The finest rally cars left their mark on Portuguese roads. Discover the models that are part of the history of a rally that was considered the best in the world five times.
Organised by the Automobile Club of Portugal, the event featured fantastic cars that fuelled the passion for rallying, with the Toyota Yaris being the most successful, with six victories, followed by the Lancia Delta (five wins).
The mythical Fiat 131 Abarth and the impressive Subaru Impreza claimed four wins each, followed by the Audi Quattro, VW Polo R WRC, Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV, Citroën C4 WRC and Toyota Celica GT Four with three wins apiece. These cars represented very different eras and regulations (Group 4, Group B, Group A, WRC and Rally1).
The Rally of Portugal was dominated by European brands but, from 1990 onwards, the Japanese entered the WRC and the story began to change. Toyota returned to rallying with the Yaris WRC/Rally1 and has won the last six editions of the Vodafone Rally of Portugal with Sébastien Ogier in 2024 and 2025, Kalle Rovanperä in 2022 and 2023, Elfyn Evans in 2021 and Ott Tänak in 2019.
This Japanese "pure bred" was designed to win, as it has an optimised chassis and a very aggressive aerodynamic kit. It is equipped with a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo engine, with 370hp or 500hp in the hybrid version (this system was abandoned in 2025), has all-wheel drive and a five-speed manual gearbox.
The Lancia Delta made history in the late 80s and early 90s by winning six world titles (between 1987 and 1992) – it is the only model to achieve such a feat. In Portugal, it won five times! Markku Alen won in 1987 with the HF 4WD version, featuring a 2.0 turbo engine with 260hp. Then came the Integrale with 335hp, which dominated the Portuguese race with Massimo Biasion from 1988 to 1990, and Juha Kankkunen in 1992.
All other cars seemed obsolete compared to the Delta's "firepower". The mythical Fiat 131 Abarth and the impressive Subaru Impreza appeared with four victories achieved in different eras. The 131 Abarth, with Markku Alen (1977, 1978 and 1981) and Walter Röhrl (1980), is the only car to have won every time it participated. It had a 2.0 four-cylinder engine with power between 225 and 245hp, rear-wheel drive and a five-speed manual transmission. It dominated roads worldwide and gave Fiat three world titles.
Rally enthusiasts will never forget the imposing Subaru Impreza WRC, which won the Portuguese rally with Carlos Sainz in 1995, Colin McRae in 1998 and Richards Burns in 2000. Daniel Carlsson won in 2005, but that year the event did not count towards the FIA World Rally Championship. It was equipped with a 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder boxer engine, with over 300hp, all-wheel drive, an innovative active differential system and a five-speed manual gearbox; in 2000, a six-speed sequential gearbox was introduced.
The drivers performed true feats of skill with the Impreza, which gave Subaru three world titles, but it was the connection with Colin McRae that made this car legendary.
The Audi Quattro S1 and S2 won three times in Portugal. Michele Mouton won in 1982 – she was the first and only woman to dethrone the men – and Hannu Mikkola triumphed in 1983 and 1984. This revolutionary, technologically-advanced car completely changed rallying with its permanent all-wheel drive. Audi presented different versions of the Quattro, but the car that won in Portugal was equipped with a 2.1-litre five-cylinder turbo engine with 360hp, a five-speed manual gearbox and an aluminum and Kevlar body.
The car was initially homologated in Group 4 but, in 1983, it moved to Group B with 380hp. The roar of the engine, the dazzling accelerationand the cornering efficiency – it seemed to run on rails – were impressive. Wherever it went, it left behind clouds of dust, jets of dirt, and black streaks on the asphalt. It became one of the most iconic cars in the FIA and FISA World Rally Championships.