Nationales Automuseum – The Loh Collection, Dietzhölztal, Germany
Opening March 28, 2026
After dedicating its 2025 exhibition to Formula 1, the National Automobile Museum – The Loh Collection has chosen “Rally Legends – A Journey Through Time on Asphalt, Gravel, and Snow” as the theme for 2026. The exhibition features a selection of rally cars from different eras.
For Professor Friedhelm Loh, the museum’s founder, “Rallying is the most comprehensive discipline in the multifaceted world of motorsport. In rallying, everything has to be right: the driver, the co-driver, the service team and the course. Everyone involved has to adapt to the respective circumstances at breakneck speed. This is also part of what makes rallying so fascinating. Team spirit, goal orientation, adaptability and speed – these qualities are essential to overcoming specific challenges such as heat, cold or road conditions.”
Beyond rallying, the exhibition also covers rally raids such as the Dakar Rally, and the famous Pikes Peak hill climb in the U.S.
Rallyes
The oldest car on display is a Bentley 6 1/2 Litre Speed Six, bodied as a “Sport Coupe,” a reminder that road racing existed before the concept of rallying was defined. This concept itself has evolved significantly over time. The Monte Carlo Rally, undoubtedly the oldest road race still in existence, underwent numerous changes before becoming the sporting event it is today, featuring regularity races, road marathons, and presentation contests… In the 1950s and up through the mid-1960s, rally cars remained very close to production models. The Mercedes 300 SL distinguished itself particularly in major road marathons in Europe and Latin America, while in rallies, cars as diverse as the Mini Cooper S and the imposing Mercedes 300 SE sedan competed against one another.
With the FIA’s definition of Groups 1 through 5 (from (nearly) production-based touring cars, Gr 1, to prototypes, Gr 5), new “Group 4” models like the Alpine A110 and the Porsche 911 became the queens of rallying. In 1973, Alpine won the first World Rally Championship (WRC) in the “manufacturers” category. The Lancia Stratos, the first car developed specifically for rally racing, was homologated in Group 4 through the production of “road” versions and went on to dominate the World Championship from 1974 to 1976.
Audi took a similar approach with the Quattro, which introduced four-wheel drive to rallying and won the 1982 World Championship. Mercedes, for its part, relied more on the ruggedness of its models—the 280 sedan or 450 SLC coupe, to tackle the tracks of African rallies such as the Bandama or the East African Safari. In 1983, the advent of Group B cars, which benefited from particularly permissive regulations, ushered in a new era, often considered a golden age given how impressive these cars were. Audi (Quattro, S1), Ford (RS 200), Lancia (037 EVO, Delta S4), Opel (Ascona 400, Manta 400), and Peugeot (205 Turbo 16) engaged in a race for power, to the point that the FIA eventually banned Group B.
Group A succeeded Group B, and while Audi introduced the 200 Quattro, it was Lancia that completely dominated the world of rallying, winning six consecutive titles (an all-time record) from 1987 to 1992 with various generations of the Delta, represented in the exhibition by a Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16V. Starting in 1997, the World Rally Championship established WRC regulations that underwent several changes through 2021.
While the Subaru Impreza is one of the major models from this era when Japanese manufacturers dominated, it would have been nice to have a Citroën (8 world titles between 2003 and 2012) included in this selection. The most recent model in the exhibition is a Volkswagen Polo R, which helped the German brand win four consecutive titles from 2013 to 2017.
The Dakar
As with rallies, the Paris-Dakar raid began with cars that were simply reinforced to withstand the event’s harsh conditions, before attracting the interest of manufacturers and giving rise to a World Rally-Raid Championship. Even the support vehicles are specially prepared, as evidenced by this 1985 Mercedes-Benz G-Class 280 equipped with a V8 engine from a Porsche 928. Porsche had entered Group B with the 959, recognizable by its slightly flattened front end and, above all, its large rear wing integrated into the rear end. Based on a 911, the 959 was a four-wheel-drive vehicle with a mid-mounted turbocharged engine. Arriving too late to compete in rallies following the end of Group B, it was used for the development of the 959 “Dakar,” winner of the 1986 Dakar Rally.
The Volkswagen Race Touareg III (2011) and the Peugeot 3008 DKR (2017) bear only a very vague resemblance to the production models from which they borrow their names. They are true prototypes developed entirely for these races, as are the X-Raid Mini JCW Buggies. Audi did compete in the 2022 Dakar Rally with its Audi RS Q e-tron, the first electric vehicle entered in a rally raid. To be precise, the car is powered by two electric motors, each producing nearly 200 horsepower, but the battery is charged by a combustion engine. Audi wins the rally and proves its concept in 2024 on its third attempt. A BMW R 900 motorcycle rounds out the Dakar lineup.
Pikes Peak
The Pikes Peak Hill Climb is one of the oldest active automobile races. Long an exclusively American specialty, it was in the early 1980s that European manufacturers began to take an interest, notably Audi, which found it a suitable arena for its powerful Audi Quattro Group B cars. Audi won six consecutive times in the “Unlimited” category from 1982 to 1987, with Walter Röhrl taking the 1987 victory by breaking the 11-minute barrier for the first time!
Finally, let’s mention the Audi S1 Hoonitron which bears a vague resemblance to the Audi Quattro S1, but is fully electric and was developed for the famous American drifter Ken Block, another form of road performance! Through this exhibition, the “Nationales Automuseum – The Loh Collection” showcases road racing legends, but also pays tribute to the manufacturers, teams, and drivers who shaped the history of rallying, including Walter Röhrl, Carlos Sainz, Rauno Aaltonen, Hannu Mikkola, Markku Alen, Michele Mouton, Henri Toivonen, Ari Vatanen, Petter Solberg, Juha Kankkunen, Didier Auriol, Sebastien Loeb, Stephane Peterhansel, Sebastien Ogier and many others!
New Book: « Rallye Legends – A Journey Through Time on Asphalt, Gravel, and Snow »
The book “Rally Legends – A Time Journey on Asphalt, Gravel, and Snow,” published to coincide with the exhibition, also traces the ideas of engineers and shares many other fascinating anecdotes from the world of rallying. Written by Jörg Walz, a renowned author and motorsports expert, with a foreword by Christian Geistdörfer, who was Walter Röhrl’s co-driver, the book published in German and English showcases the vehicles on display and provides readers with comprehensive information about the other rally participants as well as numerous aspects of the sport. In addition, the well-stocked gift shop at the Nationales Automuseum offers scale models and collectibles created specifically for the temporary exhibition.
The photos on this page belong to National Automuseum – The Loh Collection, no right of reproduction without the express permission of the museum.