Back in the mid-’80s world rally cars were a very different animal to those racing today. With only the loosest affiliation to their road-going counterparts, the racers of Group B took rallying (and then rally-cross, after they were banned from the WRC in 1987) to a whole new level or speed, and – unsurprisingly – risk. Formula 1 had mostly cleaned up its safety record by the mid-’80s, however Group B rallying ensured that professional motorsport continued to send people home in boxes.
A series of fatalities in 1986 prompted the FIA to act, and it was to be Group B’s last WRC season. The cars were not forgotten though, with many transferring to rally-cross, whilst Peugeot updated their monstrous 205 T16 to run in the Paris-Dakar rally, winning in ’87. ’89 and ’90.
Previous bloggee and Technic legend Nico71 hasn’t forgotten either, paying homage to the insanity of Group B with his latest creation, this superb Technic Group B rally car. Based on no particular model Nico’s model looks a bit like an Opel Astra to us (if Opel has created a Group B challenger), and it’s packed with mechanical Technic functions. These include a mid-mounted V6 engine, all-wheel-drive with three differentials, working steering both by the wheel and Hand-of-God, opening doors and rear engine bodywork, and fully independent suspension on all wheels.
As the time of writing Nico’s latest build isn’t on Brickshelf or the other main creation-sharing websites (big points for the Elf that found it!), but you can see all the details, a huge gallery of high quality images, and access instructions to build this model yourself at Nico’s own website. Click the link above to head to a forest in 1985.
