1975 Lancia Stratos HF Coupe

The Lancia Stratos was the first car from a major manufacturer conceived specifically for rallying. The origins of the Stratos began in a Fulvia-powered, mid-engined design exercise by Marcello Gandini first exhibited on Carrozzeria Bertone's stand at the 1970 Turin Motor Show. The production Stratos appeared in 1972, still the work of Gandini and Bertone, and retained the unique 'wedge' styling of its predecessor. Power, however, was from a Ferrari Dino 2.4-liter V6 engine housed in a steel monocoque body tub and clothed in glassfibre coachwork.

In 1965, the HF Corse team became Lancia's official competitions department. Cesare Fiorio, the co-founder of the HF Corse team, saw an opportunity to create a purpose-built rally car. He had been impressed by Ferrari's quad-cam V6 motor, having evaluated a Dino for rallying purposes, and Enzo Ferrari was duly persuaded to come on board as the engine supplier.

As the Stratos was built from the ground up as a Rally car, it was given mechanical components to cope with all types of rallying. It came with fully adjustable, all-independent suspension by double wishbones and coil springs, plus four-wheel disc brakes all round. With 190bhp on tap, the production road-going (Stradale) version was good for 225km/h. The works Group 4 rally cars were considerably more powerful.

The Stratos initial major victory was in 1974 at the Targa Florio, going on to dominate international rallying, and Lancia won the World Rally Championship of Makes in 1975 and 1976. Works driver Bernard Darniche won the European Rally Championship in 1976 and 1977.

After Lancia had accomplished building the 500-or-so cars required to satisfy homologation requirements, the vast majority remained unsold. (One widely circulated estimate states that 492 examples were built, falling short of the crucial '500' figure).

After the Stratos ceased competition, the car's historical significance was realized, and prices soon soared. A few remaining Bertone-built unfinished cars were purchased by the racing team and car manufacturer, Milano-based Autosport Jolly Club. Jolly Club would assemble these cars to the stock Stratos HF Stradale configuration and sell them.

This particular example is finished in turquoise blue with a white rear spoiler, hoop, and wheels with a matching blue interior. The car was built at Bertone with Scocca number 1240 487, yet left unfinished when Lancia ended production. The car became one of the Stratos HFs final by Autosport Jolly Club in Milan, where it was given chassis number 829AR0 0000008 and the matching engine number AR0829000 0000008.

It is believed that this car was delivered new to Switzerland, where it was owned by a Zurich-based individual named Amoruso Euegen Damiano in 1988. It was later acquired by Ed Waterman in 1989, and in turn, sold to an individual from Central America who has cared for the car since that time.

Currently, this car has less than 12,700 kilometers on the odometer. It retains the 2,418cc dual overhead cam Ferrari Dino V6 engine fitted with triple carburetors and offers nearly 200 horsepower. There is a five-speed manual transmission and four-wheel disc brakes.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2017