The World Rally Championship’s Group B era lasted just four seasons, but the intense competition and inherent danger made it more popular than Formula 1 among fans. Manufacturers such as Audi, Lancia, Peugeot, and Ford spared no expense in developing competitive cars, but that’s not to say that every team had an unlimited budget. In 1984 and 1985, the Mazda Rally Team Europe (MRTE) campaigned an RX-7 built with limited help from Japan, yet managed to score a podium finish in its fourth outing. Though 20 cars were planned to meet homologation rules, just seven were built, and on September 6, possibly the last remaining unraced Mazda RX-7 Evolution heads to auction in London.

All-wheel drive (AWD) cars like the Audi Quattro proved dominant on gravel and snow, but mid-engine, rear-drive cars like Lancia’s 037 performed well enough to win the championship in 1983 and challenge for it in 1984. Perhaps encouraged by Lancia’s 1983 success, MRTE, led by team manager (and driver) Achim Warmbold, began development of the front-engine, rear-drive RX-7 Evolution at the team’s headquarters in Belgium during 1983. The end result was a suitable, if not quite ideal, platform for Group B’s 1984 and 1985 seasons.

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_{1985 Mazda RX-7 Evolution. Photos by Rowan Horncastle, courtesy RM Sotheby’s.}