Post by Alfaholic on Jan 17, 2023 22:18:09 GMT -5
With the new additions slowing while I await some pre-orders to appear over our way, I have some time to post some pictures of another part of my collection - rally cars.
I have been a fan of rallying since I was an 8-9 year old and remember being enthralled by Andrew Cowan's win in the 1972 Heatway Rally NZ with a Mini Clubman GT. I was already a big fan of circuit racing and was a Ford fanboy, especially Escorts, so rallying was the perfect world for me. I eagerly followed the exploits of the Escorts as the profile of the big rally in NZ grew - and then in 1977 it went up another gear when the Fiat 131 Abarths arrived. I was by now becoming an Italian car fan and the 131 seemed so exotic, but still looked like a car you might see on the road (not very often in NZ though). When we moved to Australia in the last '70s the local championship was dominated by Escorts and Datsun 1600s (510) and Stanzas (160J) so I was hooked all over again. When Ford slowed their involvement into the 1980s, one of their drivers ended up with a string of Italian cars, 131 Abarth, Alfa GTV6 and Lancia Delta so there was always something for me to cheer.
On the world scene, like many others my fascination started with the Group 4 machines and the the bonkers Group B cars. However, for me Group A may have been the golden period, mainly due to the Lancia domination I guess. It is the cars from these eras, especially the Escorts, Fiats, and Lancias that I lust after, with the last car I've truly been besotted by in the rallying world being the Peugeot 206 WRC!
Being first and foremost a circuit racing and classic road racing fan, I have always enjoyed the tarmac and quick gravel rallies more than the car-breakers like Greece and the Safari, but I can still see the attraction of these events. It is no surprise therefore, that my rallying heroes tend to be the southern Europeans (Biasion, Auriol, etc) along with the more flamboyant Finns (Alen, Vatanen, Toivonen, Gronholm, Latvala, etc). As I have mentioned elsewhere, when it comes to the motor racing GOAT (I hate that term) as much as Nuvolari and Schumacher are my heroes, I would probably vote for Sebastien Loeb as for me the rally drivers are the greatest all-rounders.
Enough waffle, to the collection. My rally car collection is made up primarily of cars from a PW series form many years ago, coupled with better quality models of the cars that make my heart beat a little bit faster. Some of the models in this collection can also be considered to be GT/Sports racers, but for this thread the deciding factor will be the event, rather than the car.
The 1950s.
1952
PW - Alfa Romeo Sport Collection
Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Villa d'Este 2.4
Francesco Vincenzo Ferrario & V Pellecchia
1952 Rallye Monte Carlo - 108th
1953
M4 - Alfa Romeo Una storia italiana
Alfa Romeo 1900 TI 1.9
Raimundo Lanza di Trabia & Bruno Bonini
1953 Rallye Monte Carlo - 31st
1955
Brumm
Alfa Romeo 1900 1.9
Madeleine Pochon & Marie Honore
1955 Rallye Monte Carlo - 16th
1957
M4 - Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo 1900 TI Super 2.0
Massimo Leto di Priolo & Salvatore "Dore" Leto di Priolo
1957 Rallye International de Geneve - Winner
Bang
Alfa Romeo Giulietta 750 Sprint Veloce 1.3
Squadra Conrero - Michel Nicol & Roger de Lageneste
1957 Tour de Corse - Winner
1959
Detail Cars - Art Model
Alfa Romeo Giulietta 750 Sprint Veloce 1.3
Conrerio Squadra Corse - Henri Oreiller & Fernand Masoero
1959 Tour de Corse (base is wrong) - 3rd
I have been a fan of rallying since I was an 8-9 year old and remember being enthralled by Andrew Cowan's win in the 1972 Heatway Rally NZ with a Mini Clubman GT. I was already a big fan of circuit racing and was a Ford fanboy, especially Escorts, so rallying was the perfect world for me. I eagerly followed the exploits of the Escorts as the profile of the big rally in NZ grew - and then in 1977 it went up another gear when the Fiat 131 Abarths arrived. I was by now becoming an Italian car fan and the 131 seemed so exotic, but still looked like a car you might see on the road (not very often in NZ though). When we moved to Australia in the last '70s the local championship was dominated by Escorts and Datsun 1600s (510) and Stanzas (160J) so I was hooked all over again. When Ford slowed their involvement into the 1980s, one of their drivers ended up with a string of Italian cars, 131 Abarth, Alfa GTV6 and Lancia Delta so there was always something for me to cheer.
On the world scene, like many others my fascination started with the Group 4 machines and the the bonkers Group B cars. However, for me Group A may have been the golden period, mainly due to the Lancia domination I guess. It is the cars from these eras, especially the Escorts, Fiats, and Lancias that I lust after, with the last car I've truly been besotted by in the rallying world being the Peugeot 206 WRC!
Being first and foremost a circuit racing and classic road racing fan, I have always enjoyed the tarmac and quick gravel rallies more than the car-breakers like Greece and the Safari, but I can still see the attraction of these events. It is no surprise therefore, that my rallying heroes tend to be the southern Europeans (Biasion, Auriol, etc) along with the more flamboyant Finns (Alen, Vatanen, Toivonen, Gronholm, Latvala, etc). As I have mentioned elsewhere, when it comes to the motor racing GOAT (I hate that term) as much as Nuvolari and Schumacher are my heroes, I would probably vote for Sebastien Loeb as for me the rally drivers are the greatest all-rounders.
Enough waffle, to the collection. My rally car collection is made up primarily of cars from a PW series form many years ago, coupled with better quality models of the cars that make my heart beat a little bit faster. Some of the models in this collection can also be considered to be GT/Sports racers, but for this thread the deciding factor will be the event, rather than the car.
The 1950s.
1952
PW - Alfa Romeo Sport Collection
Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Villa d'Este 2.4
Francesco Vincenzo Ferrario & V Pellecchia
1952 Rallye Monte Carlo - 108th
1953
M4 - Alfa Romeo Una storia italiana
Alfa Romeo 1900 TI 1.9
Raimundo Lanza di Trabia & Bruno Bonini
1953 Rallye Monte Carlo - 31st
1955
Brumm
Alfa Romeo 1900 1.9
Madeleine Pochon & Marie Honore
1955 Rallye Monte Carlo - 16th
1957
M4 - Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo 1900 TI Super 2.0
Massimo Leto di Priolo & Salvatore "Dore" Leto di Priolo
1957 Rallye International de Geneve - Winner
Bang
Alfa Romeo Giulietta 750 Sprint Veloce 1.3
Squadra Conrero - Michel Nicol & Roger de Lageneste
1957 Tour de Corse - Winner
1959
Detail Cars - Art Model
Alfa Romeo Giulietta 750 Sprint Veloce 1.3
Conrerio Squadra Corse - Henri Oreiller & Fernand Masoero
1959 Tour de Corse (base is wrong) - 3rd