Worth a long read:

Yup.

It’s not just RWD – the gearbox is at the back too (you may remember the Alfa Romeo 75 as the Milano)

To clarify: the ES30 or Mostro was not designed by Zagato.

I understand Ferdinand Piëch’s (who had the other 914/8) must have been faster. Same engine as Ferry’s but with full straight-through exhausts... no silencers.

Many, many moons ago (as in 1986 or thereabouts) I watched on TV a truly excellent Peugeot commercial featuring the 205 Turbo 16. The director – obviously a Kubrick fan – had edited footage of the PTS works cars sliding, jumping and accelerating during several events of the WRC... to the tune of Pachelbel’s Canon.

And they drive them really fast!

Exactly. In that respect it differs from the Carabinieri – which report to the Italian Ministry of Defence – and the Spanish Guardia Civil, which reports to both the Spanish Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Defence.

Sorry but I have to correct you: the Gendarmerie Nationale is a branch of France’s armed forces but it does not belong to the French Army – in the same way that the USCG “does not belong” to the US Navy, for example.

Nice video!

Sorry I did not watch the video. Me and my big mouth.

I don’t think all of them had that layout (I’ve seen a few with a more traditional arrangement, but that could be due to a restoration or whatever) but yes, it is one of the curiosities of the 6R4.

MG versions had excellent handling and roadholding. Maybe a basic 998 won’t be as nice, but I understand they were pretty fun to drive around in.

It was good in the wet, but very difficult to drive (and that wears one out, causing fatigue and lapses in concentration etc). 037s – being lighter, more agile and better balanced – still had a big chance against them in the rain, and usually had the upper hand on dry asphalt.

Indeed.

But it was still a very competitive car, taking a number of podiums across Europe in the series below the WRC.

Belga had indeed an SC RS (at least). At the time some German magazine did a whole feature on a Belga SC RS. I remember the car looked very tall, as if it had been setup for mixed tarmac/forest stages.

Raph, have you considered the possibility that Brookes was more interested in pointing out the changes that were being made to the nature of rallying – irrespective of the kind of cars? One might argue that the present format has more to do with a rallysprint than with old-style rallying.

Let’s not be too hard on Mr Orlove today. Sadly, journalists with very little time but lots of work to do sometimes have to resort to stereotypes.

I wonder whether the VFTS had rack-and-pinion steering? A worthwhile, not-too-difficult modification to the 124 chassis which was undertaken by Seat for their very last (1.8 and 1.9) versions homologated for rallying.