Best rally car of all time
Discussion
Ultuous said:
Exactly.... If we're going to try to find a 'winner' from any era, it surely has to be the one with the longevity and accessibility - that and (as someone who's only ever been a spectator) the oh-so-familiar sound of a BDA at full chat arriving from over a hill wins it for me! 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d01VBR5nKPwhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVQHL8E82QM
No Contest for me
It depends on your definition of BEST. I drove a few. The Stratos was difficult but so satisfying, a wonderful engine over your shoulder but not a lot of grunt unless it was a works 4 valve. I spent a day with a works car at Donington, modern GT times with a passenger in the fog with ice on Coppice - mega. The Quattro was brute force and not a lot else, it didn't handle and I had to learn to left foot brake properly to keep the truck turbo spinning. Mark 1 and 2 Escorts were fun, the wonderful Duckworth engine but a back axle that was so heavy that the car didn't really handle, we had the Dustbins going almost as fast despite being 80bhp down, they handled better.
My choice - Roger Duckworth's Sierra 4x4 with a Cosworth tuned Granada 24V V6, mega handling, superb traction, 350bhp and a noise to die for - he won the National Championship in it and everybody was smiling.
Can any of you find a photo of the beast....
My choice - Roger Duckworth's Sierra 4x4 with a Cosworth tuned Granada 24V V6, mega handling, superb traction, 350bhp and a noise to die for - he won the National Championship in it and everybody was smiling
.Can any of you find a photo of the beast....
I suppose I can't define "the best", bit I suspect that the best "purpose built" rally car would be the Stratos. In as much as I don't think the Ur-quattro was built specifically for rally purposes, nor the Mk II Escort, nor the Mk I Impreza.
I suppose that the Integrale was introduced for rallying purposes, but that was an adaptation of the HF Turbo so not a purpose built rally car.
Not sure if it was built for purpose, but I
this:
I suppose that the Integrale was introduced for rallying purposes, but that was an adaptation of the HF Turbo so not a purpose built rally car.
Not sure if it was built for purpose, but I
this:pixelpimp said:
Has to be the Lancia 037 for.
Looks great in any colour and was superb to watch.
Another vote for the 037 - I also had a radio controlled model of it.Looks great in any colour and was superb to watch.
GFOS 2007 108.jpg by Ethel of Buzzez, on Flickr
I'm also with the 037 although there are many classics worth a mention:
Saab 96
The Mini ! (Just for fun)
Escorts Mk1 Mexico and Mk2 RS1800 and can't leave out the crazy RS200
Audi Quattro
Lancia Stratos
Impreza family
Mitsubishi Evo family
These all have a claim of sorts but I'll stop there.
Saab 96
The Mini ! (Just for fun)
Escorts Mk1 Mexico and Mk2 RS1800 and can't leave out the crazy RS200
Audi Quattro
Lancia Stratos
Impreza family
Mitsubishi Evo family
These all have a claim of sorts but I'll stop there.
Edited by cosicave on Wednesday 11th May 03:04
Peugeot 405 T16 Pikes Peak edition:
And the video that made it a star (not a bad driver either
):
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-336894877...
And the video that made it a star (not a bad driver either
):http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-336894877...
Stratos. Munari.
Everything else was just playing. Ive been very lucky over the years to have found myself sidling up next to a few rally heros and having a similar conversation with each of them...actually because most conversations amongst rally types sooner or later revolves around the quality of various bacon butties and thermos coffee! Thats besides the point though, the subjects of "best", "hero" and "most envious of" frequently crop up and the vast majority of answers come back as Sandro and the Stratos. I was shocked and disappointed the first time I found this out, because it came from Hannu Mikkola. Now HK was my personal rally hero when I was a nipper, I thought he and the Quattro were awesome, so when I got the chance as an older kid, but still "yoothful" I managed to doorstep him once at an event and ask him. As a kid you still sort of see the world through your own eyes and you have this idea that your hero will be all magnificant and Godlike and know it himself. Imagine my little bubble of hero-worship well and truely skewered then when he basically tells me "Thankyou for your support, but that chap Munari over there is in a different league to me."
Now I wasnt some Lancia newbie, we ran them as our family cars...and trust me, running Lancias in the 70s & 80s in the Blackpool air required some dedication...but, well like...you know!!! This was fire spitting Quattro God Mikkola who made this truck like monster go like the clappers. Who made Grizedale forest come alive in the pre dawn gloom. He couldnt go around praising some Latin ponce!!!!!
He could. He did. He was right.
Another one that sticks in my mind was a conversation I had in later years with Markku Alen. I asked him a semi light hearted question about the S4 and how good were those days. His response was roughly "I was good, very good. I was not good enough for the S4 though. Henri...he was too good for the S4..." and he just kind of stopped there. Then he walked away. Was a little weird and I sort of got the impression that the next person who spoke to him may of been getting punched!
P.S. Just googled Mikkola thinking about this and seen his age. Htf can he be 69 in a cpl of weeks? When did he get old?
Everything else was just playing. Ive been very lucky over the years to have found myself sidling up next to a few rally heros and having a similar conversation with each of them...actually because most conversations amongst rally types sooner or later revolves around the quality of various bacon butties and thermos coffee! Thats besides the point though, the subjects of "best", "hero" and "most envious of" frequently crop up and the vast majority of answers come back as Sandro and the Stratos. I was shocked and disappointed the first time I found this out, because it came from Hannu Mikkola. Now HK was my personal rally hero when I was a nipper, I thought he and the Quattro were awesome, so when I got the chance as an older kid, but still "yoothful" I managed to doorstep him once at an event and ask him. As a kid you still sort of see the world through your own eyes and you have this idea that your hero will be all magnificant and Godlike and know it himself. Imagine my little bubble of hero-worship well and truely skewered then when he basically tells me "Thankyou for your support, but that chap Munari over there is in a different league to me."
Now I wasnt some Lancia newbie, we ran them as our family cars...and trust me, running Lancias in the 70s & 80s in the Blackpool air required some dedication...but, well like...you know!!! This was fire spitting Quattro God Mikkola who made this truck like monster go like the clappers. Who made Grizedale forest come alive in the pre dawn gloom. He couldnt go around praising some Latin ponce!!!!!
He could. He did. He was right.
Another one that sticks in my mind was a conversation I had in later years with Markku Alen. I asked him a semi light hearted question about the S4 and how good were those days. His response was roughly "I was good, very good. I was not good enough for the S4 though. Henri...he was too good for the S4..." and he just kind of stopped there. Then he walked away. Was a little weird and I sort of got the impression that the next person who spoke to him may of been getting punched!
P.S. Just googled Mikkola thinking about this and seen his age. Htf can he be 69 in a cpl of weeks? When did he get old?
That was my reason for selecting the stratos, lots of people could drive it, but only munari could realistically say he tamed that beast. And this wasnt the 190bhp road going version, which was, by all accounts, twitchy, this was the full on 300bhp rally weapon, which caused more than a few who thought they could drive to have fairly substantial accidents.
Munari displaying his skills in 2005
http://youtu.be/J5otpImadfk
Munari displaying his skills in 2005
http://youtu.be/J5otpImadfk
Edited by snowy slopes on Tuesday 10th May 18:16
As usual one of the most succesful rally cars in terms of driver and manufacturer titles gets totally overlooked....
The Xsara WRC was still competive after nearly 10 years in the sport and after all of Sebastien Loeb,s success in it Petter Solberg was more competitve in a 2006 Xsara in 2009 than in most of his Subaru years.
The Xsara WRC was still competive after nearly 10 years in the sport and after all of Sebastien Loeb,s success in it Petter Solberg was more competitve in a 2006 Xsara in 2009 than in most of his Subaru years.
m8rky said:
As usual one of the most succesful rally cars in terms of driver and manufacturer titles gets totally overlooked....
The Xsara WRC was still competive after nearly 10 years in the sport and after all of Sebastien Loeb,s success in it Petter Solberg was more competitve in a 2006 Xsara in 2009 than in most of his Subaru years.
Are you remotely pissing serious? Are you genuinely trying to tell us that Peter fThe Xsara WRC was still competive after nearly 10 years in the sport and after all of Sebastien Loeb,s success in it Petter Solberg was more competitve in a 2006 Xsara in 2009 than in most of his Subaru years.
king Solberg in a Citreon Xsara is somehow on the same planetary alignment as either Marku Alen or Henri T in an S4 or Sandro Munari in a Stratos.velocemitch said:
Simply has to be the Escort, Mark 1 or Mark 2. Still winning rallies 43 years after it was introduced.
There is that. I used to watch a lot of rallying and i have to say that the most dramatic cars I ever saw were the Group B Integrales. Glowing turbo pipework, glowing disc brakes and the sound of the supercharger as well...
What BMC achieved with the Minis in the sixties was special too.
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