Motoring
5 Group B rally cars you definitely won’t remember
Check out these near-mythical machines from rallying's most magical era...
Rally's Group B class existed from 1982-1986. Its vehicles were extremely powerful flame-spitting beasts, some of which produced more than 600bhp. Though it was highly dangerous, the racing was thrilling, and its legend lives on to this day.
Audi’s Quattro and Lancia’s Delta are icons of Group B's heyday. But Group B ruled rallying from top to bottom, incorporating all manner of motors in its smaller and less conspicuous classes. They might have missed the headlines, but these cars remain part of the story...
1. Lada VAZ 2105 VFTS
Russia’s Group B car was two driven wheels and about 300 horses short of troubling the front of the field, but the importance of the Lada 2105 VFTS can’t be overstated. This rebadged Fiat 124 saloon was fitted with aluminium panels, ensuring it would arrive at the stage start weighing in at just 820 kilos. A 1600cc, 160bhp engine drove the rear wheels and turned this thing into an instant hit in domestic rallying behind a still-drawn Iron Curtain; it was an Escort from the East.
What the Lada did have on its side was seemingly bulletproof reliability
It was never going to be the fastest thing in the world, but what the 2105 did have on its side was seemingly bulletproof reliability. The Lithuanian-tuned Lada’s greatest result came on the 1986 1000 Lakes, when Nikolay Bolshikh led a six-car rout of the B10 class. Citroën’s much-fancied Visa 1000 Pistes didn’t get a look in.
2. Peugeot 504 Pickup
Peugeot’s Group B presence is best remembered by the iconic 205 T16. However, there was also the 504 Pickup, which was designed and built in Mombasa, Kenya.
Former Safari winner Peter Hughes worked with Associated Vehicle Assemblers (AVA), a Kenyan firm which turned 504s into pickups for the local market. Doing comfortably more than the 200 examples per year required for homologation, Hughes and co. bought in the parts required to produce 20 evolution rally cars. FISA inspected the car and passed it for Group B competition in 1983. Most were never rallied, but AVA retained a ‘works’ version – complete with numerous modifications which hadn’t appeared on the homologation form. The car’s highlight was the 1984 Safari Rally. Unfortunately it hit the rocks, quite literally, and retired early on.
3. Talbot Lotus Horizon
Talbot Lotus Horizon
© PSA
Peugeot Talbot’s association with Lotus in rallying was hastily arranged by the firm’s legendary Brit Des O’Dell. Despite this haste, they took 1981 World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title.
A year on, Group B was coming and O’Dell was aware something new was needed. He turned to Lotus once again, and this time the idea was to take a turbocharged engine from a Lotus Esprit and drop it where the back seats of a Talbot Horizon had once sat. The Esprit’s five-speed gearbox was installed alongside, the intercooler was put up front and the whole thing was clothed in composite to bring it in at under 1,000kg.
Going around corners was interesting!
David Lapworth, then working for O’Dell at PTS, was one of only two people to drive the car. “It had around 300bhp and weighed very little, so understandably it was very quick in a straight line – once you’d got over the turbo lag. But going around corners was interesting!”
The whole thing had been done under the radar of new Peugeot Sport boss Jean Todt. Ultimately, the Lotus Horizon went no further. JT had a better idea: the Peugeot 205 T16. Hard to argue with that.
4. Citroën BX 4TC
It’s almost impossible to reconcile Citroën’s Group B car with the success the Versailles-based team has enjoyed in the modern era of the World Rally Championship. Where the Xsara, C4 and DS 3 have dominated, the BX 4TC failed woefully. It was a pig. And what was worse was the length of time it took to come to the decision to build the thing. Citroën toyed with a number of Group B options – a process which even included testing a twin-engined Visa. In the end, the BX 4TC was deemed to be the way to go.
The BX was too heavy, too crude and too short on power
It started the 1986 season in Monte Carlo under the significant weight of French expectation – a nation which was already reveling in the glory of Peugeot’s programme. The Citroen lasted three rallies before the board called time on a car that was too heavy, too crude and too short on power. 15 years later, Citroën returned to rallying and sent the rest of the world home to think again.
5. Ferrari 308 GTB
First homologated into Group B’s predecessor Group 4 in 1976, Ferrari’s 308 GTB was a bit of a no-brainer when it came to asphalt rallies – particularly those in its native northern Italy. On the 1982 Sanremo, Antonio Tognana led the event ahead of World Rallying’s biggest names after the asphalt stages, although his fortunes waned when the event headed for the Tuscan gravel…
When Group B arrived, the 308 was carried over and remained a firm favourite in Italy and France. And if the 308 GTB wasn’t extreme enough for you, try the 308 GT/M. This one was designed and built by private tuner and Ferrari rally expert Giuliano Michelotto (the M in GT/M).
The M offered around 375bhp with new cams and timing belt covers. Only three were built, but Raffaele Pinto showed the car’s potential by leading a bevy of Lancia 037s (including a factory development version) until the midpoint of the 1984 Monza Rally when Pinto slid wide and damaged the suspension.
