Once again this year at the 'My Special Car' Show in Rimini, leading Italian monthly automotive magazine Quattroruote organisd a showcase of tuned cars that took visitors back in time.

However, whereas for the 2004 edition the vehicles in question were modern and vintage road vehicles, for this year’s edition the magazine opted to focus on 'rally queens', following their evolution in recent times. This truly stunning line-up took real pride of place in the Exhibition Centre, these legendary beasts facing show visitors immediately they walked through the main entrance turnstiles.

The journey presented by Quattroruote started from the 1970s, a period in which Italian car manufacturers excelled in this specialty with models such as the Fiat 131 Abarth and Lancia Stratos. From that era visitors were also able to admire a number of other successful vehicles, such as a stunning Alfa Romeo Alfetta GTV Turbodelta, driven by former factory regular Mauro Preglisco, and also the Opel Kadett Gti, a car that enabled many a budding Italian rally driver to get to grips with the sport.

Arguably, an even more important role in 1970s 'grass roots' rallying was played by the smallest vehicle on display, the Autobianchi A112 Abarth that, with its highly successful single model trophy, which gave many budding young Italian drivers the chance to show their worth.

Then, came the 1980s, an era of increasingly specialised rally vehicles, conceived essentially for racing and gradually equipped with ever more sophisticated technical equipment and ever greater power.
 

This glorious decade was represented by models such as the beautiful, fragile-looking Lancia 037 Rally, a true iconic 'rally queen', and the monstrous 'Group B' vehicles, which boasted as much as 500bhp, such as the championship winning Peugeot 205T16 and the wildly aggressive Lancia Delta S4. The Delta S4 example on display had been driven in its day by long time Lancia factory driver, the Finnish rally maestro, Markku Alen.

This era is wrapped up by the final version of the multi-title winning Lancia Integrale, as driven by Spanish World Rally Champion, Carlos Sainz, and entered by the Italian Jolly Club.

The present day, where the world championship is now known by the acronym WRC, saw the most significant vehicles from this period also on show in Rimini. They including the title winning Subaru Impreza and Peugeot 206 WRC.

Finally, space has even been dedicated to the minor categories of contemporary rally racing, represented by a Ford Fiesta Super 1600 and a Fiat Panda, from this year to be involved in a new trophy that will see this former 'European Car of the Year' award winning model follow the footsteps of its famous predecessor, the Abarth-tuned Autobianchi A112.