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Lancia-Stratos Rally Version-1972-1024-01
Lancia Stratos HF
Lancia
aka Type aka here, not up there
Production 1972 - 1974
492 units
Class Sports car
Rally car
Body Style 2 doors, 2 seats, Coupe
Length 3710 mm (146.1 in)
Width 1810 mm (71.3 in)
Height 1100 mm (43.3 in)
Wheelbase 2180mm (85.8 in)
Weight 880 kilo / 1940.1 lbs
Transmission ZF 5 speed Manual
Engine Ferrari 65º 2.4l V 6
Power 280 hp @ 7800 rpm
203 lb-ft of torque @ 6000 rpm
Similar similar (competition)
Designer Bertone

The Lancia Stratos HF, widely known as Lancia Stratos was an automobile made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia.

The Stratos was a very successful rally racing car during the 1970s and 1980s. It started a new era in rally racing as it was the first car designed from scratch for this kind of competition.

The bodywork was designed by Bertone and loosely based on a (Lancia Fulvia V4 powered) concept car called Lancia Stratos 0 first shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1970. The body was wedge-shaped, and unusually short and wide, providing maximum traction.

However the final version of the Stratos was very different from the concept car. It had a distinctive crescent-shaped wrap-around windshield providing maximum forward visibility with almost no rear visibility (which was unnecessary for rallying anyway), and the engine was a mid-mounted 190 bhp (140 kW) 2418 cc Dino Ferrari V6.

Lancia did extensive testing with the Stratos and raced the car in several racing events where Group 5 prototypes were allowed during the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Production of the 400 cars required for homologation in Group 4 were launched in 1973 and the car was homologated for the 1974 World Championship. The Dino V6 was phased out in 1974, but 500 engines among the last built were delivered to Lancia.

For racing, the engine was tuned up to 280hp and even to 480hp with a turbocharger. However, turbocharged versions were only allowed to compete in Group 5 and were never as reliable as their naturally aspirated counterparts.

The car won the 1974, 1975 and 1976 championships in the hands of Sandro Munari, and might have gone on to win more had not internal politics within the Fiat group placed rallying responsibility on the Fiat 131 Abarths.

Without support from Fiat and despite new regulations that restricted engine power the car would remain a serious competitor and proved able to beat works cars in several occasions when entered by a experienced private team with a talented driver. The final point to the Stratos racing career at international level took place as late as 1981, at the Tour de Corse Automobile, a World championship event, with a victory of Bernard Darniche.

When the Fiat group favored the Fiat 131 for rallying Lancia also built two Group 5 turbocharged 'silhouette' Stratos for closed-track endurance racing. Theses cars failed against the Porsche 935s on closed tracks but proven successful in hybrid events. While they failed in the Tour de France Automobile, one of this cars won the 1976 Giro d'Italia Automobilistica, an Italian counterpart of the Tour de France Automobile. Unfortunately one of the car was destroyed in Zeltweg, when it took fire due to overheating problems and the other surviving car would win the Giro d'Italia event again before it was shipped to Japan to compete in the Fuji based Formula Silhouette series, which was never raced. The car would then be sold on and reside in the Matsuda Collection before it then being sold on the renowned collector of Stratoses, Christian Hrablek, also the founder-designer of Fenomenon.

Recent Changes[]

Mention any minor facelifts or major changes made to the vehicle here.

Styles and Major Options[]

Lancia-Stratos-HF-Group-4-27

One of the finest rally cars in existence.

The rally versions of the Stratos are generally the models most seen. On the UK automotive magazine TV series Top Gear in 2009/10, presenter Jeremy Clarkson constructed and tested a Stratos rally replica kit car that was, at the time, on limited sale. It was presented in the livery shown below.

Pricing[]

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MODEL Trims
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Gas Mileage[]

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As seen on the FuelEconomy.gov website, the City/Highway MPG averages are as follows:

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Engine and Transmission[]

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Performance[]

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Reliability[]

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Safety[]

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Photos[]

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Colors[]

The 1970/80s rally Stratos often raced in the livery of its title sponsor, Alitalia. These cars featured red, white, green (as per the Italian national flag) and black on their bodywork. The road models were sold in colours such as Ferrari-style red and white, such as the example at the top of this article.

Main Competitors[]

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Hybrid Models[]

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Unique Attributes[]

In 1978, Bertone created and designed a concept car based on the Stratos called the Sibilo

Interior[]

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Resale Values[]

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<MODEL> Year
Year X Year X-2 Year X-3 Year X-4
Resale Value
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Criticisms[]

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Generations[]

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History[]

Lancia traditionally used the design house Pininfarina and had not used Bertone before. Bertone desired to create an opportunity for a relationship with Lancia and knew that Lancia was looking for a replacement for the aging Fulvia for use in rally sports. Bertone decided to design an eye-catching model to show to Lancia. Bertone used the running gear of a Fulvia Coupé which belonged to one of his friends and built a running model around it. When Bertone himself appeared at the Lancia factory gates with the Stratos Zero he passed underneath the barrier, to great applause from the Lancia workers. After that Lancia and Bertone agreed to develop a new rally car based on the ideas of Bertone's designer Marcello Gandini. Gandini had already designed the Lamborghini Miura and was working on the Countach at the time.

Lancia presented the Bertone-designed Lancia Stratos HF prototype at the 1971 Turin Motor Show, a year after the announcement of the Stratos Zero concept car. The prototype Stratos HF (Chassis 1240) was fluorescent red in colour and featured a distinctive crescent-shaped wrap-around windshield providing maximum forward visibility with almost no rear visibility. The prototype had three different engines in its early development life: the Lancia Fulvia engine, the Lancia Beta engine and finally, for the 1971 public launch, the mid-mounted Dino Ferrari V6 producing 190 hp (142 kW) in road trim. The use of this engine had been planned from the beginning of the project, but Enzo Ferrari was reluctant to sign off the use of this engine in a car he saw as a competitor to his own Dino V6. After the production of the Dino had ended, the "Commendatore" (a popular nickname for Enzo Ferrari) agreed to deliver the engines for the Stratos, upon which Lancia suddenly received 500 units.

The Stratos was a successful rally car during the 1970s and early 1980s. It started a new era in rallying as it was the first car designed from scratch for this kind of competition. The three leading men behind the entire rallying project were Lancia team manager Cesare Fiorio, British racer/engineer Mike Parkes and factory rally driver Sandro Munari, with Bertone's Designer Marcello Gandini taking a personal interest in designing and producing the bodywork. A dedicated calculations engineer from Lancia was tasked with performing calculations on many of the chassis, steering, suspension and engine components: Nicola Materazzi.

Lancia undertook extensive testing with the Stratos and raced the car in several racing events where Group 5 prototypes were allowed during the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Production of the 500 cars required for homologation in Group 4 commenced in 1973 and the Stratos was homologated for the 1974 World Rally Championship season. The Ferrari Dino V6 engine was phased out in 1974, but 500 engines - among the last examples built - were delivered to Lancia. Production ended in 1975, when it was thought that only 492 were made (for the 1976 season, the Group 4 production requirement was reduced to 400 in 24 months). The manufacturer of the car was Bertone in Turin, with final assembly by Lancia at the Chivasso plant. Powered by the Dino 2.4 L V6 engine that was also fitted to the rallying versions, but in a lower state of tune, it resulted in a power output of 190 PS; 188 bhp (140 kW) at 7,000 rpm and 226 N⋅m; 166 lbf⋅ft (23 kg⋅m) at 4,000 rpm of torque, giving the road car a 0–100 km/h (62 mph) time of 6.8 seconds, and a top speed of 232 km/h (144 mph). The car was sold as the Lancia Stratos HF Stradale.

The car won the 1974, 1975 and 1976 championship titles in the hands of Sandro Munari and Björn Waldegård, and might have gone on to win more had not internal politics within the Fiat group placed rallying responsibility on the Fiat 131 Abarths. As well as victories on the 1975, 1976 and 1977 Monte Carlo Rally, all courtesy of Munari, the Stratos won the event with the private Chardonnet Team as late as 1979.

Without support from Fiat, and despite new regulations that restricted engine power, the car would remain a serious competitor and proved able to beat works cars in several occasions when entered by an experienced private team with a talented driver. The last victory of the Stratos was in 1981, at the Tour de Corse Automobile, another World Rally Championship event, with a victory by longtime Stratos privateer Bernard Darniche.

When the Fiat group favoured the Fiat 131 for rallying, Lancia also built two Group 5 turbocharged 'silhouette' Stratos for closed-track endurance racing. The powertrain and aerodynamics were engineered by Nicola Materazzi based on experience gained with the earlier generation. These cars failed against the Porsche 935s on closed tracks but proved successful in hybrid events. Stratos won a record 5 times the Tour de France Automobile between 1973 and 1980, and also the 1974, 1976 and 1978 Giro d'Italia automobilistico, an Italian counterpart of the Tour de France Automobile. One of the cars was destroyed in Zeltweg, when it caught fire due to overheating problems. The last surviving car would win the Giro d'Italia event again before it was shipped to Japan to compete in the Fuji Speedway based Formula Silhouette series, which was never raced. The car would then be sold and reside in the Matsuda Collection before then being sold to a collector of Stratos', Ernst Hrabalek, who had the largest Lancia Stratos Collection in the world at the time, 11 unique Lancia Stratos cars, including the fluorescent red 1971 factory prototype and the 1977 Safari Rally car. The Stratos also gained limited success in 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a car, driven by Christine Dacremont and Lella Lombardi, finishing 20th in 1976.

Another unique Group 5 car is the Lancia Stratos HF of Austrian Rallycross driver Andy Bentza. The car was first driven by his Memphis teammate Franz Wurz, father of Formula One pilot Alexander Wurz. In 1976 Wurz claimed the first ever European Rallycross title recognised by the FIA with the car, by then still featuring a 2.4 litre engine with first a 12 and later a 24 valve head. For the ERC series of 1977 Wurz was entrusted with an experimental 24 valve engine by Mike Parkes, equipped with a special crankshaft to bring the engine capacity up to just under 3000 cc. For 1978 Bentza took the Stratos over from Wurz, sold his own 2.4 L 12V Stratos to compatriot Reneé Vontsina, and won the GT Division title of the ERC. The one and only 3.0 litre Stratos worldwide was raced by Bentza till the end of 1983. After keeping the car for another 30 years Bentza has sold the Stratos to Alexander Wurz. It was fully restored over a period of almost two years and revealed to the public in May 2016, converted back to its 1976 rallycross specification with Memphis livery.

Worldwide[]

If the vehicle is sold in other markets worldwide, then this is the section to mention that information. Also, mention if the <MODEL> goes by another name in these other markets.Design quirks and odditiesThe Stratos was featured in the cartoons The Transformers as the Autobot Wheeljack and Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex as the vehicle of Bateau, as well as in the video games Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative in which the character Kouduki Yuuko drives one. The Stratos was massively introduced to younger audience with its appearance in the 90's world classic racing game Sega Rally Championship and has since popped up in various videogames including Top Gear Rally 2, Project Gotham Racing 2, Forza Motorsport and Gran Turismo

  • The prototype Lancia Stratos 0 was featured in the 1988 film Moonwalker (as a morphed Michael Jackson). The automobile now resides in the private show room of the Bertone stile center at Caprie (in Susa Valley).
  • In the Anime éX-Driver, one of the three lead characters, Lisa Sakakino, drives a blue Group 4 specification Stratos with an attached lamp pod onward from episode 2 after wrecking her WRC Subaru Impreza on the previous episode.
  • It was also featured in Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo (1977), as one of the cars in the Trans-France Race. Being one of two other known Lancia cars in the race, this car was red with white stripes and gold wheels, as well as a number 4 on the sides. The other was a Lancia Fulvia Sport Zagato. The Zagato was red with a number 16 on the sides.
  • A Gr.5 silhouette version can be seen in the 1970's manga, Circuit Wolf (Circuit no Ookami).

Awards[]

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Gallery-The Stratos HF/Turbo in films/video games/TV shows[]

See Also[]

Lancia delta integrale small
LANCIA

The Fiat Group


Abarth | Alfa Romeo | Autobianchi | Fiat | Lancia | Innocenti | Maserati | Iveco | Chrysler | Dodge | Ram | Jeep


1907–1918: Alfa-12HP · Dialfa-18HP · Beta-15/20HP · Delta-20/30HP · Epsilon · Eta-30/50HP · Gamma-20HP · Theta-35HP · Zeta-12/15HP

1918-1945: Aprilia · Ardea · Artena · Astura · Augusta · Dilambda · Kappa · Dikappa · Lambda · Trikappa

1945-1980: Appia · Aurelia · Beta · D20 · D23 · D24 · D25 · D50 · Flaminia · Flavia · 2000 · Fulvia · Gamma · Montecarlo · Stratos HF

1980-2006: Dedra · Delta S4 · Kappa · LC1 · LC2 · Lybra · Prisma · Thema · Thema 8.32 · Trevi · Y10 · Ypsilon · Zeta · 037 (Group B)

Current models: Musa · Phedra · Thesis · Ypsilon · Delta

Rally cars: 037 · Stratos Rally Car · Delta HF Integrale Rally Car

Concept: Fulvia Concept · Delta HPE Concept · Stratos Zero Concept


Autobianchi


Vincenzo Lancia Corporate website A brand of the Fiat group


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