The FIA International Championship for Manufacturers (IMC) was a

rally Rally or rallye may refer to: Gatherings * Demonstration (political), a political rally, a political demonstration of support or protest, march, or parade * Pep rally, an event held at a United States school or college sporting event Sports ...

series culminating in a champion manufacturer. The championship was run from 1970 to 1972 and it was replaced by the FIA World Rally Championship in 1973. All the nine rallies of the 1972 IMC season were part of the

1973 World Rally Championship season The 1973 World Rally Championship was the inaugural season for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) World Rally Championship (WRC) format. It consisted of 13 events, each held in a different country of the world. Many of the even ...

. In the inaugural season,

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

's Björn Waldegård drove his 911 S to victory at the

Monte Carlo Rally The Monte Carlo Rally or Rallye Monte-Carlo (officially ''Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo'') is a rallying event organised each year by the Automobile Club de Monaco. The rally now takes place along the French Riviera in Monaco and southeast ...

, the Swedish Rally and the Österreichische Alpenfahrt. With Porsche leading

Alpine-Renault The Société des Automobiles Alpine SAS, commonly known as Alpine (), is a French manufacturer of racing and sports cars established in 1955. The Alpine car marque was created in 1954. Jean Rédélé, the founder of Alpine, was originally a ...

by only three points before the season-ending RAC Rally, the championship went down to the wire. Alpine-Renault recruited Ove Andersson for the event, but he had an accident and retired. Alpine-Renault's best result was then

Andrew Cowan Andrew Cowan (13 December 1936 – 15 October 2019) was a Scottish rally driver, and the founder and senior director of Mitsubishi Ralliart until his retirement on 30 November 2005. Early years Cowan was raised in Duns, a small town in the S ...

's fifth place, and Porsche took the title. Porsche's Gérard Larrousse also picked up a point for sixth place. In 1971, Alpine-Renault ran away with the title as Andersson won four of the eight events in the Alpine A110 1600. The Alpine-Renault, driven by Bernard Darniche, also won the last Coupe des Alpes, but because the event ran with an insufficient number of starters (36 when the FIA minimum was 50), no points were awarded towards the championship. The final IMC title went to

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

. The Fulvia 1.6 Coupé HF was driven by

Simo Lampinen Simo Lampinen (born 22 June 1943) is a Finland, Finnish former rallying, rally driver, and one of the first of the "Flying Finns" who came to dominate the sport. Biography Lampinen was born in Porvoo. Having contracted polio at a young age, he ...

(35 points),

Harry Källström Harry Källström (30 June 1939 – 13 July 2009), nicknamed "Sputnik" , was a Swedish professional rally driver who debuted in 1957 and competed in the World Rally Championship in the 1970s. Prior to the forming of the WRC, Källström won the RA ...

(22)

Sandro Munari Sandro Munari (born 27 March 1940), also nicknamed 'Il Drago' (The Dragon) is a former motor racing and rally driver from Italy. Career Sandro Munari was born in Cavarzere, in the Veneto region. He began rallying in 1965 and won the Italian Ral ...

(20) and Amilcare Ballestrieri (20).

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

finished second in the standings with their 124 Sport Spider.

1970

Events

Final standings

1971

Events

Final standings

1972

Events

Final standings

References

External links

Official website of the World Rally Championship
{{World Rally Championship results Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile Rally racing series World Rally Championship