THE RALLY SHOW AT CHATSWORTH: ONE OF THE FINEST COLLECTIONS OF AUDI QUATTROS EVER ASSEMBLED
The Rally Show at Chatsworth, which takes place on the 5th to 6th June, has gathered together a startling array of Audi quattros to celebrate the German car’s 30th anniversary.
It was in March 1980 that Audi created a sensation by revealing their mould-breaking quattro at the Geneva Motor Show. With a turbocharged five-cylinder engine and permanent four-wheel drive, it took the world by surprise. That was even more so when executives of the company revealed that this gorgeous looking car, as far removed from current expectations of a four-wheel drive vehicle as one could imagine, was going to compete in the World Rally Championship of 1981.
When it did so, it was a sensation winning the Manufacturers title in 1982 and with Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist winning the Drivers title in 1983 and 1984 respectively. If that was not enough, Michèle Mouton used a quattro to rocket into the record books by becoming the first lady driver to win a WRC event on the San Remo of 1981. To show that it was no fluke, she went on the win three more in 1982 – the Portuguese, Acropolis and Brazil rallies – while in 1985 she amazed the Americans by winning the legendary Pike’s Peak hill climb outright in a Sport quattro S1.
Throughout the Rally Show, there will be an Audi quattro presence with various examples appearing in a dedicated demonstration each day while many private owners will drive their cars in the various events and stage sessions that comprise a major part of the Show. And on the Sunday, the quattro Owner’s Club will bring their cars out onto the 1.2 mile special stage to take part in a cavalcade as a tribute to one of the iconic cars of the last part of the Twentieth Century.
For further details of the Rally Show at Chatsworth, visit the website : www.therallyshow.org or contact the office – Tel : 01189 710424.
Audi quattros set to appear at The Rally Show:
Group 4 quattro Coupé, 1981
Hannu Mikkola first used this long wheelbase quattro as a recce car with a standard engine. After conversion to a rally car in private hands, it was acquired by Edmund Peel in 1995 and rebuilt recently into full Group 4 300 bhp specification by Tuthills.
Group 4 quattro Coupé, 1982
Works car driven by Hannu Mikkola to win the Mintex and Scottish rallies and Björn Waldegård the Welsh Rally in 1982. Used by Malcolm Wilson to finish tenth on the 1982 RAC Rally and then sold to Darryl Weidner who used it to win the 1983 British National Championship. Now back in the care of Audi UK.
Sport quattro S1, 1984
Works car first used by Hannu Mikkola on the 1000 Lakes and then by Stig Blomqvist on San Remo, both times retiring. Michèle Mouton drove it on the RAC Rally of 1984 and finished fourth and Dermott Simpson has had it fully restored in the livery from that event.
Sport quattro S1, 1984
As well as owning the original car, has a replica built using many original works parts but incorporating items such as Proflex dampers and a Motec engine system. This car has been created in the livery of the original as Blomqvist drove it in San Remo 1984.
Sport quattro S1, 1985
Works car built by Audi Sport and loaned to Saeed Khalfan in the UAE who drove it to tenth place on the 1987 Dubai Rally. The car came back to Germany and was then sold to famous American collector, Manfred Lippmann, and wound up in a Las Vegas museum from where Gary Midwinter bought it and restored it into the livery of Walter Röhrl’s Monte Carlo rally car of 1985.
Sport quattro S1, 1986
Works car built especially for Hannu Mikkola to contest the 1986 British Rally Championship. Mikkola did the first three events before the Group B problems caused Audi to pull out of rallying. But he won the National Breakdown and the Welsh rallies with this car before that happened. Currently owned by Steve Perez.
Sport quattro E2, 1985
Works car, one of the exotic second evolution Sport quattros first driven by Stig Blomqvist to second place on the 1985 1000 Lakes Rally and then used by him to win a Rallysprint in Sweden. It was then entered on the 1985 RAC Rally for Walter Röhrl who had a spectacular accident in Wales. Since then restored and owned by Audi UK.
Sport quattro E2, 1985
When Walter Röhrl won the San Remo Rally in 1985, the Sport quattro E2’s only WRC win, the car is believed to have been stolen shortly afterwards and has disappeared. This almost perfect replica was created by Gary Midwinter and is a regular performer at international demonstrations of rally cars.
Audi quattro – The Official Story
Via | RallyBuzz
