OPEL MANTA 400 VS LANCIA 037 EVO 2 FULL

When the car was nearly twenty years old, it had a nut-and-bolt rebuild at the hands of the very well-known RS200 expert, Garry Campbell, which included some improved parts to bring it closer to full Group B specification, such as power steering, six-pot brakes, a much better radiator with twin fans, and an oil cooler. The refined version was expected to excel in the WRC, but instead it was rendered completely obsolete when the Group B category was abruptly banned. Unfortunately delayed by the eventually aborted Ford RS1700T project, the all-out RS200 arrived late to the scene, and with just four rallies entered, its debut season in 1986 was supposed to be the car’s development year more than anything else. The fact that it was the fastest accelerating production road car for an incredible 12 years is just a footnote to its raison d’etre, as it was created for the sole purpose of dominating the world of rallying during one of the sport’s most competitive eras. Those who know this car are not fooled by its innocent, frog-like eyes and its cute little bunny ear intakes. On the other side of the Group B development spectrum, we have the Ford RS200.

“He also confirmed that this is definitely his car, as there is some modifications that he did that only he knew about,” Jiří tells me.

He says the highlight of his ownership so far is undoubtedly when Jimmy McRae himself drove the car in 2018-and signed the roof for good measure. To his surprise and delight, prices were lower than he’d assumed, and he won. In 2014, Jiří wanted to test the waters to learn about the value of ex-works cars, and so put what he thought was a low bid on it in an auction. The SMK351Y car then spent the rest of the decade in New Zealand, where it was run in some national events before being brought back to Europe in 1990. His best results were two second places, on the Scottish and Ulster Rallies. In early 1984, Brookes won the Wyedean Stages Rally, the car’s very first outing, but while McRae won the British championship in a sister car, Brookes-in SMK351Y-took 3rd, just one point behind Hannu Mikkola. That car, along with the gorgeous red, white, and blue AC Delco livery of Brookes’ arch rival-good friend and teammate, Jimmy McRae (Colin’s father)-were often found at the head of the standings, even at the height of the Group B era when all-wheel drive cars regularly competed. The Russel Brookes-driven, “Heat for Hire” Manta 400 represented one of the longest sponsorship deals in the history of motorsport. SMK351Y has to be the most famous GM Dealer Sport Manta of them all though, as it was both the Andrew’s Heat for Hire and AC Delco car, swapping between the ‘84 and ‘85 seasons. It was in the British Rally Championship where the Manta found its competitive edge, and a famous pair of them were the staple of rallying in the mid-1980s, arguably the halcyon years of the series. And so on the World Rally Championship scene, despite being flung around in the talented hands of Ari Vatanen and Henri Toivonen, the best Opel could hope for on international rallies was a spot in the Top 10. But the Manta was no match for Lancia’s purpose-built space-framed supercharged 037-never mind the Audi Quattro or the Peugeot 205 T16. With a 2.4-liter Cosworth-developed engine good for 270bhp, and weighing just 1000kg (~2205lbs), it was far superior to the previous Ascona and Ford Escorts which had been dominant until a couple of years earlier. This heavily modified Manta was one of the last of the old-school Group B rally cars before the all-wheel drive paradigm shift was complete. In chronological order then, first up is the Manta. Not having anywhere near enough space for all of them in one story, the first challenge was picking just three to look at a little more detail. The huge, purpose-built warehouse is not open to the public, but I was given privileged access to wander-slack-jawed-around the cars, which include Tommi Mäkinen’s first-ever rally car, an ex-Ari Vatanen Prodrive-prepared BMW E30 M3, an ex-Sébastien Loeb Citroën C4 that he bought direct from the museum, and not one, but four, ex-McRae Ford Focuses. With forty original ex-works cars from the 1970s to 2010, Jiří Jirovec has what is unofficially the largest private collection of WRC cars in the world.

Opel manta 400 vs lancia 037 evo 2