If RM Sotheby's caught your attention when it added
a pair of road-going Group B rally cars to its Villa Erba sale last month, you
should see what rival auction house Bonhams has consigned for Monterey later
this summer.
Bound to be one of the highlights of its sale at the
Quail Lodge in Carmel during the eponymous Motorsports Gathering, is a
collection of Group B rally machines from the 1970s and '80s – all from the
same single-owner collection, all offered without reserve, and hitting the
market for the first time in decades.
With Lancia having dominated the scene during that
era, it should come as no surprise that there are three of the Italian
automaker's gravel-churners present. There's a beautifully wedge-shaped 1975
Stratos HF Stradale, the a road-legal version of the machine that won the World
Rally Championship in 1974, '75, and '76, with 7,835 miles on the clock.
This gem is joined by a 1983 Lancia 037 Stradale,
the street counterpart to the last rear wheel-driven car to win the
championship before all-wheel drive took over for good. The road model employed
a supercharger instead of a turbo to improve response, with this highly
original example bearing just 9,342 km. Eager collectors will
also find a 1985 Delta S4 Stradale, twin-charged and looking sinister in black
with only 8,851 km logged.
Not into Lancias? There's a pair of mid-engined 1986
Ford RS2000s, two of only 200 made and one of them in even rarer Evolution
spec. As if those aren't enough, the collection also includes an Audi Sport
Quattro S1 and a Peugeot 205 T16, both from 1985, with the latter showing less
than 1,126 km.
They'll all be crossing the auction block on
Friday, August 18, where they're each sure to make some vintage rally
enthusiasts and collectors very happy indeed.
