These motors were made with one thing in mind. That is they all excel at travelling along narrow twisty ribbons of road at insane speeds or pelting along flat out over rough deserts and vast open wastes. Rally cars are designed to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible and are often expected to take a pounding along the way.
These days, four wheel drive, light weight and big power from small capacity turbocharged engines is the state of the art. Tommi Makinen of Finland recently made history by winning the 1999 world rally championship in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VI. He was the first driver to win four titles in a row. Not surprisingly, the Japanese firm were more than pleased with his results. Other big players at the moment include Colin McRae of Scotland, who currently competes in the Ford Focus WRC (world rally car) and who won the 1995 world championship in a Subaru Impreza Turbo. Richard Burns is the leading British driver and is also the No.1 driver at Subaru. He narrowly missed out on the 2000 drivers championship and was runner up to a newcomer, Marcus Gronholm, another Finnish driver who is the top driver at Peugeot. The 2000 season was very successful for Peugeot, who also won the constructors championship for the first time since 1986 (when the 205 T16 was the Group B car to beat).
Possibly the first specialized rally cars were the Mini Coopers of the 1960's. Because of their compact size and terrific handling, these front wheel drive rockets were the car to beat. The next big thing in rallying was the Ford Escort. It was a fast, well handling rear wheel drive family-saloon based car, which saw great success in the 1970's.
Both the Escort and the Mini were closely related to the road cars on which they were based. From the 1970's onwards, the top manufacturers developed their rally cars first as competition machines then as road cars. So long as a certain number of road going versions of these rally prototypes were built, then the car could be used in competition. An example was the Lancia Stratos. It was a mid-engined, rear wheel drive car with a V-6 Ferrari engine. It had a short wheel-base which ensured sharp handling, and was the car to beat in the mid 1970's.
At the beginning of the 1980's, the car to beat was the Audi Quattro. This turbocharged coupe set the worlds rally stages alight with it's four wheel drive system, which endowed it with terrific traction. Most leading rally cars since, including the Lancia Delta S4, Peugeot 205 T16, Ford RS 200, Lancia Delta Intergrale and the Ford Escort Cosworth have all followed in it's footsteps.
Rallying remains one of the most skillful of all forms of motorsport. To be a top driver, you need incredible car control, not to mention nerves of steel. The following models are either representative of competition cars or their roadgoing versions. Please click on a name to find out more about them.
