Empire, revolution and empire again, with the same geography underneath.
The Lancia Fulvia Coupé is a 1965 front-wheel-drive compact sports saloon designed by Piero Castagnero. It was built alongside the Antonio Fessia–designed Berlina, sharing no components with the outgoing Appia. It launched as part of a three-variant line — Berlina, Coupé, and Zagato Sport — all named after the Via Fulvia and debuted at the 1963 Geneva Motor Show.
The 1965 Shelby Mustang GT350 is a race-focused fastback built by Shelby American. It uses a modified 289 cu in V8. It wins SCCA B-Production for three years. It abandons comfort entirely. After 1967, Shelby’s involvement ends and Ford reduces later models to styling upgrades.
The Lancia Montecarlo is a two-seater sports car manufactured and marketed by Lancia in Italy from 1975 to 1981. Designed by Paolo Martin at Pininfarina, it features a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and was developed from the Fiat X1/8 project. Both series were offered in Coupé and Spider bodystyles. Total production reached 7,798 units between 1974 and 1982, including 220 competition models (Lancia 037).
The Lancia Delta HF is a Group A rally car built by Lancia for Martini Lancia to compete in the World Rally Championship from 1987 to 1993. Based on the Lancia Delta road car and replacing the Delta S4, it featured a front-mounted two-litre turbocharged engine and four-wheel-drive. It evolved through four versions and achieved extraordinary success: 46 WRC victories and six consecutive manufacturers’ titles (1987–1992), the most in WRC history.
The Porsche 550 is a mid-engine racing sports car built by Porsche from 1953 to 1956. Only 90 were made. It used an air-cooled 1.5 L flat-four engine with double overhead camshafts. It won consistently in its class across major races. Each unit was customised for racing.
The Venturi 400 GT is a French-built, mid-1990s supercar designed around a race-proven V6 biturbo engine. Only about 15 were made for the road. Its styling deliberately echoes the Ferrari F40. It is rare, uncompromising, and unapologetically track-focused.
The Galant VR-4 is Mitsubishi’s first high-performance all-wheel-drive sedan, developed for Group A rallying and launched in 1987. It introduced the Dynamic Four AWC system — a full-time four-wheel drive setup with viscous coupling, plus four-wheel steering and four-wheel ABS. It was sold globally to meet homologation requirements, including 2,000 units in the US in 1991 and 1,000 in 1992. Later generations added liftback (Eterna ZR-4) and station wagon (Legnum) variants. The eighth generation was initially JDM-only but gained overseas cult status via grey imports. In 2000, Ralliart officially imported 200 units to the UK. Production ended in 2002 due to revised Japanese emissions standards.
The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is a rally-bred sports sedan built on the Lancer platform. Ten generations were produced from 1992 to 2016. All used a two-litre intercooled turbo inline-four engine and all-wheel drive. It launched in Japan only, then reached the UK and Europe around 1997 via Ralliart dealers—starting with the Evolution IV.
A rally-bred, mechanically singular hatchback—built to satisfy Group A, not taste.
The Lancia Rally 037 is a mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive rally car built by Lancia in the early 1980s for FIA Group B competition. It won the 1983 World Rally Championship Manufacturers' title and remains the last rear-wheel-drive car to do so. To meet homologation rules, 200 road-going examples — later confirmed as 207 units — were built between 1982 and 1984. Its engine is a longitudinally mounted 2.0-litre (later 2.1-litre) supercharged straight-four, developed by Abarth. The car debuted in 1982 and was succeeded by the Delta S4 in 1985.
The Lancia Delta S4 is a Group B rally car built by Lancia in 1985 and 1986. Abarth helped engineer its twincharged engine. It replaced the 037. It used a tubular space frame chassis.
The Audi Quattro (1980) is a front-engine, four-wheel-drive coupé developed by Jörg Bensinger. First shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show. It was both a road car and the first rally car to use four-wheel drive under newly permitted competition rules. Its name comes from the Italian word for 'four'. Production ran until 1991. The original model is known as the Ur-Quattro.