The Audi Group S prototype wasn't supposed to happen, but did anyway because the rally team really needed it. As the front-engined—and therefore understeering—Audi Quattro was about to get surpassed by the more extreme mid-engined competition, the engineers of Audi Sport led by Roland Gumpert decided to go off the (German) map to develop a new car for the upcoming Group S class without getting permission from the head office. Therefore, the mid-engined prototypes were developed in Czechoslovakia using S1 bodies in complete secrecy. But despite being fast, all but one got crushed by Audi's board members once Group B got banned and Group S was off the table. That must have been a sad afternoon in Ingolstadt.

This is just a brief summary, so please make sure to read the full story here, because it's quite something.

Audi

This sole survivor lived because somebody was kind enough to hide it in the Audi Museum's warehouse, where it had to wait until the 2016 Eifel Rallye Festival's Group B celebration to finally start popping and banging some three decades after it was supposed to.

Before I learned all this, if you'd told me that this white wonder was a Matra or even a weird Porsche, I would have believed you. Now, it's time to count those cylinders:

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I would still try to bend time and space using a Group S Lancia Delta ESV2, but Audi's prototype is a worthy substitute with an equally impressive history.

Audi

via Top Gear

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