24 auto italia
Although fully prepared for
rally and hillclimb use, this
Lancia is actually road-
legal. And for sale...
the most exotic, but “the parts we know from
experience are the best”. Wherever possible,
components were brand new, either bought in or
produced in-house, but canny Steve didn’t let the
project get away from him. As we’ll see, there was just
one obvious exception.
We had already been chatting for ages, when I
became aware of photographer Michael walking over tothe car. “Just need to move it for the next shot.” What
happened next was bizarre: he went to the rear,
pushed it... and the car started moving immediately
with seemingly no effort. It was like he was pushing a
supermarket trolley. Michael let go and the car rolled
on before gently coming to rest. I blinked in amazement
at Steve, who grinned. “Just over a tonne, that...”
Lightweight glassfibre panels and bumpers (again
sourced from Italy) contribute to the weight savings,
as do Perspex windows. The windscreen is heated,
adds Steve, “because I was scarred by memories of
the thing steaming up whenever I went through a
water splash during competitions in the 70s”. A
Walkers intercooler, water and oil cooler are also
fitted, as is a Walkers heating system.
Steve shows me the various air intakes and outlets,
including the ducting in the enlarged Evo-spec front
wings. “The biggest thing in motorsport is cooling.
Any opportunity you have to get air out, you use it.”The first job was to fit a body strengthening kit,
sourced from a company producing original-spec
components in Italy. “Abarth used to make the kits,”
says Steve. “They consist of extra plating around every
joint, additional bracing for the top of the suspension
and other details.” It sounds a fiddle to weld in and fit,
but arguably not as much as the modern FIA-approved
Custom Cages roll cage. “All the strength is in the cage:it’s a fundamental part of the car.” The original-spec
cage is no longer FIA-approved, added Steve. “The loop
in the centre, above the occupants’ heads, was not
thick enough to withstand modern tests.”
Work was progressing nicely, but then Walkers
received one of ‘those’ phone calls. “The customer got
in touch, apologising. His business had taken a
downward turn and he wouldn’t be able to continue
with the build. We had a decision to make: stop the
build, or carry on as we were.” For Steve, who lives and
breathes Lancias – and who once drove one to an
amazing 20th place overall on the RAC Rally as a
budget-constrained privateer entry – there wasn’t
really a decision to be made. “We carried on, aiming to
build one of the best race-ready integrales there is.”
Steve’s motto was simple: “Spend what needs to be
spent, without going daft.” This car would be treated to
a rebuild benefiting from the decades of expertise
within Walkers. The parts fitted wouldn’t necessarily be“
We were aiming to build one of the best
race-ready integrales there is
”