1. The Audi Sport quattro was a short-wheelbase version of the regular car. One of them was piloted by the most successful female rally driver of all time – Michele Mouton.
2. Toyota built a RWD Celica Turbo Group B car that had a dry-sumped 2.1ltr engine with two spark plugs per cylinder. It’s not a well-known Group B car but did well in African rallies and won six events over the years.
3. Another lesser-known Group B car was the Mazda RX-7, which had a 300bhp normally aspirated rotary engine and managed a third place overall in the 1985 Acropolis Rally. But by 1986 the other Group B cars were so fast that the RX-7 wasn’t competitive anymore.
4. Citroen Group B cars were a bit strange. The Visa 1000 Piste was a 1.4ltr, 145bhp 4WD car, and their BX4TC was a turbo 4WD version of the normal BX, complete with an unusual pneumatic suspension setup. Guess what? They were both pretty shit.
5. Lancia’s first Group B car was the mid-engined, RWD, supercharged 037. That proved successful, and they introduced the awesome 4WD DeltaS4 in 1986, which featured an engine that was fitted with both a turbocharger and a supercharger.
6. The biggest transformation from standard car to Group B machine was the Metro 6R4. The name was derived from it having six cylinders, being rear-engined and having 4WD. The engine was also used in Jag Group C racers and the XJ220.
7. Ford produced the RS1700T, based on the Mk3 Escort and running a turbocharged RWD engine. But they scrapped the idea and built the mid-engined, 4WD RS200 Group B car, which was based on the same BDA engine.
8. Renault’s Group B entry was the mid-engined Renault 5 Turbo. Despite having a 1.4ltr 8V engine (1.6 in late models) the car was quite successful, especially in Tarmac events.
9. Porsche built a Group B twin-turbo 959, the first 4WD Porsche. It never actually competed in a Group B rally event, although it was successful in the Paris- Dakar Rally, with 959s finishing 1-2 in the 1986 event. The support car was a 928-engined Merc G-Wagen.
10. Group B was banned after a series of high-profile accidents claimed the lives of drivers and spectators, blamed on the high speeds and lax safety. The cars have since competed in rallycross and hill climbing events.
