It’s like stepping back in time. Not yesterday, before that. A couple of years ago. A decade ago. The noughties. The nineties. Time, for these machines at least, has stood still.
The Subaru Impreza 555 Alister McRae will drive sits beneath a dustsheet ready, waiting. It’s one of the Best cars, like one of the best Best cars. The product of Carlo Boroli’s brilliant mind and built in a workshop along Lake Maggiore, this reimagination of Group A is stunning.
A sight and sound to behold. Electrified at the flick of a switch, the systems wake up and hum. The fuel pumps feed the famously flat four cylinders before ignition. That noise. It’s 1995 again.
This is what Logiman Mythical Cars Rally is all about.
Whatever you’re doing between May 24-27, you have to be in Varzi, Lombardy, Italy. You must.
Group A is beautifully represented by Lancia, Mitsubishi and, of course, Subaru. The World Rally Car era is fabulously bridged by an Impreza WRC, a Hyundai Accent WRC, the ubiquitous Ford Escort WRC and, the big plus… Alessandro Gino in his Citroën C3 WRC.
If natural aspiration’s your thing, we’ve got you covered with a plethora of Super 1600 cars, including Renault Clios, Citroën Saxos, Peugeot’s 106 and a Fiat Punto. Moving up to two-litre non-turbo, but with four-wheel drive brings us to Super 2000. The noise, the action and the speed just got ramped up with Andreas Mikkelsen in a Škoda Fabia S2000, a Grande Punto S2000 and Peugeot 207 S2000. Great days.
Greatest days and arguably the best noise of all? Has to be Peugeot’s 306 Maxi – the car Sébastien Loeb loved so much he bought himself one.
They’re all coming to Varzi later this month. Are you?
Logiman Mythical Cars Rally advisor Andrea Adamo smiles. “This event,” he said, “it’s not just for the eyes… it’s for the ears as well.
“Honestly speaking, how can you ask me to pick a favourite? It’s just not possible. They are all so special, but maybe you missed the one that people will come a very long way to see… the Porsche 911 GT3.
“When we started to think about this event and taking the best from Group A, World Rally Cars, kit cars, R-GT, Super 1600 and Super 2000, I don’t think we even really thought we could have cars from all classes.
“But we’ve done that. It’s going to be amazing. I am the biggest fan and I can’t wait for the rally now.”
For Andrea’s fellow rally fans visiting Varzi for the Logiman Mythical Cars Rally, there’s the chance for unprecedented access to the service park; spectators are right at the heart of what this event’s all about.
Andrea added: “Like you know, for Logiman Mythical Cars Rally, we have focused a lot, a lot, a lot on the experience for the fans. Nobody loves the cars more than me, but I also love to see the show. Every night during the rally, we have a party planned with great food and music and just a fantastic atmosphere.
“We are a rally about two different stages: we have the ones on the roads around Varzi and we have the one in the service park – it’s on this stage where the fans will have the chance to meet the heroes and the world champions. And, I’m happy to tell you, it’s not just the big names from the drivers, we have also big, big names from the sport. We will tell you more about that next week.
“For the service park, we’re planning to make some opportunity for the fans to take a tour around – to look a little bit behind the scenes at what goes on for the teams and how the prepare these amazing, mythical cars for this rally.
“And, don’t forget, if you want to make the event in real style then you really should consider the helicopter option. All of the details are on our website here.”
The all-asphalt, all-action Logiman Mythical Cars Rally is split across two days, starting on Friday May 26, with the opening test set for 1948 that evening. Saturday brings six more stages and a total of 78 competitive kilometres.
Open to Group A, including Super 1600, Super 2000, kit cars, R-GT and World Rally Cars, entries are available here.
