Rally is one of the most exciting forms of motorsport. Some of the bravest drivers manhandle their vehicles through snow, mud, tarmac, dirt, and gravel with speed and precision. It was also one of the most popular motorsports, it was even more popular than Formula 1 when the crazy Group B rally cars were around.

While today's rally events are dominated by hot hatches with AWD like the Toyota Yaris GR, it wasn’t always like this. There was a time in history when even supercars were a common sight in mud and snow, ripping it up and doing powerslides through the spectators and trees or sand dunes. These sports cars are the most unique yet awesome rally cars ever.

Related: Here's Why Colin McRae Was Rally's Most Fearless Driver

8 Citroën BX 4TC

Via: Artcurial

Citroën BX 4TC was Citroën's foray into the infamous Group B madness. While the base car was a hot hatch, 4TC barely resembled the street-going BX. Citroën took the BX chassis, stretched the hood to house a modified Simca-Chrysler 180 engine. The turbocharged 2.2-liter inline-4 engine produced 380 horsepower. The car had 4-wheel-drive and Citroën’s own hydropneumatic suspension.

Via: Artcurial

The BX 4TC was problematic, to say the least. The hydropneumatic suspension offered a smooth ride for the road-going BX but made the rally car heavier than the competition. The engine was producing less power than the competition. Also, it was mounted so far forward that it made the 4TC very front heavy. On top of that, the car had no central differential. This made for an unbalanced and tricky drive. The Citroën BX 4TC only raced in 3 races, and its best finish was a 6th place. After the humiliation, Citroën resigned from the races. Today, 4TC is known as the car that Citroën tried to delete from history. While this car couldn’t keep up with the best, it was a compelling and awesome car.

7 Rolls-Royce Cullinan

Rolls-Royce Cullinan is one of the best luxury crossover SUVs on the market. Being a Rolls, the car has comfort options galore, like heated and massage seats, air suspension, heated steering wheel, and much more. It’s hard to imagine a Rolls-Royce scaling sand dunes and crawling rocks. Luckily, you don’t have to imagine. Yes, it's as far as it can get from a no-frills rally car. Yet, Rolls-Royce thought otherwise.

Via: Rolls-Royce Motor Co.

They sent a stock Cullinan to race at the 2019 Rebelle Rally. An all-female, off-road navigational rally with some grueling landscape. It takes 8 days and tests the limits of both women and the machine. Endurance is key in a race like this and Cullinan made it a little bit easier to endure. In the end, Rolls-Royce Cullinan won the crossover SUV class comfortably.

6 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow

Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow in 1970 Daily Mirror World Cup Rally
Via: Tumblr

As impressive as Cullinan’s victory was, this Rolls’ story is a little bit more interesting. In 1970, Daily Mirror organized one of the toughest, most grueling races of all time. Named “The World Cup Rally”, the event was entered by 96 cars. It was a 16.000-mile race taking 16 days, from London to Mexico, passing 25 countries and some of the hardest terrain imaginable. One of the cars was a Silver Shadow, modified by rally champion Englishman Bill Bengry.

A rally-modded Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow
Via: Historic Marathon Rally Group/Guido Devreker

At first, Rolls-Royce was not happy and didn't want to do anything with it. But as the race day came closer, they helped the team prepare the car for the adventure ahead. They also gave parts support and silently helped them throughout the race. While the Shadow was forced to retire in Brazil, the team managed to mend the car and saw the finish line.

5 Ferrari 308 GTB

A Ferrari Rally Car, 308 GTB
Via: RM Sotheby's

Since the brand’s inception, Ferrari has been a household name, mainly because of racing success. But one area of racing has historically lacked Ferrari magic: Rally. While they supplied engines and parts to another Fiat Group brand, Lancia, Ferrari wasn’t keen on running their cars on dirt.

Ferrari Rally Car
Via: Bonhams

This didn’t stop Michelotto. They were a Ferrari Dealer and race prep workshop. They contacted Maranello about the Ferrari rally car and got their blessing. Ferrari supplied Michelotto with engines and chassis. A total of 11 cars were built and raced in Group 4 and Group B. This car enjoyed moderate success and came second in the 1982 Tour de Corse. This is the only WRC podium in the marque’s storied racing history.

Related: 10 Mainstream Cars You Didn't Know Had Rally Heritage

4 Datsun 240Z

Nissan's Fairlady 240Z Rally Car
Via: Nissan

The Datsun 240Z is one of the most iconic Japanese cars of all time. This car has hit the SCCA races and swept the tracks and left a bunch of cars in its dust. It was both a commercial and a road-racing success. But most don't know that 240Z has a legit rally heritage, a very good one.

Nissan/Datsun Fairlady 240Z Rally Car
Via: Nissan

Even though it looked like a fragile Jaguar, this car wasn’t afraid of a little bit of snow, ice, and mud. In 1971, the car won the 1971 Safari Rally and in 1972 came third overall in Monte Carlo amid snow and ice. The co-driver was Jean Todt, yes, the President of the FIA. In 1973, a Nissan 240Z won the Safari Rally again, this time the race was a WRC race, and it became the first Japanese car to win a WRC race.

3 BMW M1

BMW M1 Rally Trim
Via: 17qq

BMW M1 was BMW’s halo car. It was at the bleeding edge of what a car can do during its production. The car had an interesting production run, but BMW managed to build sufficient numbers of M1s to homologate it for Group 4 because they wanted to race in very popular Group 5 Endurance races.

BMW M1 Rally Trim
Via: 17qq

While the car wasn’t made to be a rally car, BMW France had an idea. Most of the rallies in France were on tarmac. They thought that they could get in on the growing popularity of rally racing. French racing team Orace was in charge of running them. The engine was modified to 430 horsepower and BMW M1s went rally racing. While the car was more powerful than the competition, the reliability and the car’s huge size were the big issues. The car failed to give the BMW results they were after, and they dropped the program in 1984.

2 Mazda RX-7

Mazda RX 7 Rally Car
Via: RM Sotheby's

When Mazda seized the production of RX-7, it left a rotary shaped hole in car enthusiasts’ heart. This car was a very successful racer in a lot of different motorsport categories. Interestingly, Mazda Rally Team Europa wanted to rally with the rotary-powered RWD car. This is especially odd because recent developments showed that 4WD systems were almost necessary to be successful in rallying.

Mazda RX 7 Rally Car
Via: RM Sotheby's

Nevertheless, MRTE got on with the project. They didn’t have much backing from Japan and had to fabricate most of their own parts like the rear spoiler. The suspension got upgraded. Mazda’s stock rotary engine, the 13B, produced 300 horsepower, and the car was RWD. The RX-7 even got a podium finish during its run between 1984 and 1986.

Related:10 Coolest Cars That Have Dominated The Dakar Rally

1 Porsche 959

Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar Rally
Via: Porsche

Thanks to Group B, the rally was more popular than ever. WRC was even more popular than Formula 1 and people all around the world were glued to their television screens, observing the history being made. Porsche wanted to capitalize on Group B’s popularity. The German manufacturer took a 911 and modified it to be a test mule at first. They raced the three test vehicles on the 1985 Paris-Dakar rally. While the cars couldn’t finish the race, Porsche was impressed and greenlit further development.

Porsche 959 Paris-Dakar Rally
Via: RM Sotheby's

They couldn’t homologate the cars for the 1986 season. The cars needed to be raced somewhere. Porsche decided to go with Dakar again, as they didn’t need homologation for the race. The new and improved 959 was equipped with a twin turbo, 2.8-liter flat-six engine that produces 400 horsepower. The car put all those horses to the ground with the help of a sophisticated, electronically controlled AWD system. Porsche 959s finished the event first and second.

Next: Ranking The 10 Greatest Rally Cars Of All Time