Car museums are nice. Don’t get me wrong here…if you get the chance to tour the LeMay collection in Tacoma, the Las Vegas Car Museum, or even the Hollywood Star Car Collection in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, go see them, by all means. Seeing some of the most rare, historically unique, and beautiful cars on display is a wonderful experience. But, for yours truly, “sitting” isn’t quite what I like to see old cars doing. The argument between preservation and proper use can go on forever, but I personally like to see a classic get some exercise, be it a LeBaron-bodied Packard going for a cruise on a lovely afternoon or seeing an Opel Manta fly through the air as if the Group B days never left. Yeah, I meant that…rally cars, especially the actual works cars, were meant from the start to be used, abused, fixed and abused again. No rally machine I’ve ever heard of sounds happy tooling around a lawn somewhere. They are at their best with the tach swinging, the anti-lag popping off like a machine gun, and the tires scratching for every possible bit of grip available. Would I like to see a Lancia 037 sitting on the carpet? Sure, but I’d love to hear the turbocharged and supercharged engine howl at full song, too. I might not get to go see the Rally Legend stages in person, but clicking play below…especially with good speakers turned up…will be a safe second place.
