Top 10: Rally stars that became sales hits
Top 10: Rally stars that became sales hits

Top 10: Rally stars that became sales hits

A hundred years ago, motorsport was perceived by car manufacturers not only as an arena for proving the reliability of their products, but also as an effective advertising campaign. We all remember the phrase of Henry Ford – “We win on Sunday, we sell on Monday”. The new automotive history also knows quite a few examples when cars designed for rally became sales hits.

The 10 most successful sports cars for rally races

We won’t go far. With a world title, two wins out of three at this year’s WRC and one won by Welsh rising star Elfyn Evans, the Toyota Yaris WRC is a deserved winner. Okay, it’s up to teammate and six-time champion Sébastien Ogier here, but Evans is already being talked about as a championship contender. 

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And if it does, the 257-horsepower, all-wheel-drive GR Yaris could well be a hero to a new generation, just as the Ford Escort was to Roger Clark fans of the ’70s and the Subaru Impreza to rally fans of the ’90s, fascinated by the successes of Colin McRae and Richard Burns.

The company’s hopes for the GR Yaris were already huge, the fact that Toyota confirmed a starting price of $35,200 for the base version and $39,341 for the Circuit Pack, as close to a sports car as possible.ярис

And this is a good thing, because such cars boast much better performance for public roads than supercars, which cost ten times as much and, most importantly, are not much faster. Such versions, however, remain as practical as the hatchbacks and sedans on which they are based.

Perhaps this is the winning formula that has given us some great cars over the years. Here are some of our favorite best race cars of all time.

Mini Cooper S

mini cooper

John Cooper realized Mini’s potential after Roy Salvadori won an unofficial race at the Italian Grand Prix, beating star Reg Parnell in an Aston Martin DB4 with an early Mini Cooper prototype. It took a few years to realize this ability to destroy giants on the world stage.

But Paddy Hopkirk’s famous victory in the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964 and the subsequent victories of Timo Mäkinen and Rauno Aaltonen in 1965 and 1967 defined the reputation of Mini.

To everyone’s surprise, the car performed well on snow-covered mountain passes. The fact that anyone could get behind the wheel of the Mini Cooper S, the same car that won the rally, boosted sales.

Alpine A110 Berlinette

alpine a110

Alpine founder Jean Redele was a rally racer at heart, and although born and raised in Dieppe, he was so inspired by competition in the mountains that from the beginning he had a name for his car company. Although Alpine enjoyed success on the Le Mans circuit and elsewhere, the brand is forever associated with rallying, and the picture of the A110 Berlinette in metallic blue on the side between snowdrifts remains iconic. 

Anyone who buys a blue A110 road car back in the day would have done so given the reimagining of the classic look in the new A110. And that means the car now resonates with a whole new generation of fans, not just of the Alpine brand, but of motorsports in general.

Ford Escort RS1600

eskort rs 1600

The “Race on Sunday, Sale on Monday” thesis was announced in the mid-60s. Homologation rules stated that manufacturers had to turn in a decent number of equivalently modified road cars to qualify for racing. 

The creation of the Lotus-powered Escort Twin-Cam for racing and rallying was followed by the Cosworth-powered RS1600, the RS2000, and a long line of landmark special homologations. With their endlessly customizable engines and reinforced endurance bodies, these cars have since become an integral part of the British rally scene, and their road brothers have become race cars designed for a generation of rally fans.

Lotus Sunbeam

lotus talbot

The Ford Escort and the Abarth-prepared Fiat dominated the late ’70s and early ’80s, but the Lotus Sunbeam deserves special mention, not least for the iconic road-going versions that were inspired by the sports prototypes. 

It might have resembled today’s hot front-wheel-drive hatchbacks like the Mk1 Golf GTI, but the Sunbeam was actually more like an Escort: a driveshaft drove the rear wheels through a five-speed transmission. Lotus also disassembled the suspension, and the resulting package was another basis for a rally-racing version.

The Lotus Sunbeam differed externally from the simple assembly-line version only by the longitudinal molding, while the power and handling were enough to wipe the smile off any Escort driver’s face.

Audi Quattro

audi quattro

On road and rally tracks, the influence of the Audi Quattro is undeniable, the combination of turbocharging and all-wheel drive laying down a basic template for rally cars that has survived to this day. A favorite project of Ferdinand Piech, grandson of Ferdinand Porsche, creator of the 917 and Volkswagen until his death in 2019, the rally was the perfect way to demonstrate the value of the all-wheel drive Quattro to potential Audi buyers. 

The Quattro perfectly embodied Audi’s Vorsprung Durch Technik mantra, perfectly timed as it caught the transition to the legendary Group B era, and proved conclusively that technology is the path to world domination in both marketing and motorsport.

Lancia Delta Integrale

delta integrale

After the excesses of Group B, the transition to Group A rules meant that only cars that were based on production cars could be raced. A series was considered to be the production of at least 5,000 examples. This fact marked the beginning of the golden era of “civilian” rally cars available from the dealer.

With 46 WRC wins, six consecutive constructors’ titles, and four drivers’ championships, Delta Integrale dominated the early Group A era. With its distinctive design, the Integrale transformed the square Giugiaro hatchback into a formidable road car that looked just like a rally car.

From the wheel arches to the bucket seats to the Speedline Monte Carlo wheels, the car put owners in the skin of legendary drivers like Juha Kankkunen and Miki Bason and remains a compelling rally car for public roads.

Ford Escort RS Cosworth

escort

Ford’s long tradition of bringing special sports versions to market was reflected in the giant rear antifender Escort RS Cosworth, a car designed as an alternative to the Sierra Sapphire Cosworth the company was selling. Indeed, the turbocharged all-wheel-drive Sierra was shortened and installed in the Escort, a radical change from the front-wheel-drive transverse layout in the regular Escort. 

Of course, Ford had to make road cars to homologate the model, and even for such a promoted brand, it was an incredibly bombastic car in terms of power and road behavior. In any case, the road car was more successful than the rally version, which never made a noticeable impact, falling between the dominant Integrale and the growing popularity of Japanese cars.

Subaru Impreza

impresa

Before a certain Scotsman brought his blue Impreza to the 1995 World Rally Championship, Subaru was nothing more than a quirky brand that produced cars for farmers and villagers. The model became the basis for successful rally cars, and the partnership with McRae caused a sensation. Now everyone wanted an Impreza on gold wheels with a loud exhaust. 

While the sporty Escort became an integral part of the European sports-civil car market in the ’70s and ’80s, the Impreza filled that niche for a generation of rally fans in the ’90s and early 2000s. WRX versions with homologation specifications remained only for Japanese models, but that didn’t matter. Its compact size, four-wheel drive, amazing power and handling, and charismatic sound of the opposition engine were successfully introduced to the European market to create another motorsport icon.

Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution

lancer

The Subaru Impreza won the hearts of millions. But its nemesis, the Mitsubishi Lancer, was the one to triumph, a partnership with Tommy Mäkinen that brought four racing titles in the late ’90s and an unforgettable road car lineup. Unlike the Impreza, the Evo remained exotic on European roads, given that it remained a Japanese market car until the British Mitsubishi Ralliart team imported a limited edition Evo VI and marked a special Mäkinen version. 

Those who decided to buy this version in those days and were influenced by the extreme design paid the price with low engine life and frequent maintenance. But they were rewarded by getting the closest thing to a real race car ever sold, both in appearance and performance. Technology like Active Yaw Control, which the Evo used a quarter century ago, is only now beginning to be used on hot hatchbacks, demonstrating how far ahead of its time it is.

Peugeot 106 Rallye

peugeot 106

To demonstrate that not all post-rally cars need turbos, four-wheel drive and huge wheel arch covers, the Peugeot 106 Rallye proves that, in fact, less can be more. Designed to homologate the 106 for rallying in the 1300cc class, the Rallye used the injection engine from the 205, albeit extensively reworked. 

The Rallye isn’t as fast as other hot hatchbacks, but it makes up for it with filigree handling and classic drive. The Series 2 came with a more powerful 1.6-liter engine, but the Series 1 on authentic steel wheels is an icon for purists, and examples in good condition are valuable modern classics for collectors.

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