Mix And Match Your Rally Car Heroes With Six New Posters In The Petrolicious Shop
Boiling Point Creative has built a portfolio of artwork with a wide scope of coverage between the eras and disciplines of motorsport, but their new and aptly-named “Retro Rally” series of prints is focused on the top-billed cast of the WRC highlight reel. From the iconic Stratos—the ultimate symbol of 1970s rally prowess and a harbinger for the Group B era of highly specialized dirt-slingers—to the Audi Quattro that revolutionized the sport in the early 1980s, then on to homologation specials like the wide-hipped Renault 5 Turbo before going forward to the Group A era that made stars out of steroidal hatchbacks like the Integrale and RS Cosworth. The Dakar-spec 959 is all but requisite in any conversation about racing off-road, so we can forgive a little deviation from the WRC to make space for Porsche’s desert-crossing beefsteak of a supercar.
The collection doesn’t attempt to tell the full history of rallying in the 20th century, but as far as consolidations go this is a strong storyboard of the sport in just six panels. All the pieces are digital illustrations printed on high-quality matte archival stock. The choice of a simple silhouette presentation of the cars lends itself toward collecting, but the distinct colorways that make up the backgrounds ensures that the cars’ identities aren’t lost in the process of making these pieces fit together. Each stands on its own, but if you’d like to have the full collection the group is offered at a discount.
Lancia Delta Integrale (LINK)
Number 1 in the series is the Lancia Delta HF Integrale EVO. A classic Italian compact that was part of Lancia’s dominance in the early years of the Group A regulations that took over after Group B became too dangerous. That’s not to say that sliding 300+ horsepower around a hairpin outlined with spectators was much safer when the Integrale was sweeping up WRC stage wins.
Porsche 959 (LINK)
Number 2 in the series is the Porsche 959 Group B Rally Car. A unicorn in the Porsche stable, this car redefined the supercar landscape as a road car, and redefined what a supercar could do when Porsche developed a version of their flagship car to compete in the Dakar Rally. They won it in 1986, adding another chapter to the complex story the 959.
Escort Cosworth (LINK)
Number 3 in the series is the Ford Escort RS Cosworth. The bi-plane-esque wing drew a crowd wherever it sliced it the air, and the car earned Ford a string of rally wins during its time in WRC competition in the 1990s, but while it took trophies at definitive WRC locations like the Tour de Corse, Rally Sanremo, and Monte Carlo, the Escort never strung enough points together for a championship title. Still, it is remembered as one of the greats from a very competitive time when the sport saw plenty of factory team involvement.
Renault 5 Turbo (LINK)
Number 4 in the series is the Renault 5 Turbo. The car that resulted from a French manufacturer taking their more than entry-level compact car design and going to town on the thing until the only resemblance was the roofline and the badging on the back. The Turbo versions of the Renault 5 that were homologated for Group B competition remain some of the wildest hot hatches in the world, if you can even call them that. They weren’t sparring with the top teams that often in competition in the 1980s, but the mid-engined French rally box deserves the adoration its long-received from rally fans, and it helped define the sport’s hyperbolic era of Group B.
Lancia Stratos (LINK)
Number 5 in the series is the Lancia Stratos. Widely seen as one of the greatest, and most influential rally cars ever conceived. With three World Championship titles to its name, the car carries countless fans in its wake, those praising its competition chops and revolutionary shape alike. The potency of the Stratos cocktail has only grown stronger with time, and why wouldn’t it? A Ferrari engine, a Gandini design, a dedicated factory effort in the sport, and of course, the perfect name: Stratos. No substitutions for this tonic.
Audi Quattro (LINK)
Number 6 in the series is the Audi Quattro. Nothing changed rallying the way the Quattro changed rallying. Lancia held on with the 037 to give rear-wheel drive its last hurrah in the top caliber tier of the sport, but the dawn of a new philosophy was upon the rallying world when Audi joined the competitive ring. The Audi Quattro dipped its toes in the water in 1980, and over the next six years Audi would continue to develop the car’s all-wheel drive technologies and chassis, resulting in ever more powerful and wing-laden Quattros. They won often, but more importantly, Audi led the most drastic paradigm shift in the WRC. You can gloss over a lot if you’re in a hurry, but no summary of this sport can leave out the Quattro.
