1975 Lancia Stratos HF Coupe

The Lancia Stratos HF was purposely built for competition in the World Rally Championship and its radical design looked like nothing else on the road. It stood just under three and a half feet tall and was one of the only Ferrari-powered cars regularly seen covered in mud.

The Stratos name was introduced to the public in 1970 at the Turin Motor Show as a concept car named the Lancia Stratos Zero displayed on Bertone's stand. It captured the heart of Cesare Fiorio, manager of Lancia's World rally Championship team. A year later, when Lancia introduced a prototype designed by Marcello Gandini of Bertone, called the Stratos HF, Fiorio persuaded Lancia to take the Stratos rally racing.

The early Lancia prototypes were powered by engines from both the Lancia Fulvia and Berta road cars. In the end, the company decided to use Ferrari's mid-mounted V-6 first seen in the Dino 246. The cars were manufactured by Bertone in Turin and then sent to Lancia's nearby Chivasso factory for final assembly.

The Stratos was small, short, and weighed just under 2,200 pounds. Zero-to-sixty took less than five seconds and they were very easy to maneuver. They had excellent front visibility thanks to the wraparound windshield.

The Stratos began its racing career in 1972 as a prototype by the Lancia team. Their first win would come a year later, and by 1974, the car and team were on their way to supremacy in Group 4 rallying.

Rules changed for the World Rally Championship and required the production of 500 road-legal units. Lancia began work on complying with the rule in 1973, and by 1975, however, only 492 examples were completed. By that point, the homologation requirement had dropped to 400 units.

The Stratos would claim three World Rally Championship titles for Lancia in a row (1974 through 1976). With this success, Lancia had no difficulties selling their 492 examples to eager customers. Internal squabbling, however, had divided the Fiat group and its racing enterprises. As a result, Fiat removed the Stratos from the formal factory-backed competition and replaced it with the Fiat 131 Abarth. The other competitors in Group 4 competition must have been delighted by this, as the Stratos would probably have continued its dominant performance as it was more advanced than the contemporary competitors.

Privateers continued to race the Stratos, earning impressive victories along the way. One example won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1979. Several Stratoses were even able to outpace new cars campaigned by Fiat and Lancia. Lancia built a pair of turbocharged Stratos for rally use as well, though they were not nearly as successful as the Fiat 131, or their naturally aspirated predecessors.

This particular example, chassis number 829AR0 001880, was manufactured in January 1975. It is one of the 492 'Stradale' specification production versions. It is believed that it was equipped from the factory with Sparco racing seats and five-point harnesses, which it has today. It was first sold to Renato Fossi of Bergamo, Italy. By 1982, it was registered to Alessandro Seghi of Ferrara. In 1984, it was sold to Swiss resident Arthur Honneger. At some point in its life, while residing in Europe, the car was repainted red from its original color of lime green.

The current owner purchased the car directly from Mr. Honneger's Swissco Auto, of Key Largo, Florida, in 2001. At the time, the Stratos had already been given its purposeful body modifications in the style of the competition 'Corse' version.

The original set of laced wheels remains with the car though it currently rides on gold-finished 'coffin' style wheels. The odometer currently shows 45,000 kilometers, 1,200 of which have been accumulated under its current ownership.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jan 2014