eight minutes of screaming engines, flying cars, and drivers with a very keen mastery of their machines. This kids, is a great watch!
Thanks to John U for the tip!
PRESS PLAY BELOW TO SEE EIGHT MINUTES OF GROUP B RALLY PERFECTION!
I’ll say it again, but I think the people that line the roads to watch these Euro rockets wiz by are the “bat shit crazy” ones, not the drivers.
I think that’s part of the apeal. I mean, look at an NHRA race today. They go in a straight line, yet the grandstands are so far away from the track, its easier to watch the race on the jumbotron’s at the track. That is just plain stupid. This is cool, no gaurdrail, no fence, really, just a stand of crowd control rope. The people here have more freedom, more liberty, than Americans do. They get to choose to take the risk. I think its a sad testament to what Americans have become…
Having both been driven in … as well having driven a Group B car myself … along with racing in Rally [ Swedish championship events ] ….. guaranteed …… the crowds and drivers were all Bat shit crazy …. and then some .
The most bat shit crazy car of them all ? Definitely the Lancia Delta S4 … with the Audi Sport Quattro ‘ Evolution ‘ in its final version being a damn close second
Ahhh … but those were the days ! When men were men .. racing was racing … and the women somehow were a damn sight more beautiful . When WRC rivaled F1 in every way shape and form …[ including performance ] … and massively popular worldwide .. having its own magazine … TV coverage etc . With the exception of the US [ due in no small part to the xenophobic actions of the @$&hat John Buffum and the SCCA Rally program he controlled back then ]
Now ? WRC has become a mere shadow of it former self … like so much other racing these days
sigh 🙁
It was the time when they where going faster and faster. Ford brought in their RS200.
When eventually terrible accidents with spectators would happen and it ended with a skip of this class because they where getting to fast.
I personal like the sound of those Ür Audi Quatro’s with their straight five turbo engines.
In the “ol” days everything was better. we didn’t have speed bumps, only potholes. It was the time when the air above was clean and sex dirty. Now the air is dirty and sex…..
Never mind…
Audis are freakin nuts bring back insaniac group b and give rally back some balls.
Human guided missles!
As scary as it looks to have been driving, and navigating in, those cars under any conditions, the crowds along the route must have scared the participants more than anything else. That said given a chance I probably would have been standing right there with them.
Those Group B Cars where incredible. This video is fantastic. Thanks for posting it.