You can now buy a slice of Group B magic

There was a period in rallying known as Group B. You may have heard of it. Now, you can now buy one of this golden era's most iconic cars: Ari Vatanen’s actual Peugeot 205 T16.

Just 20 works 205 T16 Evolution 1 Group B cars were built, which makes chassis ‘C11’ quite rare indeed. It's also one of three officially rallied by the factory Peugeot Talbort Sport team. This particular car won the 1985 Monte Carlo and Swedish rallies, thanks to Finnish maestro Ari Vatanen, helping Peugeot lift both the Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ World Rally Championship titles later that year.

It remains in the same trim as when it last raced. With 345bhp thanks to a potent 1,775cc 16-valve turbocharged inline four (that’s fed to the floor via a four-wheel drive system and five-speed manual transmission), you’ll need to be on your toes to drive it.

But then Group B was four years of utter madness where fans, ambitions, politics and cars collided to provide one of the most unforgettable eras of motorsport ever. It was a time when cars catapulted themselves into seas of spectators filling the road, who only moved out the way when the front bumper skimmed their shins. It was very fast, very dangerous, and very cool.

And Ari's 205 is the coolest of the bunch. If you do fancy a go, you’ll need somewhere in the region of half a million quid for the pleasure when it goes up for sale at RM’s Monaco auction later this month. Keen?