Post by bultaco on May 1, 2007 23:44:25 GMT -8
Lancia Stratos, Here's some information
"From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
1974 Lancia Stratos HF Group 4The 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 bodyworks were designed by Bertone and were loosely based on a concept car first shown at the Turin Motor Show in 1971. The Stratos had a distinctive crescent-shaped wrap-around windshield providing maximum forward visibility with almost no rear visibility (which was unnecessary for rallying anyway). The body was wedge-shaped, and unusually short and wide, providing maximum traction.
The engine was a mid-mounted 190 bhp (140 kW) 2418 cc Dino Ferrari V6. For racing, this engine was tuned up to 280hp and even further with a turbocharger. However, turbocharged versions were only allowed to compete in Group 5 and were never as reliable as their naturally aspirated counterparts.
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. The 400 cars required for homologation in Group 4 were launched in 1973 and the car was homologated for the 1974 World Championship.
The car won the 1974, 1975 and 1976 championships.
Lancia also built a Group 5 road racing 'silhouette' version of the car for sports car and endurance racing. The car won the Giro D'Italia Automobilistica - a latter day version of the Mille Miglia - in both 1976 and 1977
With only 492 ever made, the Stratos is very rare to this day."
I discovered this car when I actually spotted one sitting in the 7/11 gas station in Osoyoos. the guy found it in the buy&sell at the coast and only paid $ 20.000 for it, told me the base chassis was used when McLaren designed the F1, his car wasn't as refined as later versions but still an awesome sports car. he's racing it somewhere in alberta.
