The screaming banshees of cars that raced included the Lancia Stratos, Renault 5 Turbo, Citroen BX 4TC (try remembering that name without looking at it five times...), Ford RS200, and the Audi Quattro, later called the Ur-Quattro to differentiate it from similar Quattros.
In this class, manufacturers were allowed to do basically whatever they wanted to their cars. This resulted in light, aerodynamic cars pushing 500 hp. The name Quattro came from the all-wheel-drive system Audi created for these cars. A modern version of that system is still used in Audis today. That's a very quick breakdown of an automotive icon, honestly. Go on YouTube and search for something like "Group B full audio," put on your Beats by Dre (did you get your beats from Dr. Dre today yet? that's a woman-beating joke...), and crank it to full volume because baby, those engines were sweet exploding symphonies of engine noise.
Audi Ur-Quattro.
500 of these were produced for the public but the car was never produced in big numbers. However, the car that came after it was. That was the Audi 200.
The one I'm talking about was produced from 1987 to 1991. The cars had an inline-5 engine that came in quite a few variations, the main ones being a naturally aspirated version making 130hp, a turbo that made 162hp, and the cream of the crop - a 20 valve turbo pushing 220hp. That's the one you want.
The cars came in front wheel drive or all wheel drive Quattro configurations. The 20 valve, 2.2l turbocharged 200 Quattro is the successor to the Group B legend. Audi had real problems selling the car in the United States after fears of sudden acceleration problems (long story) but did well in Europe. Europeans always get the best cars, really. The Audi 100 was also sold - a similar car but more of a family sedan. Still very similar inside.
The reason this car intrigues me is because you can actually get one if you really, really want one because instead of making 500 like the Ur-Quattro, Audi made more than 50,000 Audi 200s with a good amount being the Turbo Quattro versions.
I did a lot of thinking as to how I can best articulate to you, dear reader, how cool this car is and the conclusion I came to is this. Simply look at its predecessor's - again, the Ur-Quattro's - competition.
We have the Ford RS200, of which 500 were also built.
Ken Block's personal car. That dude is living in a dream, 'nah mean (a Damian Marley reference? I'm losing people here).
And then we have the Renault 5 Turbo, my personal favorite.
Up comes hauling a#$ up the snowy hill is the Citroen BX 4TC (sounds like a phone).
500 of those were made as well. Along with 500 Lancia Stratos, a crazy looking machine.
Each of these deserves its own article. What struck me is how mean these cars looked and they all backed it up. Anyway, I'm sure some of you are wondering.
Why did most of these manufacturers only make 500 of each car?
Group B implemented the homologation rule. I'm not sure who came up with that word either but it meant manufacturers had to make a minimum of 500 cars to be sold to the public. I guarantee you some rich guy just really wanted one of these and made it happen with that sweet cash.
So, back to the Audi 200. If you live in Europe, you should be able to get one if you have the money. It's an amazing car for the time even if you compare it to something like a 1990s 5-series BMW or Lexus LS400. Yes it looks just a little more dated but the car was just as luxurious. I know so because my grandpa had one.
Yes, it's the truth. I was a little kid at the time and I remember wanting to be in his car just because it was so comfortable. Recently I looked into what he really had and came to realize that it's as special as he kept mentioning back then. I had no idea it was fast.
I certainly wouldn't recommend getting one if you don't have plenty of spare money but if you're looking for a very interesting sedan (or wagon - the Avante, used to designate Audi's wagons to this day), it's hard to beat.
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