Benjamin Garay

This is Rod Millen’s AWD RX7. A 770kg, 550bhp tubular frame chassis 1988 RX7 FC. Wow. FC? Rally? 4wd? Unless we are talking about the FB, most of us won’t hear RX7 and think “rally”. Most of us will likely have a modified rwd rotary street car in mind. Evidently, that’s not what Rod Millen had in mind. His idea of an FC seems to be an AWD Group B competitor. I guess it’s really all about perspective.

Here is another rally car, this time done by request. And it is one is one I don’t think I would have ever known about if it weren’t for that request. The Daihatsu Charade DeTomaso 926r; a Group B car you probably haven’t heard of. Daihatsu? If you’re like me, MCM has probably led you to believe that Daihatsu is nothing more than a Blue Turd factory. But as it turns out, some Diahatsus were not as blue and turd-like as most of us may think. One of them was in fact a Group B car. And that Group B car was the 926r.

This is another interesting rally related car. The Toyota 222D. This car was designed as a Group B/ Group S hybrid. How that would work, I do not know. If you recognize the body style at all, you are right. This is an MR2. Except not really. The 222D really doesn’t have much MR2 left in it. Unlike the MR2, the 222D uses a tubular frame chassis, all wheel drive, and only weighs in at 750kg. Quite a drastic difference between it and the original, if you ask me.

I was reading up on Group B Rally, and I came across an article about the Peugeot Quasar. This was a concept car, obviously made by Peugeot. This concept was essentially a 205 T16 with a more traditional supercar look, save for the parts that can only be described as sci-fi. The interior follows the latter theme of sci-fi. Aside from the bright red leather, the interior was ahead of it’s time.