How much would you pay for Henri Toivonen's 1985 RAC Rally-winning Lancia Delta S4 Group B monster?
$250,000? Nope. $500,000? Not even close! Three quarters of a million dollars? Keep guessing ....
Toivonen's S4 was sold at Sotheby's in London last year for the princely sum of £764,375.
In Aussie dollars, that's $1,354,878 and 13 cents!
An indecently quick Finn, Henri Toivonen drove the car to victory in the RAC Rally, spearheading a 1-2 finish for the new, high-tech, four-wheel drive Delta S4. The two cars won 41 of the event’s 63 special stages.
Henri Toivonen at the Monte Carlo Rally in 1986. Photo: Martin Holmes
The Delta S4 was on debut at the RAC Rally, and Toivonen made the most of his new, carbon-fibre space frame and 550bhp turbocharged engine, which was also supercharged to reduce turbo lag.
Tragically, Group B was eventually banned after Toivonen and co-driver, Sergio Cresto, lost their lives in a crash involving a different Delta S4 on the following year’s Tour of Corsica.
The car sold at auction was chassis 202, one of 28 Lancia Delta S4 models built.
So, if a Group B car is on your list of must-have items when you win Tattslotto, you'd better hope the Division 1 prize pool is upwards of $1.3 million ....
The burnt-out wreckage of Henri Toivonen's Lancia Delta S4 after he crashed in Corsica in 1986. Photo: Martin Holmes
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