1977 Lancia Beta MonteCarlo: Martini Time

Gabriel Valentin has been passionate about rallying since the 1990s. He was just a kid back then, but his father fielded two Range Rovers in the famous Paris-Dakar rally, and the rest was history in the making. Long before he drove the Lancia Beta Montecarlo from today’s film in historic competitions though—and before he drove anything for that matter—Gabriel was an avid WRC fan who idolized drivers like Didier Auriol, Carlos Sainz, and François Delecour. Watching Auriol at the Rallye Monte-Carlo during Toyota’s fruitful years in the sport, Gabriel longed to one day drive a full-size version of the Celica remote-controlled car that echoed the one his hero was sliding on the television. Many years later, Gabriel and his friend were aided by Toyota in creating a replica of the iconic Castro-liveried Group A rally car, but Gabriel made a career for himself in marketing rather than motorsport. The affinity for the now-vintage rally cars never waned despite the desk jobs, and eventually he landed a rat