Excuse me for a moment while I collect my jaw from the floor. This isn’t a kit car bolted together with bits from old Alfas and Fiats, nor is this an exquisitely crafted restomod (that’s my idea and you can’t have it, by the way). Nope, this is the real deal: a one-of-492 Lanica Stratos HF Stradale in need of a new home.
I say 492 examples were produced, but the actual number of road-going Stratoses (Strati?) will be far fewer than that. This is a 1970s homologation special, after all, so when the small allocation of rally-prepped machines was spoken for – or wrapped around a tree – motorsport outfits would simply pick up a ‘civilian’ Stradale and make the necessary modifications. Not to mention that, like most Lancias of the era, a chunk will have likely succumbed to rust, and you can be sure there are some tucked away in dusty garages in the thick of the Italian countryside that haven’t seen the light of day for the best part of 50 years.
So what we have here is the rarest of rarities: a 1976 Lancia Stratos HF Stradale in completely original form. That means the Ferrari Dino-derived 2.4-litre V6 is untouched at 190hp, which is all that’s needed to shift 900-odd kilos worth of steel and fibreglass from 0-60mph in less than seven seconds. Not that you’d want much more poke anyway, with the Group 4 rally cars featuring substantially wider tracks and chunky rear tyres for better traction and stability on stages. The car’s microscopic wheelbase allowed it to dance between hairpins, more often with the rear hanging out than not. Lose that rhythm and the Stratos can apparently be rather unforgiving, which isn’t hard to imagine just by eyeing it up.
Perhaps a previous owner found that out the hard way, with the ad suggesting that the only ‘restoration’ work that’s been carried out was a touch-up of paint on the passenger side “a very, very long time ago.” The rest is untouched, with the paintwork still containing decades-worth of stone chips and scuffs that journal around 14,000 miles of driving. And what a glorious colour it’s finest in, too. You don’t see many in Azzuro Blue, though I’m coming up short on finding production numbers by colour. The state of the interior is mighty impressive as well, with the glorious Havana Alcantara seats looking as though they’ve never been sat in, while the blue carpets show no signs of colour desaturation.
Moreover, all the original documentation is included with the sale, including the service book, owner’s manual and even the period-correct roadside assistance brochure. Granted, some work was carried out in 2015 (about £15,000 worth, according to the ad), though this mainly looks to have been carried out in the name of maintenance rather than restoration. And although the car is currently fitted with replacement wheels, the original rims are included in the sale and, presumably, are the ones shown in the images you see here.
The ad calls it a “time-warp”, harking back to an era when Alpine passes were full of tiny sports cars swinging from corner to corner like so many pendulums. This surely has to be one of the few remaining, totally original examples of the base Stratos in existence and, if you have the means, is an opportunity not to be missed. No surprise that you’ll need to enquire to get a price, but cars of this calibre have recently(ish) sold around the half-a-million mark. A bargain by Italian homologation special standards, and well worth it for the rare opportunity of owning one of – if not the – definitive Lancias.
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