1983 Audi Quattro A2 Works Rally Car

Having made a stunning rally debut in October 1980 by running their as-yet unhomologated Quattro as a “course car” in the Algarve Rally, when Hannu Mikkola set fastest time on 24 out of 30 stages, Audi quickly came to dominate the rallying scene with their four-wheel driven flyer. And when the rally classes were changed in 1983, Audi appeared to handle the change from Group 4 to Group B adroitly, though of course things were more complicated than they appeared on the surface. While their four-wheel drive made a new restriction on the maximum width of wheels less onerous than on two wheel driven cars, the 2,144 cc swept volume of their turbocharged five-cylinder engines put the Quattros into the 3-liter class by just 1 cc when multiplied by the turbo factor of 1.4.

This put the Quattros at a disadvantage compared with their lighter two-wheel drive Lancia rivals, so it was a remarkable achievement when Audi works driver Hannu Mikkola succeeded in winning...