The Lancia Stratos

History

As you are viewing this web site, there is probably little real need for an introduction to this car, but it doesn't hurt to summarise some of the background to the legendary Lancia Stratos.

Stratos Zero

The name Stratos was given to this very striking show car, created by the Bertone studios in the early 1970's. This creation was extremely futuristic and had a flip-up windscreen, with a Lancia Fulvia power unit in a mid-engined location. The car wasn't just a show queen however, as the mechanics were all in working order and the car was occasionally to be seen on the roads of Italy!

Prototype

Lancia subsequently developed the concepts from the show car to create the purpose-built rally car that was the first 'homologation special' from any manufacturer. At this stage, the power unit had been replaced with a 2.4-litre V6 from the Ferrari Dino, due to a tie-up between the companies.

A new show car was produced with the now-familiar bodywork and this was on display in a bright, near-dayglo, orange-red colour scheme.

Road Cars

A few minor bodywork changes were incorporated from the prototype, and the Stradale version of the car was shortly made available for sale to customers. Only a limited choice of colours were available, including yellow, lime green, pale blue and, of course, racing red.

Rally Cars

Inspection of car production was required for homologation purposes (although there are discrepancies reported in the actual number of cars that were finally constructed by the factory). The cars could then be used in International Rallying events - for which the car was initially designed. Group 4 bodywork extensions were added for the large rear wheels used in competition, as well as a roof scoop for crew ventilation.

The Lancia Factory team rallied the cars in the widely-recognised Alitalia paint scheme, of white, red and green. Many successes followed, which are well documented elsewhere, adding to the numerous Rally Championship wins achieved by the Lancia team. Later factory cars appeared in the Pirelli colours of Red, Black and White. Many other colour schemes also appeared as the car was used in the hands of privateer teams in countries across Europe, again with many competition successes achieved by this car.

The factory only stopped competing with the Stratos due to internal company politics, in which parent company Fiat wished to rally a car more closely based on a roadgoing saloon. So the Lancia Stratos was officially retired in favour of the Fiat 131 Abarth, although this did not stop private owners beating the Fiat with the Stratos.

As time goes on, the national motorsport bodies now recognise the Lancia Stratos as being eligible for competition in the Historic (or Post-Historic) class of rallying. With this development, a number of original rally cars are being fettled again for use in active competition and they should again be seen and heard in their original form.

Replicas

The interest and cachet of the Stratos has always had a great following, due to a combination of great looks and exceptional performance. The collectors car price boom of the 1980's caused the value of the original cars to rise to levels that put them well beyond the affordability of almost all enthusiasts of the car. Also, the condition of these cars would vary from concours, low mileage items through to rusty and damaged items that were effectively beyond any economical repair.

Into this area, the UK specialist car market was able to produce kit car replicas of the Stratos. With accurate bodywork and matching suspension geometry, it was possible to build a car with all of the looks and behaviour of the original, but at a much more reasonable price.

There have always been two manufacturers of Stratos Replica kits, both based in the UK. To begin with, these were Tranformer and Allora. Over time, company ownership changed to being Transformer and Litton, then on to Hawk Cars and CAE. There are differences between the two products from these manufacturers, which any of the club members would be only to happy to discuss from their own personal viewpoints. Of the replicas sold, there have been more from Transformer/Hawk Cars than from Allora/Litton/CAE, but club membership is split across owners of either type of kit, owners of the originals, or would-be owners of either.

The original kits of this sort were powered by versions of the four-cylinder Lancia twin-cam engine, and used many parts from a Lancia Beta as a 'donor car'. Due to the lighter weight of these kit cars, the resultant power-to-weight ratio from a tuned Lancia engine would match very closely to that of the original Dino-powered Lancia Stratos.

These kits could be made as very accurate reproductions, especially as the original car used a 'parts bin' approach for components and accessories from the whole Fiat range. This meant that corresponding parts could be obtained, as per the original. For example, the door handles and body catches are derived from items used on the Fiat X1/9, so the replica cars could take exactly the same approach during construction.

Later versions of the kits have benefitted from the easier availability of the Alfa three-litre V6 engine, in both 12v and 24v form. This brings the correct sound and increased performance to the replica cars, whilst still keeping faith to an Italian heart for this most important of items. Options are available from the kit manufacturers to install a range of engines, with the Alfa V6 being the current favourite. Other engines chosen for the kits include those from Thema Turbo 8v/16v, Honda/Rover V6, Thema Ferrari, Ferrari Dino and 308QV. All of these provide an excellent route to re-creating and experiencing the delight of owning and driving a Stratos.

A number of the replica Stratos kit cars have been used in competition, both in the UK and abroad. Three main threads of competition use appear, according to the interests and expertise of the owners. This means that the Stratos may be seen on sprint and hillclimb events, running against the clock, or on rally events - both tarmac and loose-surface events - as well as some circuit racing.

Interest in the Stratos has certainly not waned over the years, and in many cases this spectacular car has been introduced to a whole new generation of rally car fans. The Stratos Enthusiasts Club welcomes membership to fans of this car, old and new, especially in this anniversary year.