Where have they gone?

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AudiPro

AudiPro

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I was recently watching a documentary about old rally cars and their history (50 years sideways) and looking at those old cars I wondered where have all of those old cars gone? I know most have probably been put in museums or bought by private collectors and some were sent to the crusher to be recycled but what about the cars that weren't in the spotlight that were made by small time companies. The cars built that weren't so famous. Where did they go?
 
Yea but what about all the classic muscle cars found in old barns and garages there's gotta be something like that.
 
AudiPro
Yea but what about all the classic muscle cars found in old barns and garages there's gotta be something like that.
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Ya, but it really has nothing to do with well known or lesser known cars. It can happen to any car. You either understand cars, or you don't.
 
AudiPro
Yea but what about all the classic muscle cars found in old barns and garages there's gotta be something like that.
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Those are old cars sold to the public in large numbers. Far greater chance of finding an old muscle car in someone's barn that it would be to find an old rally car in the same situation. I would bet a lot of old rally cars are probably still in use somewhere.
 
On another forum I visit, someone has this amongst his huge Audi collection:

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It's a replica though :p
 
Well Historic rallying is a big thing in the UK so quite a lot of old rally cars are still competing. The rest are, like you said, in the motor museums, private collections etc.

A couple years ago when I went to England I went to the Beaulieu Motor Museum and they had an old Quattro and a Rothmans Mk.2 Escort. Also toured the Prodrive facility and they have quite a few of their old works cars in a Museum section too. A Rothmans 911 and Metro 6R4, E30, Legacy and Impreza.
 
I think most of the cars were sold after the team stopped competing or a change in the rules made the car out dated. So today the cars are either privately owned or owned by the company that made them.

Many past rally cars still exist and it's not uncommon to find one for sale.

As Slims said historic rallying is popular (especially in Europe) so many of these cars are still being used today.

 
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Yeah, there's a significant number in collections, but stuff like the Escorts, 6R4, RS200 and others mostly sold in the UK can be found ploughing Rallycross events and hillclimb trials every other weekend the length and breadth of the country.
 
The great thing about a rally car is that it's typically low-power enough that you can drive it without killing yourself, and that it has plenty of parts commonality with road cars. On the other hand, stuff like Formula 1 cars and Group C rarely comes out of the museum or garage, due to their relative rarity and high performance.
 

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