Group B

[turboXR]

This will get long, sorry...I'll post a pic of each car in road trim and rally trim where possible.

Audi Sport Quattro:
http://www.autogaleria.pl/tapety/img/audi/audi_sport_quattro_1985_01_b.jpg
http://www.autoreview.ru/new_site/year2004/n18/horch/800/33.jpg

Citroën BX 4TC:
http://www.vieux-volants.com/Galerie%20photos/13e%20Rencontre%20Mondiale%20Citroen%20Interlaken% 202004/BX%204TC_small1.JPG

http://www.riminituning.it/img/bott/rally/bolidi/foto_max/citroenbx_7max.jpg

Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione (never saw competition):
http://www.qv500.com/Ferrari%20288%20GTO%20P2%201.jpg

Ford RS200 Evolution Stradale:
http://www.preromanbritain.com/gwem/martbean/rs200/rs200wet.jpg

http://rallye.stars.free.fr/autos/rs200/album/86rac_grundel.jpg

Lancia 037 Rallye (the first official Grp. B entry):
http://www.einszweidrei.de/lancia/rally-1.jpg
http://www.sfconline.org.uk/models/Lancia%20037%20Abarth/images/037b.jpeg

Lancia Delta S4 (twincharged):
http://www2.uol.com.br/bestcars/carros/fiat/antigos/lancia-delta-s4-1m.jpg
http://www.bug.hr/autonet/rally/lancia/15.jpg

Peugeot 205 Turbo 16:
http://www.bug.hr/autonet/rally/peugeot/01.jpg

http://www.speedheads.de/artikelbilder/2004/Peugeot205Turbo16.jpg

Porsche 959 (only saw very limited action):
http://www.ne.jp/asahi/mclaren/hakkinen/img/wallpaper/paper/transport/porsche9591.jpg
http://www.rearengine.com/img/modeller/959/porsche_959_1984_ral_012_full.jpg

Renault R5Turbo:
http://www.highwayone.com/Images/Photos/Renault/00laac/00laac1.jpg
http://renaultf1passion.free.fr/competition/r5.jpg

Rover Metro 6R4:
http://www.hot.ee/vrt/rover%206R4-austin.jpg

Toyota MR2 Group B (never saw competition):
http://www.mr2supercharger.com/GroupBRacing_files/groupB3.jpg
http://www.mr2supercharger.com/GroupBRacing_files/groupB1.jpg

[turboXR]

The early 1980s saw a category created specifically for manufacturers who wanted to show off their engineering capabilities; Group B was born. The Group B rally supercars quickly evolved into 500+ horsepower, four-wheel-drive chest-thumping beasts with space frames, kevlar bodywork, and many other high-tech pieces. Extrapolated from a minimum series of 200 in basicly simmilar roadgoing cars. The group B cars reached a point where many wondered if the cars had reached a point where the drivers could not fully control them. For instance, the Lancia Delta S4 could accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 2.3 seconds on a gravel road. Henri Toivonen drove an S4 around Estoril, the Portuguese Grand Prix circuit, so quickly that he would have qualified sixth for the 1986 Portuguese Grand Prix. Nigel Mansell sampled a Peugeot 205 T16 and said it could out-accelerate his F1 car. And, perhaps most impressive (frightening?), the driver's reaction times were cut in half compared with previous rally cars. The Group B rally cars and their pilots were the stuff of which legends are made.

Food for thought courtesy this guy's site. (http://home.planet.nl/~koper193/groupb.html)

[turboXR]

The end of Group B
The pace of technology in Group B was astounding, but FISA was planning Group S. Group S was to be a class which would allow manufacturers to produce highly futuristic cars, and only ten copies would be required for homologation. However, the inevitable finally happened: during the 1986 Port Wine rally in Portugal, a Ford RS200 left the road on a spectator stage, killing three and injuring dozens; after the crash, all the works teams withdrew from the rally. But the final blow for Group B came on May 4, 1986.
Lancia's lead driver, Henri Toivonen, was dominating the 1986 championship and the Tour de Corse rally when his S4 left the road during a twisty tarmac stage. The car went off the edge of the road, hitting trees and rocks while sliding down a hillside. Toivonen and his navigator, Sergio Cresto, were killed. There were no witnesses to the crash, and the subsequent fire completely destroyed the car, leaving the remains unrecognizable as a vehicle. The heat from the fire was so intense that all that remained of the car was a blackened space frame. Group B and Group S were instantly cancelled for the 1987 season; Ford and Audi withdrew from Group B immediately. The other works teams decided to see the season out.



Too fast to race...again, courtesy this guy's site. (http://home.planet.nl/~koper193/groupb.html)

[StreetLethalCamaro]

I voted Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione because it had a v-8. B)

[Sam Granger]

Voted Lancia 037 Rallye - I love Lancia's!!!

[Mr. Inkswitch]

I gotta go with the Renault.