Why a Renault 5 Maxi Turbo?
In the past I have built two kit cars. The first was a Westfield. The build report of this car can be found here. After building my Westfield I built a GTM Libra. I build my Westfield according to the instructions. With my Libra I went a step further. Instead of the Rover 1.8 K series engine I used an Audi 1.8 20VT turbo engine from an Audi TT. The build took me 4 years. After driving it for a year I decided to try to integrate a DSG gearbox in the car. Because the DSG gearbox was wider than the originally mounted 5-speed, the engine had to move 2.5 cm in the chassis. 2 years later the car was driveable again, with a DSG gearbox.
It was around the time I started the DSG conversion that my attention was drawn to rally car replicas. We once visited Hawk cars in England, who produces a beautiful Lancia Stratos replica kit. I have thoroughly examined the Lancia Stratos replica from Lister Bell Specialist cars at various kit car shows. Both beautiful cars, but now that England has left the EU, correctly registering such a car in the Netherlands is problematic.
Group B
The absolute high of the World Rally Championship was of course the period 1983 – 1986: During this period, the Group A, Group B and Group N regulations applied. Group B was mainly characterized by little technical rules. This led to an attractive class that attracted a lot of interest and therefore many manufacturers. Especially in the early years of Group B, the technical differences between the cars of the various manufacturers were large.
Renault 5 Turbo
The Renault 5 turbo was developed with a dual purpose. Firstly, of course, to participate in the World Rally Championship, but also to support the sales of the “normal” Renault 5. The choice for a mid-engine and rear-wheel drive was based on the Lancia Stratos. Developing a rally car based on a series production model was dictated by costs. Many other manufacturers (Lancia in the lead with the Stratos and the 037) were already developing cars specifically for rallying in the same period. As a road car, the Renault 5 Turbo was reasonably successful; 1820 of the original Renault 5 Turbo were sold (much more than the required 500 units for homologation), Renault even sold 3167 of the cheaper Renault 5 Turbo 2.
Renault 5 Maxi Turbo
The Renault 5 Turbo was not very successful in the WRC. After a victory on its debut during the Monte Carlo Rally in 1981 and another victory in the Corsica Rally in 1982, success was long in coming. It was not until 1985 during the Corsica Rally that it was successful again (and for the last time); Jean Ragnotti won the rally with the Renault 5 Maxi Turbo, partly because Lancia had withdrawn after a fatal accident and Audi had dropped out.