Rally Finland, year 1983. The year, Group B took over. The year, Audi presented their Quattro, and team Opel changed from Ascona to Manta 400. The year, Lancia with their monstrous 037 was the only rear-wheel drive capable challenging the 4-wheel drive Audi.
I recall many people, drivers too, having said year 1983 was the ultimate rally season of all time. I am one of those lucky enough, having witnessed the notoriously legendary Group B. Those of us having lived back then, I believe remember the noise, the sound, the smell. And, especially the night-time stages. The engine roar and turbo banging, starting to carry from miles away. By the engine roar and turbo banging sound, one could tell whether it is the Audi, or Lancia, Nissan, Opel, Toyota.
These night-time stages. The roar and banging getting closer, headlights starting to lighten the sky, and the apocalyctic beast with shocking bright lights and deafening noise appearing, in a flash passing you, with tailpipe spitting flames, and throwing rocks at you.
Of course, the 4-wheel drive Audi Quattro had the edge. In '83 Rally Finland, both potential Opel drivers Ari Vatanen and Henri Toivonen of Finland, retired. Hannu Mikkola driving Audi won the rally, after impossibly severe technical issues. Mikkola also won the '83 world rally championship, of course, his co-driver Arne Hertz was from Sweden. And, picture this. In Rally Finland '83, eight of the top-10 drivers were from Finland. Those were the days, every factory team wanted for finnish drivers. Came this century, french drivers these certain Sebastiens, beat the peanuts out of every other driver, up until Kalle Rovanperä and his co-driver Jonne Halttunen.
In the video clip, these are some of my photos I took while at Rally Finland 1983, Rally of the 1000 Lakes. The article I wrote for the paper, too. I was on duty back then, reporting and shooting for the newspaper Itä-Häme based in Heinola, Finland. I spent the whole weekend reporting the rally for my newspaper, and I recall having driven some 1500 kilometres or some 1000 miles during the weekend, as I was following the rally intensively. Some places and ditches I kneeled in while shooting photos, were far from safe. On this certain early morning stage, in a jump Markku Alén momentarily lost the Lancia 037 rear, and I had to dive down and kiss the dirt, as the Lancia seemed running wide right towards me.
During 1983 Rally Finland, I had the opportunity to drive through one special stage after the stage already had been closed from public traffic, and just before the special stage was starting. I had to, as my job otherwise might have suffered. The organizers let me through, while giving an ultimatum, too. No later than this minute exactly, you must reach the stage end, and if not, you must stop and park your car aside the stage. Back then in 1983, I owned this 2-litre Opel Ascona year '81, rather rapid a car with fantastic handling. And I made it, having felt as if I was racing the rally myself.
Opel Ascona model B. Very popular in national rallying, In Finland in the past. I just loved this Opel Ascona. In late '70s and early '80s, I owned four of them in a row, three of those being 2-litre gasoline engines, and one was a 2-litre diesel. The third to last photo in my KZfaq clip is just for evidence, from when I owned two Asconas simultaneously, a gasoline one, and a diesel. Neither of those two is the white one '81 though, I owned in 1983. Just for weird fun, I also included a couple photos of my Ascona '79, ruined by a taxi Mercedes bashing right in. She only had some 30 tkm i.e. some 18 tmi on her meter, and this bleeding taxi driver ruined my lovely Ascona.