Lancia: design history of a legendary brand 🎥
LOOK BACK Lancia's Stratos, Rally 037 and Delta models will be among the highlights of Lancia Design Day on November 28, 2022. The cars were designed with a single goal in mind: to achieve success in racing.
To understand the Lancia Stratos, you have to remember the rules of rallying in the early 1970s. These stipulated that rally cars must in any case have a production model as a basis, which in turn was built at least 400 times. The aim was to derive a successful rally car from this. No manufacturer had approached this task so radically before.
Visually almost brutal models
Luca Napolitano, CEO Lancia: "To be inspired by cars like the Lancia Delta, the Rally 037 and the Stratos is every designer's dream. These three efficient and visually almost brutal models have made Lancia the most successful brand in the history of rallying. Their radical design and sophisticated aerodynamics are also unmistakable elements of Lancia's legendary design history."
With rear-wheel drive against 4×4 cars
The Lancia Rally 037 transported the functional forms of the Stratos into the 1980s. Because the Delta S4 was not used until 1985, the factory team competed against its four-wheel-drive rivals in the 1982 to 1984 seasons with the rear-wheel-drive Rally 037. Despite this perceived disadvantage, Lancia secured the title of one-make world champion in 1983. This makes the Lancia Rally 037 the last rear-wheel drive vehicle to achieve this success. One of the factory drivers was Walter Röhrl.
Further development to rally winner
Lancia was perfectly positioned with the Delta HF 4WD from 1986. The four-door compact sedan was Lancia's first production model to feature all-wheel drive and a 2-liter turbocharged engine. With the Delta HF 4WD, Lancia had created the ideal basis for further development into a rally winner. On a journey from the past to the future, Lancia will present numerous design icons from its long history on November 28.
