Chris Tolman fell in love with cars on a rally stage.
"I would have been 11 years old when my dad took me to watch the 1986 RAC Rally, one of the very last Group B events," he says.
"That was the ignition of my Peugeot 205 T16 obsession. To see Juha Kankkunen's car spit flames was completely mind-blowing."
That his Tolman Engineering business is now an ideal destination for stricken rally heroes is wonderfully full circle. And an interesting thing is happening, reckons Tolman: handfuls of the road-going specials produced for Group B homologation are now coming onto the market for the first time.
Some of them, though, are in serious need of love. "It appears a lot of these cars went into collections when new," he says. "Those who could afford them in 1985 were probably in their forties or fifties. Now we're 40 years down the line, perhaps their collections are being moved on."
This poses a problem when their perishable parts have, well, perished: "We've got a new generation of people getting into these cars and going: 'Oh my God. Where do you get this done? What do you do?"
Calling Tolman is a pretty good place to start. In a storied career, he has gone from spannering World Rally Championship cars in service parks to running his own race team, his eager, hands-on spirit not dimming once.
If anyone can confidently navigate their way beneath a 205 T16 now or indeed its MG Metro 6R4, Ford RS200 or Lancia Delta S4 brethren it's him.
The incredibly liberal Group B rulebook was in place from 1982 to 1986 and remains legendary for the wild rally cars spun from it. So wild that the era drew to a premature close when its performance levels far outstripped the safety measures protecting drivers and spectators.
Add your comment