8 Car Manufacturers that could return to the WRC

The WRC may have the fastest cars that the World Rally Specification has ever been before, and they may also be the safest cars to compete in the WRC, but to some people out there, myself included, the Championship isn’t as exciting as it used to be, and I think that this may be due to a lack of competition from other manufacturers.

Right now, there are only 4 manufacturers competing for the Constructor’s title: Ford (M-Sport), Toyota, Citroen and Hyundai. At the beginning of the 21st century, there were 7, and there would have been an eight if Toyota hadn’t left to focus on F1. There was six from that year onward until 2009, with the exception of 2004 when only five were competing.

Some manufacturers dropped out, either because they were not successful, or in 2008, the global financial crisis made money tight and they couldn’t afford to maintain a team, such as Suzuki and Subaru.

For this list, I’m listing brands that may return to the scene. To keep it on the level and fair for other brands, I’m only listing brands from one automotive group, such as VW-Audi and GM. (I made an exception for Lancia, because the brand desperately needs someone to save it from becoming the next Saab.)

Here are some examples of manufacturers that would be great to see return:

1. Mitsubishi

Anybody who’s a rallying enthusiast probably knows what this car is.

Tommi Mäkinen dominated with the Lancer Evolution series of WRC cars from 1996-1999 for the driver’s title, as well as the Lancer Evo taking Richard Burns to his first WRC victory in 1998’s Safari Rally.

Mitsubishi pulled out of the WRC in 2005 after their Lancer WRC (different from the Evo) provided lacklustre performance and results in 2004 and 2005.

If Mitsubishi were to return and get rid of the “dull crossover maker” image some say they have now, a likely platform to use would be the Mirage supermini/subcompact car platform. While the road car itself is not very good compared to rivals, an R5 variant does exist so it’s not far-fetched.

2. MG

SAIC Motor have been trying to brand MG as a sporty brand since it’s revival in 2007. Trouble is for SAIC, they’re not doing themselves any favours by having 2 of the 3 vehicles they sell in the UK being crossovers. A solution to show the brand was once focused around performance? Re-enter the WRC.

A re-entry to the competition wouldn’t be particularly far-fetched, if the MG3 is used as a base and they have good enough people to help the team work. A plan to enter the competition as a manufacturer similar to the render below were in the talks, but nothing solid has been confirmed, and the project was rumoured to be abandoned.

3. Lancia

Lancia was the king of the WRC, as they’ve won the most Constructor’s championship out of any that has entered the WRC - a staggering 10 times. Unfortunately, Lancia has dropped off the radar since their withdrawal after the 1992 WRC season, now only producing one very poor road car by today’s standards, and only sell cars in Italy.

If Lancia were to get back into the WRC, which is highly unlikely considering Marchionne’s business strategy at FCA, then you can probably expect a Ypsilon-based WRC car, as the Fiat Bravo-based Delta has been out of production for four years now.

4. Opel

Opel have never won the Constructor’s Championship for the WRC, but Walter Röhrl did win the Driver’s Championship in 1982 with the Asconda 400, and came third in the Constructor’s Championship in 1983.

If Opel were to return, however, it is highly likely that the Corsa will be used as a base for the new WRC car, with a car based on the smaller Adam also being possible. The good news is that, unlike most of the other manufacturers on this list, Opel have expressed an interest in a return to the WRC, IF they can turn around Opel/Vauxhall’s loss of £200m from last year.

Fingers crossed, then.

5. Fiat

Hold on there, guys. Before you get your sickles, torches and pitchforks out and demand my house to be burned down and demand that I should be be beheaded - wait. There is a reasoning to the mad choice.

Fiat won the WRC Constructor’s Championship three times - in 1977, 1978 and 1980 - with the Fiat 131 Abarth, which also powered Walter Röhrl to his first Driver’s Championship title in 1980.

A Fiat return is more likely to happen than the Lancia return, as Fiat is more commercially successful than Lancia at the moment. A good shout for a base would be the Fiat 500 Abarth, as it already competes in some S1600 events.

6. Audi

This brand was bound to be on here.

The legendary quattro won the 1982 and 1984 WRC constructor’s titles, as well as taking Hannu Mikkola and Stig Blomqvist to becoming the Driver’s Champions in 1983 and 1984 respectively.

If an Audi return does happen, then expect to see a variation of the S1 to compete, similar to its rallycross variant in styling.

7. Mazda

This one may be a little more surprising, but Mazda actually entered the WRC during Group B with the RX-7, and they also entered the 323 after Group B cars were banned, with varying degrees of success from both.

Mazda could return in the near future with a Demio-based car, as it has already been entered by third parties into R2-spec rallies. Sure, it may not have a rotary, but rotaries aren’t suitable for rally cars anyway.

8. Mini

Mini used to be a big name in rallying. Whilst it never won the World Rally Championship outright, it did win the Monte Carlo Rally in 1964. And again. And again. And again. The 1966 win was not counted as it was disqualified because of the use of a controversial headlamp.

Other victories include Rally Finland 3 times (in ‘65, ‘66 and ‘67), RAC Rally, Tulip Rally twice (‘64 and ‘66), Isle of Man 3 times (‘64, ‘65 and ‘67), Circuit of Ireland Rally four times (‘62, ‘65, ‘66 and ‘67) and also won the 1967 Acropolis Rally. If the WRC had existed during the Mini’s main rally career, it’s possible it would have won it at least three times.

The same couldn’t be said for BMW/Prodrive’s revival in 2011, however, no doubt with BMW withdrawing works support meant no further points were scored in 2012, despite coming second in Monte Carlo of that year, and second in Corsica in 2011.

If Mini were to return, BMW could learn their lesson from 2011/12 and use the Hatch platform instead, if they can source a 1.6 engine that would be suitable for a return, and look something like the image below.

Some other brands that could come back include (honourable mentions, if you will):
Suzuki
Renault
Nissan
Peugeot (but pointless since Citroen already compete)
Saab (don’t exist anymore, sadly)
Alfa Romeo
BMW
Mercedes-Benz
Volvo

Do you agree, or is there any I’ve missed? What brands do you want to see return to the WRC?

This content was originally posted by a Car Throttle user on our Community platform and was not commissioned or created by the CT editorial team.