What's all this about?
In the 1980s, turbocharged, four-wheel drive cars came to dominate rallying and the Group B class achieved fame and notoriety. At the time MTM's founder, Roland Mayer, was working as an engineer at Audi, shortly before going on to create his own range of high-performance tuned cars based on his former employer's products. His latest creation is inspired by those Group B machines; it's called the MTM A1 Quattro Group B and it helps celebrate 25 years of the company.
What's special about it?
Starting point for the project was the MTM A1 Nardo Edition, which was timed at 201mph on the banked oval track that provided the model name. For the Group B model power is slightly reduced from the Nardo's 500hp; currently the output is quoted as 427hp, but the promise is 450hp for the production version. If that doesn't sound like enough Mayer talks of offering the 2.5-litre motor from the A1 Nardo Edition and the option of a racing-derived sequential gearbox.
Styling is by Roland Hall of South Carolina and features wide arches, a large rear spoiler and lots of air vents.
One difference between this and original Group B rally cars is the likely production numbers. To qualify for competition a minimum run of 200 cars was required, but MTM is not bound by any similar requirement. Roland Mayer talks about possible production: "I could manufacture a small production batch if I could find ten enthusiasts who were prepared to pay around €120,000 [about £85,000]", says the boss, "and there would be full certification for road use as an added incentive".
John Lambert - 25 Jun 2015