Road-legal lunacy: Top five Group B production cars

Few road-going race cars possess the savage mystique of the homologated Group B rally cars. The eighties saw the high point of international rallying's impact on the public consciousness as manufacturers embraced a set of rules that allowed them to field custom-built 500bhp race machines masquerading as production cars.

The street-legal versions were only built to satisfy the regulations of the day, and were produced in such low numbers (200 examples each) that manufacturers transferred the complex drivetrains of the competition cars straight into the showroom models, cut the power, slapped a suitably colossal price tag on the bonnet and then wheeled them out to the public and press for widespread adulation.

Over twenty years have passed since then. Time has cut down so many of the road cars that they now exist in the pages of classic car magazines as sought-after legends of the highest order. They're so collectable that the sight of one on eBay is enough to generate news coverage. We've been staring at this little beauty for most of the day, and it's not even in the UK. And it's up to $35,000 already.

It hasn't stopped us day dreaming though. So if money were no object what would our all-time top five Group B production cars be? Click below to find out...