Welsh firm resurrects Group B rally car with Audi power

Welsh firm Motorsport Tools (MST) is recreating the MG Metro 6R4 Group B rally car.

Just five will be produced, which will go on sale next year, priced from an eye-watering AU$543,442.

According to Autocar, the firm will slot in the turbocharged 3.0-litre V6 engine from the B8-generation Audi S4.

The new model will be called the “all-new 6R4”, as MST doesn’t hold the rights to MG or the Metro name.

MST will fit a supercharger and other additional components to provide 335kW of power, up from 265kW, with power sent to all four wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox.

The original car weighed 1040kgs, however it’s unconfirmed how much the recreation will weigh.

It will feature an all-new carbon-fibre body shell, based on the exact dimensions of the original fibreglass shell, that’s been engineered in partnership with New Zealand firm Innovate Composites.

Motorsports Tools will offer buyers a choice of a bespoke interior or a more stripped-back, lightweight cabin, designed for race and rally activities.

The original MG Metro 6R4 used a Cosworth naturally aspirated six-cylinder engine that would pump out 186kW in the homologated version and 305kW of power in the rally car, with power sent to all four wheels.

This same engine would later be used, with turbochargers, in the Jaguar XJ220.

The original rally car placed third in the Lombard RAC Rally in November 1985, but it was all downhill from there. The following year, no Metros were able to finish a course, and then Group B rallying was banned.