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Whereas different producers performed it secure with tried-and-true formulation, Lancia was inventing the longer term (or, at the very least, attempting to). They gave us the primary manufacturing V6 engine, pioneered unibody building, and by some means satisfied the world that placing a Ferrari V8 in a boring-looking sedan was a wonderfully affordable factor to do. Their rally automobiles didn’t simply win championships: they rewrote the rulebook whereas making it look easy.
However right here’s the factor about Lancia: their “loopy” concepts had this annoying behavior of changing into business requirements 20 years later. Lambda’s unibody building in 1922? Revolutionary. Aurelia’s rear transaxle in 1950? Genius. Stratos is utilizing a Ferrari engine to dominate rallying? Pure Italian theater at its most interesting. Let’s rejoice the Lancia fashions which will have felt jarring at first, however later grew to become icons and innovators.
Lancia Stratos HF
The Stratos HF is what occurs while you take a Ferrari Dino V6, wrap it in fiberglass designed by somebody who clearly spent an excessive amount of time studying science fiction, after which resolve to go rallying with it (in different phrases, it’s insane in the most effective methods). Bertone’s Marcello Gandini penned this wedge-shaped missile, and truthfully, it nonetheless appears prefer it may take off and fly to Mars.
Right here’s the gorgeous insanity of it: Lancia mainly advised Ferrari, “Hey, can we borrow your 2.4-liter Dino V6?” Ferrari mentioned Certain, most likely considering they’d construct a pleasant touring automobile. As a substitute, Lancia created a rally weapon that would outcorner a mountain goat and sound like angels arguing in Italian.
The factor gained the World Rally Championship three straight years (1974-1976), turning what appeared like a doorstop into essentially the most profitable rally automobile of its period. With 190 horsepower pushing simply 2,160 kilos, it had a power-to-weight ratio that made grown males weep. The cockpit was tighter than a submarine, however while you’re busy amassing stage wins, who wants elbow room?
Lancia Delta Integrale
Take a smart household hatchback, add flared wheel arches that would home small plane, throw in a turbocharged engine, all-wheel drive, and the type of suspension setup that makes physics professors nervous: congratulations, you’ve simply constructed essentially the most profitable rally automobile in historical past.
The Delta Integrale gained six consecutive World Rally Championships from 1987 to 1992. Six. In a row. That’s just like the Yankees successful each World Sequence within the ’90s, besides with extra Italian hand gestures and significantly higher engine sounds.
Underneath the hood sat a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder making 185-215 horsepower (relying on the yr), fed by means of a complicated all-wheel-drive system that would ship energy wherever it was wanted most. The outcome was a automobile that would launch from 0-60 mph in about 5.5 seconds whereas wanting like one thing you’d use to choose up groceries.
Lancia Fulvia Coupe
The Fulvia Coupe proves that you just don’t have to look aggressive to be a winner. With its delicate strains and refined proportions, it appeared prefer it belonged at a wine tasting, not sliding by means of Finnish forests at ludicrous speeds.
However right here’s the place it will get much more attention-grabbing: Lancia fitted this elegant coupe with a narrow-angle V4 engine (sure, V4—they had been bizarre like that) and front-wheel drive at a time when most efficiency automobiles had been nonetheless dragging their knuckles with rear-wheel drive. The outcome was a 1,200-pound featherweight that dealt with prefer it was studying your thoughts.
The Fulvia gained the Worldwide Rally Championship in 1972, proving that class and velocity weren’t mutually unique. The cabin was attractive too, with wooden trim, supportive seats, and that particular Lancia steering wheel that made you’re feeling such as you had been piloting one thing particular.
Lancia 037
By 1982, the rally world had gone four-wheel-drive loopy. Audi’s Quattro was rewriting the principles, and everybody was scrambling to catch up. In the meantime, Lancia wasn’t fearful in any respect.
As a substitute of following the pattern, they constructed the 037 — a rear-wheel-drive, mid-engined spaceship that appeared prefer it had escaped from a online game. The bodywork was a mixture of fiberglass, Kevlar, and pure Italian stubbornness, wrapped round a tubular spaceframe that weighed about as a lot as an honest bicycle.
The celebration piece was the engine: a 2.0-liter four-cylinder with a supercharger bolted on prime, making round 265 horsepower. No turbo lag, simply instantaneous, linear energy supply that made the automobile really feel prefer it was shot from a cannon each time you touched the throttle.
Lancia Thema 8.32
Image this: You’re at a stoplight subsequent to an government sedan you most likely don’t give a lot thought to (besides, maybe, that it appears fairly good). The driving force revs the engine, and all of the sudden, you’re listening to the soundtrack from a Ferrari 308. Plot twist: you simply met the Thema 8.32.
Lancia took their sensible, square-shouldered Thema sedan and stuffed a Ferrari-built 2.9-liter V8 below the hood. Not simply any V8—the identical primary engine that powered the Ferrari 308. As a result of apparently, somebody at Lancia thought, “You already know what this smart household automobile wants? A correct Maranello soundtrack.”
The outcome was 215 horsepower in a bundle that appeared prefer it was designed by accountants however sounded prefer it was tuned by angels. The 8.32 may hit 60 mph in 6.8 seconds and prime out at 149 mph, all whereas sustaining the looks of one thing you’d hire on the airport.
Lancia Beta Montecarlo
The Beta Montecarlo was Lancia’s reply to the Porsche 914: a mid-engined sports activities automobile that common folks may truly afford. Effectively, form of inexpensive. It was Italian, in spite of everything.
Constructed on a shortened Beta platform with the engine moved behind the motive force, the Montecarlo had all the correct substances for sports activities automobile success. The two.0-liter twin-cam four-cylinder made 120 horsepower, which doesn’t sound like a lot till you bear in mind it solely needed to push 2,400 kilos round.
However right here’s the place it will get actually attention-grabbing: Lancia turned the Montecarlo right into a Group 5 racing monster that dominated endurance racing within the late ’70s and early ’80s. The racing model, with its wild aerodynamic package and turbocharged engine, gained the World Championship for Makes and took general victory on the 1981 Monte Carlo Rally.
Lancia Flaminia
The Flaminia was Lancia’s flagship all through the ’60s, obtainable in a number of physique types crafted by the best Italian design homes. Need a Pininfarina coupe? That they had that. Choose a Touring convertible? Coming proper up. Zagato Sport? However after all.
Underneath the elegant bodywork lived some severely superior engineering. The two.5-liter V6 was clean and refined, producing between 119-150 horsepower relying on the variant. Extra importantly, it was mounted in a complicated chassis with unbiased entrance suspension and the corporate’s signature rear transaxle: a weight distribution that will make fashionable sports activities automobile engineers proud.
The Flaminia was every thing a grand tourer ought to be: comfy sufficient for cross-continental journeys, trendy sufficient to park at Monaco, and refined sufficient to impress essentially the most discerning critics. The inside was a showcase of Italian craftsmanship, with hand-stitched leather-based, actual wooden, and the type of consideration to element that cash can’t purchase at present.
Lancia Aurelia B20 GT
The Aurelia B20 GT was a long time forward of its time, introducing ideas that wouldn’t turn out to be mainstream till the Nineteen Eighties. It was one of many first manufacturing automobiles with a V6 engine, and that engine was mounted in a revolutionary rear transaxle format that put the transmission on the again for good weight distribution.
The two.0-liter V6 produced between 75-118 horsepower (relying on the collection), which doesn’t sound like a lot till you think about this was 1951. The engine was clean, refined, and desirous to rev: traits that will outline V6s for many years to come back.
However the true genius was within the particulars. The B20 featured unbiased rear suspension at a time when most automobiles had stable rear axles. The physique was aerodynamically superior, with a fastback profile that lower by means of the air with minimal resistance. The inside was luxurious however purposeful, with every thing targeted on the driving expertise.
Lancia Delta S4
The Delta S4 was the results of Lancia’s engineers being given limitless budgets to construct the last word rally weapon. The outcome was a automobile so superior and excessive that it helped kill the whole Group B class.
Neglect every thing in regards to the common Delta. The S4 shared nearly nothing with its humble hatchback sibling besides the identify. The physique was carbon fiber and Kevlar over a tubular spaceframe, weighing simply 2,116 kilos regardless of the all-wheel-drive system and roll cage.
The engine was pure insanity: a 1.8-liter four-cylinder with each a supercharger AND a turbocharger. The supercharger offered instantaneous response at low RPM, whereas the turbo took over at excessive revs. The outcome was 250 horsepower for the highway automobile and over 500 horsepower for the competitors model.
Lancia Stratos Zero
The Stratos Zero wasn’t actually a automobile in some methods; it was a rolling piece of sculpture that occurred to have an engine. Created by Marcello Gandini at Bertone in 1970, it stood simply 33 inches tall and appeared prefer it had arrived from one other planet.
Getting inside required lifting the whole entrance windscreen, which served as the one door. As soon as inside (if you happen to may match), you discovered your self in a cockpit that made fighter jets look spacious. The steering wheel was extra like a yoke, and visibility was restricted to what you can see by means of the slim slit that served because the windscreen.
Underneath the impossibly low physique was a Lancia Fulvia V4 engine, however efficiency was by no means the purpose. The Zero was pure idea automobile theater, designed to discover new prospects in automotive design. It succeeded past anybody’s wildest goals.
The Great thing about Boldness
Lancia’s best achievement wasn’t simply constructing quick automobiles or successful races: it was proving that automotive excellence comes from braveness, not consensus. Whereas different producers performed follow-the-leader, Lancia was attempting to provide you with stuff that’s by no means been finished, even when it might be seen as loopy.
Certain, a few of these machines had been temperamental. Sure, components will be costly, and specialists are uncommon. However for many who recognize automotive individuality, Lancia provides one thing no different model can match: the information that you just’re driving one thing really distinctive.
The true query isn’t whether or not you’d need to personal certainly one of these Italian masterpieces: it’s which one would you select? As a result of belief me, when you begin wanting, it’s almost unimaginable to cease.
