Random Best Rally Cars Ever Put Togeth (19 items)

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  (#14) Ferrari 288

  A Ferrari on a rally course? Oh yes... sort of. Unknown to many today, Ferrari got very serious about taking over Group B in the 1980s. Ferrari built 272 mid-engine rally cars for homologation from 1984 to 1986, and Evoluzione models (like the one pictured) showed up ready to rock with 650 Italian horses. However, when the FIA killed Group B in 1986, the 288 GTO was left without a class to enter. That might make this Ferrari the single greatest rally car to never enter a race. 
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  (#4) Peugot 205 T16

  Probably the king of all Group B hatchback psychopaths, the T16 was a mid-engine, all-wheel drive that hammered all 450 horsepower to the ground for several seasons in the 1980s. It's probably fair to credit this car with the rise of the hot hatch in Europe, serving as it did as inspiration for teenage hooligans everywhere. 
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  (#2) MINI Cooper

  • MINI, British Motor Corporation

  In the 1960s, the Mini competed with all the spirit and fortitude of a Spitfire against the likes of Ford and Renault. That made rally courses of the 1960s a battle between front-wheel-drive, rear-drive, and rear-engine. The Mini's ability to pull itself through turns that other cars would spectacularly (but slowly) drift around made this underdog a serious bull pup on tighter stages. It won Monte Carlo three years in a row from 1964 to 1967. 
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  (#7) Mitsubishi Montero/Pajero

  Wait... a Mitsubishi Montero? That thing soccer moms have been driving for the last 20 years? Yes, indeed. Mitsubishi owned the Paris-Dakar rally for so long in the 2000s, it seemed nobody could ever topple the Montero from its place at the top. And in truth, nobody did. It was only when Mitsubishi went broke and had to pull factory support for racing that VW could sneak in and capture titles with the Touareg. Mitsu might have lost the rat race, but its Montero remains king of the desert rats. 
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  (#10) Ford Escort RS1600

  The Escort RS1600 might best be thought of as Europe's Shelby GT500. Granted, the two competed in different types of racing, in different markets and classes. But both reigned supreme in the mid-to-late 1960s, and made Ford performance a fixture in their respective markets. You might recognize this Escort from its appearance in the Fast and Furious 6. 
  
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  (#13) Miller/Brock HOT ROD 1968 Ford Ranchero GT

  Back in 1967, "the World's Greatest Hot Rodder" AK Miller teamed with the equally legendary Ray Brock to pilot this almost-stock 1968 Ford Ranchero GT to victory at the Mexico 1000  (the precursor to today's Baja 1000). Back then, the race was a true open-road rally, covering dirt tracks, gravel pathways, and public road down the Pacific Coast. Sponsored by Hot Rod Magazine, this American-style rally car brought the V-8 thunder with a near-stock 390, a few mild suspension mods, and minimal safety equipment.

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