It would appear that pleasure and discomfort can coexist. Having threaded your way past the rollcage, fallen into the race seat and wrestled the harness into submission, it's time to fire up. It's steamily hot in here, your forehead beading with sweat as you pump the throttle and turn the key. And nothing. And again. And nothing. Finally, reluctantly, the very first car ever homologated for Group B rallying coughs into life. It's loud, naturally, and each flex of the accelerator ushers in more fanfare. It sounds startlingly exuberant, if only to the onlookers who had stopped to take in the scenic vistas of the Iberian Peninsula but now have their backs to them. Smile for the cameras.
Righty-ho, slot the lever into gear. Okay, try again because it's a mite gristly... And we're in. Ease off the clutch, give it some gas and off we go, off-piste, kicking up dust between the trees. There's some residual compliance in the suspension - but then it is a Citroën, with all that entails. Even so, it's getting busy in here, but boy is it fun. The Visa Trophée is communicative beyond merely being vocal, although 'fidgety' is perhaps closer to the truth. What is conspicuously absent is the sort of speed normally associated with Group B. In the mind's eye, this was the knife-fight-rules era of rallying, the mere mention of it conjuring images of bestial, mid-engined monsters teetering on the brink of oblivion.
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Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring
