This Audi Sport Quattro is a Group B legend that could be yours

There were 20 competition Quattro S1 E2s built in period, with 15 believed to survive. Of those cars, only six competed in a World Rally Championship event and four of those are privately owned. In such rarefied company, chassis RE10 stands apart with its history in the hands of a World Championship. As Group B history goes, this is right up there. Just look at it. With its box arches, big wing and a face full of spot lights, it looks every inch the intimidating machine that you’d expect from rallying’s most fearsome categories.

The rally stage changed forever when Audi introduced four-wheel-drive to the sport in 1980. By 1984, the German manufacturer had claimed three Drivers’ and Manufacturers’ Championships. Other teams had to play catch-up, and pretty quickly four-wheel-drive became the norm.

Audi’s nose-heavy Quattro began to lose its advantage, especially against the agile Lancia Delta S4. Ingolstadt’s response, led by Ferdinand Piëch, was the Sport Quattro with more power and a shorter wheelbase for 1984. Its propensity to change direction more easily was both a blessing and a curse; it became difficult to drive, and even 1984 World Champion Stig Blomqvist avoided using it until he had all but secured that year’s title.

Nicknamed ‘Shorty’, the Sport proved formidable competition and ensured Audi maintained the advantage it had carved out for itself at the beginning of the decade. As well as a wheelbase shortened by 320mm, the Sport had a carbon kevlar body and 456PS (335kW) from its all-aluminium turbocharged five-cylinder engine.

In August 1985, Audi upped the ante once again with the S1 E2, which was festooned with aerodynamic addenda. More power, too — this one now has in excess of 500PS (367kW). Little wonder it left even seasoned co-driver Christian Geistdörfer astonished by its performance. In period, Geistdörfer said: “Corners that used to be friendly suddenly scare you senseless. You don't even recognise them — they’ve turned mean.”

This model, the tenth of twenty built, made its debut on that successful Lombard RAC Rally. Mikkola and co-driver Arne Hertz had a lukewarm start with a ninth place in SS1, but by SS14 they had taken the lead with three stage wins. An engine failure eventually saw them retire from SS22. After the rally, Audi used RE10 as a training and development car for the 1986 Rallye de Portugal, and soon after the legendary Group B category was cancelled.

This car’s current owner acquired it in 2022, and it has since undergone a restoration of its previous “dated and glitchy” electronics and received a new fuel cell and a repair to the hydraulic power steering. More than $200,000 (£147,000) has been spent bringing it up to its current standard. 

It is listed with an estimate of £1.3million-£1.7million at the Bonhams|Cars Quail Auction. Will the new owner tame it, or will it go on static display? Either way, it represents a hugely significant part of WRC history.