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An amazing Group B rally car collection heads to auction

Kicking off in 1982, the Group B era spawned some of the most fearsome rally cars of all time. The technologically advanced pioneers of all-wheel drive and turbocharging defined a time when automakers had carte blanche to build machines with unrestricted power, without the burden of homologating a large number of road cars to qualify. The results were sometimes deadly, leading the FIA to ban the class after 1986. Now, a collection of seven Group B monsters is headed across the block in Paris as part of the Artcurial auction, held in partnership with France's famed Retromobile show. The show has been delayed to June, however. There's a 1985 Peugeot 205 Turbo 16, one of 20 Evo II models that helped the company achieve two championships in Group B's short run. This particular example was driven by world champion Timo Salonen at the 1986 Swedish Rally, where it finished seventh due to an oil filter seal failure. Bruno Saby subsequently drove it at the 1986 Tour de Corse and Peugeot entered it at the 1986 Acropolis Rally as well. It's still registered to Peugeot Talbot Sport and represents a French technological achievement, according to Artcurial, comparable to the Concorde or TGV train. Representing Italy are a pair of Lancias in the iconic Martini livery. The Lancia 037 helped Bel Paese clinch its only Group B victory in 1983, after a hard-fought rivalry with Audi. It's one of the few Group B cars that weren't AWD, achieving its success the old-fashioned way, through lightness and superb handling. A second Lancia, a 1986 Delta S4, was the culmination of the Italian firm's later Group B efforts and one of Saby's favorites. While Group B was no more in 1987, the S4 was the predecessor to the Delta Integrale that would dominate WRC from 1987 through 1992. While the collection also includes greats like a Ford RS200, Renault 5 Maxi Turbo, and MG Metro 6R4, the centerpiece is the Audi Quattro Sport S1. The ultimate Group B machine, it introduced all-wheel-drive and turbocharging to the sport. It also employed the wildest use of wings and air dams to generate downforce. Tunable up to 590 horsepower, it could rocket to 60 mph in about three seconds. The car offered for sale came straight from Ingolstadt, a 1988 model built for the Race of Champions of ex-Group B cars. The collection was amassed in the late 80s and early 90s, not long after Group B's dissolution.

Mustang retakes monthly pony car sales crown from Camaro

Going back to their origins in the Swinging '60s, the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro have been fierce rivals for fans' hearts and dollars. Historically, the Ford often led in volume, but Chevy took the muscle car top spot in 2009 upon the Camaro's rebirth. However, with the launch of the latest Blue Oval pony car, the tide is turning back in Ford's favor. November was the first full month of sales for the new 2015 Mustang, and according to TheDetroitBureau.com, the model did spectacularly well. The Blue Oval shifted 8,728 of them, up 62 percent from same month last year, with the automaker proclaiming it the model's best November sales since 2006. Conversely, 4,385 units of the Camaro were delivered, down 13.5 percent year-over-year, meaning its sales were roughly half that of the new-generation Mustang. Ford is understandably happy with the results, and product development director Raj Nair even hinted to TDB that another version of the Mustang might be unveiled at January's North American International Auto Show. Rumor has it that the model will be the even more potent Shelby Mustang GT350R. Despite the Mustang's November success, the Camaro outsells it year to day. So far in 2014, Ford has sold 73,124 Mustangs versus 79,669 examples of the Camaro. With December offering the last chance for an overtake, the Bowtie may yet remain king for this year's sales crown. A new Camaro is peeking over the horizon, as well. It's reportedly moving to the Alpha platform used by the Cadillac ATS, and production could start in late 2015. Prototypes are already testing at the Nurburgring, and camouflaged examples have been spotted weirdly being compared to its '80s forefather.

Ford Mondeo with 1.5-liter EcoBoost debuts in China

Does the car above, posing fancifully in white, look familiar? Well, it should. Although it wears Mondeo badges in the form you see above for the Chinese market - as it does in Europe - the car is basically the same thing sold in the US as the Ford Fusion. Of course, it's what's under that shapely skin that counts.
Ford has chosen the Shanghai Motor Show as the venue with which to unveil its 1.5-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine. We'd heard about the engine before, but now we have a few performance estimates to share: 133 kW of power (about 178 horsepower) and 240 Nm of torque (about 177 pound-feet).
Those numbers pretty much confirm previous rumors indicating about 177 in each category, and it's right on par with what Ford's own 1.6-liter EcoBoost produces. Ford is claiming best-in-class fuel economy as well, but no specific figures have yet been provided. In any case, we'll surely have all the data soon enough, as the 1.5-liter mill is destined for the US Fusion in 2014.