Rally History Archive

The rear-engined Alpine A110 1600 was the lightweight foundation of Alpine-Renault's 1973 inaugural WRC manufacturers' title. Championship works cars included 1.8-litre evolutions, which must be distinguished from the original 1,565 cc homologation.

BMW's front-engined, rear-drive 2002 rallied in distinct ti and fuel-injected tii forms, with Achim Warmbold/Jean Todt winning the 1973 Austrian Alpine WRC round in a Group 2 2002 tii. The 170-hp road 2002 turbo was a separate late-1973 model.

The Datsun 160J / Nissan Violet name covers more than one rear-drive generation. The 1979 Safari-winning PA10 160J of Shekhar Mehta/Mike Doughty was a Group 2, 1,952 cc L20B SOHC car, not the later 1981–82 Group 4 DOHC Violet GT.

The Abarth/Bertone-developed Fiat 131 Abarth Rally won WRC manufacturers' titles in 1977 and 1978 during this decade, plus a third in 1980. Markku Alén/Ilkka Kivimäki won on the car's 1976 Finland debut and Alén earned the 1978 FIA Cup for Rally Drivers—not a 1978 WRC drivers' title.

Ford's Mk1 Escort RS1600 introduced a 1,601 cc Cosworth BDA-based rear-drive Group 2 rally platform in 1970. Mikkola/Palm won the 1972 Safari before the WRC existed; Mäkinen/Liddon won Finland and RAC in 1973, including a Ford one-two-three on the RAC.

The rear-drive Hillman/Chrysler Avenger won the 1976 Heatway Rally of New Zealand with Andrew Cowan and Jim Scott. That was an international rally victory before the event joined the WRC, not a world-championship round win; the winning car used a specially prepared 1.8-litre engine.

The Lancia Beta Montecarlo was a 1,994 cc mid-engined rear-drive road car with a 1976 Group 3 homologation. Its 1979 Group 5 Turbo breakthrough belonged to circuit racing; later 1980–81 endurance titles and the 1983 037 rally title must not be counted as 1970s Montecarlo WRC wins.

The front-drive, narrow-angle V4 Lancia Fulvia Coupé 1.6 HF won Monte Carlo in 1972 with Sandro Munari/Mario Mannucci and helped Lancia secure the final International Championship for Manufacturers. These honours predate the WRC, established in 1973.

Lancia's purpose-built Ferrari-V6 Stratos HF received Group 4 homologation in October 1974 and won WRC manufacturers' titles in 1974, 1975 and 1976. Munari's 1977 FIA Cup for Rally Drivers and Chardonnet's private 1979 Monte Carlo win are separate, later achievements.

The 1,598 cc, 148-PS works Mitsubishi Lancer 1600 GSR earned Mitsubishi's first WRC round win at Safari 1974 with privateer Joginder Singh/David Doig, then swept the 1976 Safari podium. Cowan's 1977 Bandama victory was outside the WRC.

The rear-wheel-drive Opel Ascona A made Walter Röhrl/Jochen Berger 1974 European Rally champions and secured Opel's first WRC round win at the 1975 Acropolis. The later Ascona B shared the basic layout, but the Group B Ascona 400 was a separate 1980s car.

Peugeot's PRV-powered 504 V6 Coupé won the 1976 Bandama Rally with Timo Mäkinen/Henry Liddon before it was a WRC event, then took both the 1978 WRC Safari and Ivory Coast rounds with Jean-Pierre Nicolas and different co-drivers.

Porsche's 1973 911 Carrera RS 2.7 was a 2,687 cc, 210-hp rear-engine homologation basis for rallying and endurance racing. Jean-Pierre Nicolas won the 1978 Monte Carlo in a later Carrera RS 3.0/Alméras-built 911, not a stock 2.7 RS.

The front-drive Renault 17 Gordini delivered Renault's first WRC round win in the 1974 Press-on-Regardless Rally with Jean-Luc Thérier/Christian Delferrier. Their special 1,774 cc twin-cam 16-valve works engine was not the 1,605 cc road/FIA baseline.

The front-drive Saab 96 V4 won the 1971 and 1972 pre-WRC Swedish Rallies with Stig Blomqvist/Arne Hertz, then the 1973 WRC Sweden with the same crew. In 1976 Per Eklund/Björn Cederberg led a Saab 96 V4 one-two in its final official world-round appearance.

Ove Andersson/Geraint Phillips finished ninth in a rear-drive Toyota Celica 1600 GT on the pre-WRC 1972 RAC Rally, founding Toyota's European rally programme. Toyota Team Europe's first WRC victory in 1975 came in a Corolla, not a Celica; an evolved Celica scored a 1979 Portugal podium.

British Leyland's Rover-V8-powered TR7 rally car was homologated as the Group 4 Triumph TR8 in April 1978. Tony Pond/Fred Gallagher won the 1978 Ypres and Manx international rallies and finished fourth in the WRC RAC, without an outright WRC event win.

The rear-drive 2,279 cc Vauxhall Chevette HS won the 1979 British Open Rally drivers' championship with Pentti Airikkala/Risto Virtanen and earned third on the Swedish WRC round. The extensively reworked HSR was a 1980 evolution, not the 1979 title-winning car.

The rear-wheel-drive 1,962 cc Alfa Romeo 2000 GT Veloce had distinct FIA Group 2 (1971) and Group 1 (1972) homologations. Gérard Larrousse placed 19th in a Group 1 2000 GTV at Monte Carlo 1973; factory GTA/GTAm titles should not be attributed to it.