While
walking through one of the halls at the recent Essen Motor Show I was very
surprised to see a bunch of rally cars from yester year. They were part of a
display that celebrated 100 years of the Monte Carlo Rally. The Motor Show had
selected a few cars that won the rally in
its 100 years of existence. I've made a small selection of the cars present
beginning with this Subaru Impreza.
The Subaru on display was oddly enough not the one that won the 1997 Monte Carlo Rally. The car you see here was the one driven by Colin McRae together with his then new co-pilot Nicky Grist. The rally was won by McRae's team mate Piero Liatti and co-driver Fabrizia Pons.
Porsche
also has a rich history with the Monte Carlo Rally. This is the Porsche 911 S
that won the 1970 Rally with Björn Waldegaard behind the wheel and Lars Helmer
calling the notes.
I really
loved the super wide Fuchs wheels with the dish. The engine powering the wheels
was a 2.2 liter six cylinder boxer engine with 230PS.
My all time
favorite rally car has to be this monster Audi Quattro. The Audi
Quattro A2 won the rally in 1984 with Walter Röhrl and navigator Christian
Geistdörfer. Before switching to Audi, Rörhl and Geistdorfer won the Monte Carlo
Rally in a Lancia 037 (1983), an Opel Ascona 400 (1982) and in a Fiat 131 Abarth
(1980).
This
example is the S1 that won the 1985 San Remo Rally. The actual Quattro A2 is
less extreme and looked more like the production version than the S1.
Martini and
the Lancia Delta are engraved into a lot of memories including mine. This is
the actual car that won the 1987 Monte Carlo Rally.
It was
driven by Massimo Biasion together with co-driver Tiziano Siviero. In the 1987 World
Championship Lancia would win seven of the eleven rounds. It wasn't Biasion
that won the WRC title that year but his team mate Juha Kankkunen. The next year they
repeated the feat but this time it was Biasion that clinched the victory
because Kankkunen went to Toyota at the end of 1987.
The famous
Tommi Mäkinen won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1999 with Risto Mannisenmäki as his
co-driver.
In 1999
Mitsubishi also released a special road going version of the Evo VI aptly named
the Tommi Mäkinen Edition.
There is no
denying that Sébastien Loeb is dominating the WRC since 2004. This is the car
in which he started his reign, the Citroën Xsara that won the Monte Carlo Rally in 2005.
Loeb managed to grab three consecutive Drivers Championship titles from 2004 to
2006 in the Xsara.
In 2007 it
was replaced by the C4 and again Loeb dominated the WRC and has continued to do so since.
When I hear
or see the name Ari Vatanen I always remember the movie ‘Climb Dance' in which
you see him take on the famous Pikes Peak Hillclimb. He won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1985 in this Peugeot 205 T16.
These cars
were powered using a mid engined four wheel drive layout. Imagine hearing
that screaming engine right behind you while you make your way through treacherous
corners on loose surfaces.
The last
car that won the Monte Carlo Rally was Bryan Bouffier and co-driver Xavier Panseri
in this Peugeot 207 S2000.
Last but
not least is of course the Mini that won the Rally in 1967. Who doesn't
remember the black and white photos of this little car that could.
-Jeroen
Willemsen