The ultimate Quattro

Group B homologation rules created a platform for manufacturers to develop and introduce daring new technologies. No make encapsulated that ambition quite like Audi, which took the four-wheel-drive concept from the farmyard to the special stage, changing the sport of rallying forever and creating one of the most sought-after model ranges in automotive history. Famed for its thrilling battles with close rivals Lancia and Peugeot, for the true petrolhead the definitive Group B rally car is the Audi Quattro S1 E2.

Audi had already been entering successful Works Quattros in Group IV before the FIA changed the homologation categories. And while Group B regulations would eventually lead to incredible speeds and an unmanageable level of danger, they also drove automotive development. While other manufacturers scrabbled to catch up, Lancia beginning development of its Delta S4 in 1983, it became clear that Audi had chosen the right development path, highlighted by dominant rally victories and three Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ World Championships by 1984. The Quattro’s Achilles heel was weight and its distribution.

The introduction of the Sport Quattro in 1984 was supposed to be a major step-change for the programme, but drivers struggled to get to grips with a car that produced prodigious amounts of power but handled on its nose. 1984 World Champion Stig Blomqvist avoided using the shorter wheel-base Quattro until his title was all but secured. For 1985, these fundamental problems would have to be sorted if the challenges from Peugeot and Lancia were to be fought off.

The E2 finally made its debut in August in 1985. Based on the Sport Quattro, it still utilised the same five-cylinder alloy-block with a 20-valve aluminium head. Cooled air was forced into the engine by an enormous KKK turbocharger, and in the words of Walter Röhrl, “the engine was always blowing off pressure and banging explosions into the countryside. No car was like that.” Ultimately, the power output was approximately 550 horsepower, which is widely believed to be the highest of any Group B car.

This S1 E2 was designated the Audi internal number of RE10, and registered IN-NP 31 in Ingolstadt on 5 November 1985. It was assigned to former World Rally Champion Hannu Mikkola and Arnie Hertz for the 1985 Lombard RAC Rally. Mikkola had a slow start to the rally finishing 9th on the first stage, but made consistent progress until he was leading overall from SS14. He commanded an unassailable lead with three stage victories until SS22, when an engine problem forced his retirement. This issue handed the rally lead and eventual win to Lancia, which was debuting its new Delta S4 in the WRC.

This iconic 1985 Audi Quattro S1 E2 Group B Works is available as part of RM Sotheby’s London auction at Marlborough House on the 5th November 2022. Photos © Neil Fraser / RM Sotheby's