Perhaps even more thrilling than the years of turbocharged Formula 1 were the Group C racers of the same era. Manufacturers were given a huge amount of autonomy following a brief which resulted in a colourful combination of naturally aspirated and turbocharged engines of wildly varying cylinder count and overall configuration.

This saw European manufacturers go toe-to-toe with the remainder of the globe, each open to developing engines and cars the way they thought best; Jaguars screaming V12, Mercedes twin-turbo V8, Peugeots F1-style V10, Porsches lay-down six and of course Mazdas naturally aspirated quad-rotor made up just some of the machinery Group C drivers would pilot during the era.

At times breaking speeds of over 400km/h, it was a ferocious category which saw incredible driving talent teamed with the best racing technology major manufacturers could muster at the time. This video pays tributes to the thrills and spills of the glory days seen by Group C racing.