Group B

To this day, many fans still consider Group B to be the epitome of madness on wheels. Never since that era have engineers had such enormous freedom to create extreme rally cars as they did during that fantastic period of the early 1980s. This book tells the story of all the cars developed within Group B, from the Quattros to the outstanding Lancias and Peugeots and to the exotic sports cars from Porsche and Mazda. But all the technical development came to a head in the year 1986, when the euphoria somehow turned into an ungovernable risk. The mischief of engineers, rally organisers, motor sport politicians and fans led to tragic accidents that finally resulted in Group B cars being banned from international rallies. John Davenport, rally-journalist and author of several books on rallying, experienced this era first-hand, as he was Motorsport Director of Austin Rover at the time. His comprehensive knowledge takes the reader on a journey into the fascinating world of these hi-tech rally cars and offers an authoritative insight into the power struggles going on behind the scenes. The book is filled with photographs from the archive of well known rally-photographer Reinhard Klein. They show to best effect the technical details of the cars, the slightly crazy ambiance of the time as well as plenty of action from the special stages. Post-war international rallying has been in a state of almost constant evolution for the last seventy years. The cars have changed as have the rallies and the crews that contest them. This process has been catalogued in a series of books from McKlein under the titles “Group 2 – the Genesis of World Rallying”, “Group 4 – from Stratos to Quattro” and “Group A – When rallying created Road Car Icons – 1987-1996”. These volumes cover a period from 1946 to 1996.