AUTOMOBILSPORT #31

RACING | HISTORY | PASSION

ISSUE #31

IN STORES AROUND EUROPE SINCE 12/20/2021
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COVER STORY

Lancia Stratos HF 1973–1982

Birth of a supercar
Into the stratosphere – The glory years 1974–1976
Premature retirement – Final works efforts and aftermath
Outside the natural habitat – The Stratos on the track
Lancia Stratos results

Birth of a supercar

An old proverb says that ‘mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow’, in which case the Lancia Stratos HF was an oak to rival a Californian sequoia. The acorn in this case was a car exhibited at the 1970 Turin Motor Show by Bertone.

Bertone’s new car at the Turin Show was based on a FWD Lancia Fulvia chassis, but completely turned around so that the V4 engine sat behind the two passengers and drove what had become rear wheels. The bodywork was designed by Marcello Gandini whose portfolio already included the Lamborghini Miura and Countach.

At just 84 cm (33 inches) high, it was a stunning example of what the concept of a wedge-shaped car could achieve. In order to enter the car, the driver had to ‘open’ the windscreen like the hatch of a Mercury space capsule and step in while negotiating the articulated steering column. When Nuccio Bertone drove it to show it to Lancia bosses in their ‘Reparto Corse’ (‘Racing Department’) in January 1971, just two weeks after its second public appearance at the Brussels Motor Show, he did not have to wait for the security people to raise the barrier – he just drove straight underneath it!

In both Turin and Brussels, this car was exhibited by Bertone under the title ‘the Lancia Stratos Zero’. It was painted in metallic bronze and was truly worthy of the adjective ‘futuristic’. It created something of a sensation but, of all those looking at it, only one man’s mind could see past this impractical dream car to what was an even more exciting development. This was Cesare Fiorio, under whose guidance the Lancia competition department had grown in just eight years to be a force in international rallying. The Fulvias of the Reparto Corse were the major challengers to Ford, Alpine Renault and Porsche, and in 1969 had won the European Rally Championship…

Into the Stratosphere

The glory years 1974–1976

The Lancia Stratos proved its potential right from the start, winning the 1974 WRC title with a late-season surge after its homologation at the beginning of October. It also dominated the 1975 and 1976 seasons, cementing its legacy as one of the most successful rally cars of all time.

In 1974 scrutineering for the Sanremo Rally took place on 2 October with the stamp on the homologation papers barely dry, but the Stratos delivered the dream result on this, its first WRC event. Lancia had two Stratos entered with Amilcare Ballestrieri and Sandro Munari, with two Beta Montecarlos as backup, and ranged against them were no fewer than seven works Fiat 124 Abarth Rallyes. In the inaugural year of the WRC, 1973, Fiat had finished second to Alpine Renault and were keen to improve on that.

The 1974 season was a little strange in that the early events in its calendar had been cancelled thanks to the ‘petrol crisis’. Fiat had won in Portugal, Lancia were third on the Safari, and now, at only the fourth event of the WRC with just four events to come after Sanremo, both of the Turin-based teams were keen to win.

1974: First season, first title

The Sanremo Rally did not turn out well for Fiat since six of their works cars retired, as did Ballestrieri. Munari won 14 of the 38 special stages and ran out almost eight minutes clear of the surviving Abarth at the finish. This left the WRC with Fiat leading with 48 points against Lancia’s 32. There was a further feather in the Stratos cap before the month was out when Jean-Claude Andruet drove a turbocharged Group 5 car to victory in the Giro d’Italia, an event that was, like the Tour de France, a mixture of racing and rallying.

The next two WRC events were both new to the championship, and both were in North America. On the Rideau Lakes in Canada, it was a complete Lancia triumph, with Munari’s Stratos winning by a narrow margin from his teammate Simo Lampinen driving a Beta Coupé and with all three works Abarths retiring. The 1974 Press-on-Regardless Rally held on the Michigan peninsula is famous for the failed attempts by a local sheriff to chase and apprehend Munari’s Stratos, even pursuing him down a forest special stage at one point. But the Stratos eventually dropped out with a broken distributor, leaving Fiat to pick up points by finishing second with Lampinen, some consolation for Lancia, in fourth…

Back on Track

Porsche 911 ST 2.3 – The green nordic racer

When this car was parked at the Vaasa Auto Museum in Finland, its appearance gave little hint of its early history. The road-ready car was red, looked more like a 935 and was powered by a 3.6-litre, naturally aspirated, 355-horsepower 964 engine. Over its years in rallycross competition, it had been modified significantly and often. It had been converted to all-wheel drive, the brakes were off a Porsche 930 Turbo, the transmission from a 915, the front differential from a 3 series BMW and the front axles from an Audi. The car was running, but it was a long way from its original condition.

Porsche’s secret recipe: customer racing

The car, as it was originally delivered and as it stands today, is a Porsche 911 ST powered by a 2.3-litre motor. Around 30 of these racing models were built by Porsche in 1970 and 1971. It was a time when the foundation of a decades-long success story was laid in Stuttgart. Thanks to its modular conversion possibilities, from the two-litre version up to the 800-horsepower 935, a 911 could be competitive for years and developed well beyond its homologation. Combine that with factors such as the 911’s reliability, Porsche’s customer sports departments, led for years by Jürgen Barth, that provided customers with advice and support, Porsche’s extensive spare parts catalogue and the Porsche Cup (an internal competition for international drivers, including prize money, that was announced in 1970), and it’s obvious why the 911 was the racing car of choice for a lot of privateer drivers.

According to its Kardex card, this 911 was transferred from series production to the motorsport department in June 1970. There it received plastic front fenders and bumpers, plastic side windows, a plastic rear window and Porsche lettering on the car’s side. It was fitted with a 100-litre plastic fuel tank and central filler neck. The engine was given a performance tune and increased from 2.2 to 2.3 litres…