Lancia Stratos Review

The prototype of the Stratos was shown to the world in 1971 at the Turin Motor Show , only a year after the original concept car was shown. Not much had changed from the car with most of its concept looks being kept intact , the wrap around windshield was kept at the expense of loss of rear visibility.

As many know the car received huge success as a rally car during the 70's and 80's with 3 WRC championship titles. This car also pioneered a new movement as it was the first car to be designed solely for competition in rallies.

Extensive testing was done on the car with much of it being done as a concept car which in those days was allowed in racing events. As the car started it was mainly in Group 5 events with the car being progressed into Group 4 in 1973.

The Stratos won the WRC in 1974 , 1975 and 1976 in the hands of Sandro Munari and Bjorn Waldegard. However politics would cloud this winning streak and as Fiat pulled out their support for the car the winning also faded. The Stratos did however win in 75, 76 and 77 in the Monte Carlo Rally with the wins all courtesy of the same driver, Sandro Munari.

There have been multiple concepts over the years of the Lancia Stratos with the first being shown in 1970. The car was called the Lancia Stratos Zero and was designed by Marcello Gandini a head designer for the Bertone company. It came with a 1.6 liter Fulvia v4 engine which was not the biggest of engines but the car only weighed 0.9 tons making the engine powerful enough to propel the car at a high rate of speed. The short wheel base gave the car a great nimble and agile chassis which could turn on the dime.

The Siblo was designed in 1978 as a concept car by Berton with its design pretty much rooted in the Lancia Stratos design. The car had a very distinct structure which was made from the sharp aerodynamic look of the body and the windshield which only housed one very large wiper. The body was made to be as drag free as possible with evidence of this being seen in the plastic windows which seemed to merge effortlessly into the bodywork.

A 419bhp version of the Lancia was released by a British design company which had rights to the name of Fenomenon Stratos. The car was shown at the Geneva Auto Show in 2005 and was meant to be a concept of a retro modern take of the first Lancia Stratos. The car was designed by Christian Habalec who designed the car around a mid engine v8 which was meant to show likeness to the original car. After an exhibition at the Frankfurt show the car was taken into development by Prodrive a company that has brought all things handling into cars and showed what is physically possible when it comes to road cares and cornering.

After the production in 2005 there was not much interest left in this great car, but one enthusiast and his son decided to start the brand back up one last time. This time the car was going to sing its last song with a one off model. The car was commissioned by Michael Stoschek and son the design was made public in 2010 and was to be based on the first original Stratos. The car was designed by Pininfarina who design cars for other famous customers such as Ferrari and Maserati.

The car featured many parts from the F430 Ferrari and used a 4.3 litre V8 with 500 horses. The chassis was also taken from the F430 Scuderia and shortened to meet the specifications of the original car. The new weight however was more as the edition of the engine and other parts made sure of more weight. Non the less the car was extremely fast although the numbers were never officially verified.