When you picture rally cars, you might imagine the Subaru WRX STI, Mitsubishi Lancer, or the Ford Focus. But back in the ’80s, things were a little faster and looser. Enter Group B Rally. Group B was nothing more than a set of rules and regulations that many fans would argue ushered in the golden age of rallying.

Lasting just four short years, Group B saw some of the fastest, most powerful, and most exotic cars to ever hit the dirt trails. Unlike Spider-Man, this much power didn’t come with much responsibility. Group B was plagued by crashes, accidents, deaths, and an utter lack of crowd control. Here’s a look at just why this iconic era of rallying has cemented itself as a legend.

10 Ferrari Muddied Its Fine Italian Loafers

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Ferrari and motorsport go hand in hand. But Enzo conquered concrete racetracks, not muddy back roads and forest trails. His cars seemed too beautiful for such a rough and tumble sport. But race car builders Michelotto Automobili threw those cautions to the wind, producing some incredible rally-ready Ferrari 308’s. Ferrari also saw the birth of one of their most iconic flagship vehicles during this era – the 288 GTO.

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The GTO was a homologation special made specifically to compete in Group B, but none of the 272 examples actually competed and remained purely as road cars. But that wasn’t the end of the 288. The car was evolved further into the 288 GTO Evoluzione. Ferrari once again planned to use it in Group B, but only 5 cars were ever produced. Styling and technology developed for the 288 Evo found their way into another Ferrari icon – the F40.

9 Rear-Wheel-Drive’s Last Stand

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All-Wheel-Drive has been around a long time. Audi certainly helped popularize it with their beastly Quattro, but ask nearly any enthusiast – Rear-Wheel-Drive is just so much more fun. Group B was pretty much the swansong for RWD in rallying – and companies like Lancia gave it a sendoff in the most spectacular fashion.

Alfa Romeo also got in on the action, with prototypes like the Alfasud Sprint 6c, which converted a front-engined Alfa Sprint to a mid-engined beast. It never reached production, but that’s okay because it led to the Giocattolo Group B, which saw a monstrous Holden V8 crammed under the rear hatch.

8 Lancia Created Perhaps The Most Beautiful Rally Car Of All Time

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Group B rally cars aren’t exactly known for their subtleties. Whether it be relocating the engine from the front to the rear, slapping on some motorsports-ready turbochargers, adding some wide and boxy flares, or just some massive aero pieces, Group B cars were obvious in their sporting intent. Less so was the Lancia 037. With cars like the Stratos and Integrale, you’d think they might be able to come up with a sexier name. Alas.

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The 037 had a large spoiler on the back and often featured rally lights on the front, but otherwise bore a close resemblance to its road-going variant, also called the 037. Paint one of those in that iconic Martini livery and you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s ready to tackle the beaten path.

7 Group B Retired The Best Woman In Rallying

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Michèle Mouton ought to be a name familiar to any fan of motorsport. She decimated the competition numerous times in an industry that saw little to no women involved and set some of her own records while doing it. Over the course of her career, Mouton formed a rivalry with Finnish racer Henri Toivonen. The two often found themselves neck and neck and shared a mutual respect for each other’s skills.

Unfortunately, during the 1986 Tour de Corse, Henri’s Group B spec Lancia Delta S4 was simply too powerful for the course. He found it exhausting to keep the 600hp car balanced – a concern shared by many other Group B racers. Sadly this mental and physical drain resulted in an accident that killed Henri. That same year, Group B was shut down and Mouton retired from rallying. Two years later, Mouton founded the Race of Champions in memory of Toivonen.

6 The Fans Were Just As Mad

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The cojones it takes to pilot race-spec supercars down a winding low-traction path full of blind corners and uneven terrain is quite significant. Now imagine standing directly in the path of that car, with nothing in the way except the air. Or maybe another spectator. Group B fans were just as insane as the cars and the drivers, putting themselves in the path of rally monsters just to get a glimpse or a photo.

5 Close Calls

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The sheer lunacy and fortitude of these fans is worth a second mention just to get another look. If running with the bulls in Spain is too tame for you, Group B was the place to be. The fans were certainly a hardy bunch.

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Often enduring inclement weather and hiking hours just for a quick glimpse of cars sliding around the dirty corner, often spraying them with rocks, dust, and dirt. Or sometimes getting struck by the car itself. They weren’t just spectators. They were part of the course itself.

4 BMW’s Troubled Supercar Got A Proper Sendoff

BMW M1
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The story of BMW’s M1 is enough of an adventure. The quick and dirty version – BMW partnered with Lamborghini to develop a production car suitable for racing. Work began, but Lamborghini’s financial future became quite uncertain, so BMW went in and took their project back from the Italians.

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The M1 was the first mid-engine car by the company and BMW M’s first road-going project. By the time the car was ready to race, rules had changed and it was no longer as competitive as it should have been. But BMW still pressed on, entering it into their on Procar M1 racing series, the 24 hours of LeMans, and of course Group B rallying.

In 1984, French rally driver Bernard Béguin drove a rally-spec M1 to multiple wins and a podium finish. The M1 went out on top, as BMW never campaigned the car again after Bernard’s wins.

3 It Birthed The Porsche 959

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Porsche’s most iconic car is the 911. But its most important is the 959. The car was meant for Group B racing. In fact, it was originally called the ‘Gruppe B.’ But development time was far too lengthy and Group B was canceled by the time the car arrived. Porsche did however hone the 959’s all-wheel-drive system which helped them take first place at the 1985 Paris-Dakar Rally.

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The 959 was Porsche’s most technologically advanced car – and was the world’s fastest production vehicle until the Ferrari F40 came along. While the 959 never made it to Group B, Porsche modified three units for the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally, where it finished 1st, 2nd, and 6th.

2 Audi’s Quattro Was King

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Possibly the most iconic all-wheel-drive system on earth. No other system’s name is so well known. Audi worked hard to make it so. The Sport Quattro S1 and S1 E2 were a force to be reckoned with in Group B.

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Rally Queen Michèle Mouton took home a world championship title behind the wheel of a Sport Quattro. She also went on to win the Pike’s Peak International Hill Climb in the Quattro, and set a record-breaking time while doing it. Early Sport Quattro rally cars made 444 horsepower. Towards the end of Group B’s lifespan, the Quattro was pumping out a monstrous 592 horsepower.

1 It Wasn’t Just A European Affair

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Group B rally was dominated by both European brands and European drivers. Scandinavian drivers, to be more exact. It does make some sense though. You grow up in the lands of ice and snow, it’s only natural you’d learn to traverse such conditions better than most of the world. But as for the cars, well, who knows. But despite being comparative outcasts, Japanese marques still made an impact.

Nissan and Toyota both saw developmental success in Group B. Sure, they didn’t get a podium finish, but both brands didn’t walk away empty-handed. The knowledge and experience earned led them to great success in later rallies.

NEXT: Rally Legend Walter Rohrl's Top Rally Cars