High on my Ultimate Garage Wish List is a Lancia Stratos. Definitely the toughest, most macho homologation special ever devised, it also manages to be one of the prettiest
Here’s my wild-car checklist:
The Stratos ticks all the boxes. This is a car with a wheelbase just 5 inches longer than a Mini, which weighed 980 Kg and had a Ferrari V6 mounted transversely behind the driver. It delivered 190 BHP in road spec, 240 BHP in rally trim and, eventually, 560 BHP (via turbocharging) for Group 5 racing
The Stratos HF won the WRC for Lancia in 1974, 75 and 76 in the hands of Sandro Munari and Björn Waldegård. It won the 75, 76 and 77 Monte Carlo Rallies. It won the 74 Targa Florio. It was designed by Bertone, launched at the ’71 Turin Motorshow and the project was overseen by Cesare Fiorio, Sandro Munari and former Ferrari F1 driver Mike Parkes. You can’t get much more Italian than that…
The car pictured is a barn-find Stratos Stradale with 33,000 miles on the clock which has been locked away in a container since 1998. Bonhams are the lucky people tasked with selling this bolide at their Quail Lodge sale in August
Update 19th August: the Stratos made $264,000 at auction
Photo credit
Photos © Pawel Litwinski, 2013 USA
Courtesy of Bonhams
Pingback: Lancia Stratos Stradale barn-find photo gallery - MBClub UK - Bringing together Mercedes Enthusiasts