This ridiculous collection of Group B cars is up for auction

Here at TG we love anything to do with Group B. For some reason, we also love ridiculously out-of-reach automotive auction lots, so this latest find has us rather excited…

We’ll get straight into it. This is a gaggle of seven Group B stars that’ll cross the block at the Artcurial “Parisienne 2021” sale on 5 February. All of the cars are being offered from the collection of the Manoir de l'Automobile museum in Loheac, France, and all will require a little bit of recommissioning to get them back on the road. All are absolutely glorious, though.

Let’s run through them in age order. First up is a 1985 example of a Lancia 037, looking resplendent in its Martini livery. The 037 was of course the rear-wheel drive monster that somehow managed to de-throne the Audi Quattro to take the 1983 manufacturers' title. This is a later Evo 2 car and its chassis number has been cut away and re-welded, so there’s no real way of tracing its race history.

The history of the 1985 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Evolution has been traced though, and this particular car notably won the 1986 Tour de Corse at the hands of Bruno Saby. It was also campaigned in the World Rally Championship in 1986 and was driven by Timo Salonen in Sweden.

Then we come to a 1985 MG Metro 6R4 – the car with the lowest estimate in this collection. A bargain at anywhere between €280,000 and €360,000, this little 6R4 won the 1986 French Rally Championship with Didier Auriol driving. It actually began its life as a Clubman homologation version and was converted to full works spec in period. After a few years it was also converted to left-hand drive, but all of the dials are still on the right-hand side of the dash. 

Also heading up for auction is a superb-looking ex-Carlos Sainz Renault 5 Maxi Turbo from 1985, as well as an ’86 Ford RS200 that still bears its livery from a third place finish at the Swedish Rally – the best result ever achieved by an RS200 during its short stint in the World Rally Championship.

The final two of this collection are a brilliant Lancia Delta S4 – also from 1986 – and an ’88 Audi Sport Quattro S1. Stunning thing, isn’t it? This ex Race of Champions car actually has the highest estimate of the bunch and is expected to make between €1,000,000 and €1,300,000 alone. Crikey. 

Using their lowest estimates, the whole collection is expected to make at least €3.63m. Time to start hunting down the back of the sofa. 

Images: Peter Singhof/Artcurial