In the sport of rallying, some driver and car combinations will be ingrained in our memories for all of time.
Tommi Mäkinen and Mitsubishi. Miki Biasion and Lancia. Sébastien Loeb and Citroën.
Yes, all of those drivers drove for other manufacturers during their World Rally Championship careers, but mention their names and the images that first pop into the minds of long-time rally fans are of each man and the machine with which they made their name.
So when we see images of a driver at the wheel of something other than those machines, it simply doesn’t make sense.
What? When? How?
Take this image of Mr Loeb from the Girardo & Co. Archive, for example.
It’s from the 2000 Tour de Corse; the nine-time world champion’s debut in a WRC car.
But the familiar red colors of Citroën are missing, replaced instead with a predominantly white livery, with some French red and blue added thanks to Loeb’s French Federation of Automobile Sport backing.
And while the badge of the car has been removed, you, I, and everyone else who has even a vague memory of the late 1990s know it’s a Toyota Corolla.
But despite knowing the story of the Frenchman’s career and the result he achieved in the event – a creditable ninth place finish on a rally where 26 WRC cars took the start – the image of Loeb driving a Toyota is something that will just never not look odd.
Well, to this writer at least…
