22 auto italia
WALKERS’
CRISPNESS
It looks like a pukka Martini-liveried rally
integrale, but this immaculately prepared
Walkers Garage Lancia is arguably even better
than the original. We tested it out during
some fast laps in this incredible road-legal
rally/hillclimb special
Story by Richard Aucock
Photography by Michael Ward
W
e’re standing in the Yorkshire sunshine,
swooning over the Martini colours of
Lancia’s rally icon for the umpteenth
time. “It really is such a beautiful livery,”
we comment. Owner Steve Smith from
equally iconic experts, Walkers Garage, manoeuvres it
into place and tells us: “You should have seen the
original ones up close. They looked smart from a
distance but the colours were just sprayed on – they
didn’t even bother finishing inside the shut lines.” And
Steve would know: he used to rally them.
No such problem with Walkers’ amazing Delta integrale
road-legal hillclimb car. The graphics are truly beautiful
from a distance, but also up close. “It’s a specialist job to
fit, and we got one of the best specialists to do it.” Given
the quality of the bare metal respray in Lancia White
beneath, anything less would be sacrilege.
This car has been a labour of love over several years
for Steve and the team at Walkers. The project started
with an order from a long-standing customer to build the
Delta integrale of his dreams. He didn’t want a museum
piece, but something to hillclimb or race (or, rather,
employ others to do on his behalf).
Walkers got to work, starting by sourcing a 1992
integrale Evo from somebody who was emigrating to
Florida. It was a competely standard car, which they
carefully stripped down to bare metal. Steve: “We
decided early on it would be a ground-up rebuild, and the
customer was happy to invest the funds to do this.”