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Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

(Bloomberg) -- Maybe you heard about the ugly little coupe worth million: the Lancia Delta S4 Stradale that dominated the famously hairball Group B rally series in the 1980s.  We drove and wrote about one owned by artist Phillip Toledano earlier this month.

Maybe you took umbrage that we called it ugly. If you were one of those who did, you’re not alone. The weird, little cars made to contest the heretofore champion Audi Sport Quattros of the Group B rallies have attracted legions of fans of late. They range from all sides of the automotive spectrum, from youngish collectors obsessed with documenting their odd, ’80s style (#integrale, #lanciadelta) to established older enthusiasts looking to diversify their collections beyond racing Ferraris and Porsche 911 Turbos. 

Devotees who love the plucky Lancia for its buzzsaw sound and insane torque over unpredictable surfaces are also likely to follow the other obscure Group B models that gave Audi and Lancia chase until the banzai, off-road European race series ended abruptly in 1986. The races fielded small (fewer than 200) batches of special cars that were then further fine-tuned to advance technology and performance. And now a gaggle of them is coming up for auction Aug. 17 during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

Gooding & Co. will sell a 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale; a 1984 Peugeot 205 T16; a 1986 MG Metro 6R4; and a 1986 Citroen BX 4TC, all owned by a single collector, Elad Shraga, who spent years amassing them. A well-known enthusiast and frequent rally-entrant himself, Shraga has been known to collect everything from Alfa Romeos from the 1950s to such rarities as the 1949 Osca MT Siluro.   

Each of these four Group B cars boast the kind of low mileage and almost total preservation—with virtually no restoration work done and original components—that translates into six- and seven-figure price tags. Each represents the final entries from an already very low production run, an extreme rarity belying its odd-duck cosmetics. 

“These are the types of cars that really catch people’s eye,” says Jonathan Klinger, the spokesman for Hagarty, a firm that insures rare and collectible cars. “People who have been passionate about following them know about them, but there are an awful lot of people who haven’t even seen one of these types of cars live.”

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

For those already obsessed with the punishing Group B story, they represent a holy grail find. For discerning collectors looking to inject their collections with a few oddities, they offer instant status.

“There’s an increasing recognition that Group B was a really significant moment in motorsport; it’s certainly a trend,” says Angus Dykman, the automotive specialist for Gooding & Co. “This was a very tight time period where there was essentially no regulation, and that allowed for incredible technological advancement and innovation. Nothing was like that era before, and nothing has been like that since.”

Before reading further, Google Walter Roehrl sliding sideways in an Audi Sport Quattro in a Group B race, winking out the window at you while his co-pilot yells directions, as they fly blindly forward in a slow-motion symphony of rock chips and physical courage. You’ll get the idea.

Here’s a look at what’s on offer.

The Forerunner

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

The Delta S4’s lightweight kevlar body, which flips open like a clamshell, may look odd, but with its four-cylinder engine and thrust-y transmission, it earned Lancia the record for the biggest number of world rally championship victories of any automaker.  

The S4 was very advanced for its time, offering both a supercharger and a turbocharger under the hood, which meant it was never “off boost.” That meant no turbo lag: Drivers can access immediate and intoxicating engine power at all times as soon as they punch the gas.  

But all the racing success and the singular design came with a cost: A horrible crash at the 1986 Tour de Corse caused the car to combust, killing both pilot Henri Toivonen and co-driver Sergio Cresto. (The gas tanks were located directly under the seats, which spells instant disaster upon contact.) It certainly spelled the end of Group B racing, which was cancelled on account of the inherent danger.

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

That hasn’t dampened fervor for what is currently the most popular of the Group B cars. In April, RM Sothebys sold a 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale for $1,172,000. Last year, Bonhams sold one for $432,000. 

Shraga’s 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale for sale in August has fewer than 2,500 kilometers (1,553 miles) on the odometer, dating  from its first drive. It is one of four finished in the color combination of silver with red interior. Estimate: $600,000 to $700,000. 

“Most of the Lancias are red, so if you find them in any other color, it’s very rare,” Dykman says. “It also has these special wheels, which you don’t really see on the other cars: magnesium wheels made by Speedline. And the overall condition of this car is really, really remarkable. It still has the yellow inspection markings on the suspension, which is a sign of just how original it is.”

The Champion

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

Peugeot made its tiny 205 T16 from 1983 to 1998, but it was the earlier models, such as this one from 1984, that got the most notoriety in racing. Fans call them “hot-hatches,” and they were a bit of a Frankenstein car once Peugeot made them suitable for racing.

The “T16” stands for “turbo 16,” as you might imagine, while the gearbox came from the Citroen SM; a French company called Heuliez built the body. The standard 197-horsepower engine was tuned to 500-plus horsepower in the racing versions, paired with a five-speed manual transmission and all-wheel-drive. Then the whole thing was finished and refined for competition, including a gray metallic paint job, in conjunction with a company called Talbot. The final results were so good that Peugeot ended up winning the 1985 and 1986 Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles with then-famous drivers Timo Salonen and Juha Kankkunen racing against the best from Audi’s Quattro Sport, Lancia’s S4, and even Ford’s RS200.

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

All told, the Peugeot T16 earned 16 wins in Group B racing, from 28 starts, making it the single most successful Group B model ever raced.

Their prices have been in the mid-six figures for years: In 2014, RM sold the 117th 205 T16 built for £156,800 ($200,000); last year, RM sold one at its Amelia Island auction for $156,800. This one in particular is “exceptionally well-preserved,” according to Gooding, and has fewer than 12,000 km on the engine, thanks to the 25 years it spent in a private racing museum in Northern Italy. At Pebble Beach this summer, it will list for an estimated $200,000 to $250,000. 

The Oddball

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

The MG Metro 6R4 had lackluster racing success, scoring a third-place finish in the Lombard RAC Rally in November 1985 and growing pains in subsequent races as the team struggled to refine its novel engine configuration. But it remains deserving of inclusion in the Group B class to this day. Look to the name of the MG Metro 6R4 to figure out its specs: It’s a 6-cylinder, rear engine, four-wheel-drive car in white, built together with Williams GP Engineering, a company that at the time represented the pinnacle of Formula 1 success.

“It’s an oddball, interesting, off-piste car that this particular example is one of the very, very few that were never raced—and it’s unrestored,” Dykman says.

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

Needless to say, it was miles away from the MG Metro city car with which it shared a name, because of its impressive performance. And it is the only of the group being sold that did not use a turbo but rather a naturally aspirated, larger, six-cylinder engine good enough for a 60 mph sprint time of 3 seconds.

Prices vary, though one specimen with just seven miles on it will go on the auction block at the Silverstone Classic sale on July 27 in England, with estimates of $250,000 and $300,000. According to Gooding & Co., this one from 1986 slated for Pebble Beach has just over 2,000 miles on the engine and was formerly part of a well-known collection of rally cars based in Europe. Estimate: $175,000 to $225,000. 

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

The Understudy

The Citroën BX 4TC was Citroën’s first and best effort to jump into the Group B races. A rally-style BX, it had an elongated nose (the French call it “Cyrano de Bergerac”) and engine mounted sideways in order to fit. Like the MG Metro, it was nowhere near as successful as the Lancia or Audi Group B cars, with its best being a sixth-place finish in the 1986 Swedish Rally.

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

But its poor performance has actually made the car super-rare and desirable for the kind of collectors who love these quirky coupes: When it first debuted, Citroën sold a paltry 62 and then had to recall most of them because of build quality and reliability problems. The ones recalled were used for salvage or destroyed altogether.

Now, with a fraction of the original 200 still in existence, the 4TC is elusive and prized—and priced far lower than its Group B siblings while growing in value. It could be a smart buy for a vehicle set to gain prestige over time.

“It took about three years to find that car,” Dykman says. “There’s more of a following for the other cars, but for someone looking for an inside-baseball play, the Citroën is really interesting. They’re actually an incredible value play within the Group B arena.”

Group B Rally Cars Will Be Unsung Heroes at Pebble Beach Auction

In 2005, Bonhams sold one still unregistered for just $16,903. In 2017, one took $72,000 at the Retromobile auctions in Paris.

According to Gooding & Co., this 1986 Citroen BX 4TC to be sold at Pebble Beach is an almost entirely original car and likely the most pristine of the fewer than 35 examples remaining. It will list for an estimated $80,000 to $110,000. As with the Lancia, Peugeot, and MG, it stands to indicate just how covetable these rally cars have become.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chris Rovzar at crovzar@bloomberg.net, Justin Ocean

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