The most complicated of the Group B rally legends, the Lancia Delta S4 was mid-engined, supercharged and turbocharged with all-wheel drive. But more importantly, it goes very very very very sideways.
Group B was cancelled after the Delta S4 proved deadly on long, twisting rally stages lined with rocks and cliffs and trees, but the car never really stopped racing, quickly going into rallycross and then into historic events and demos. Here’s one at an ice driving school in Italy with some other old rally cars of the past few decades.
What stands out is how strange the twincharged four-cylinder engine sounds and how sideways the car goes.
Look at this backie! So good.
In any case, it’s easy to understand why, even as other rally cars grew faster, these midengine Group B cars keep their lofty reputations alive.