Classic & Sports Car - December 2015 UK

T

hisis thesortof carthatreminds

youwhyyoufellinlovewith

cars.Visceralratherthancere-

bral, it ’s theexoticposterchild

thatconqueredtheworld’s

toughestrallies,a beguilingmix

of supercar looks and pure-bred

competitionengineering.Throughoutthe

1970s,it defineditsrapidlychangingsportas

preciselyastheMinihaddonetheprevious

decadeandtheAudiquattrowoulddointhe

next.Morethan 40 yearsafterit wasintroduced,

theLanciaStratosremainsoneofthemost

exhilaratingwaysto blowawaylife’s cobwebs.

Evenatrestit oozescharisma.Itsstyling

genesiscanbetracedto a timewhenLanciawas

heavilyin debt,recentlyrescuedbyFiat,andin

needof somethingspectacular. Bertonecameup

withjustthethingat the 1970 TurinSalonin the

extremeshapeoftheZeroconceptcar, which

waspoweredbya Fulviaengine.Nucciohimself

laterdrovetheZeroto Lancia,wherecompeti-

tionsmanagerCesareFioriowasinstrumental

ingainingapprovaltoturnit intowhatmust

haveseemedanunlikelyrallyweapon.

MarcelloGandinihadbeenresponsiblefor

theconcept,and,in early1971,setabouttrans-

formingit intoa morepracticalprototype.By

thetimeit wasshownat Turinlaterthatyear, the

distinctiveStratosoutlinehadbeenset,even

if thematerialshadn’t. Whereastheprototype

wasaluminium,‘production’carswouldbe

madeinglassfibre.Fioriocalledit:‘Anew

conceptof a sportscar.’

It mayhavebeentoneddownsomewhatfrom

thefuturisticZero– top-openingdoorandall–

butthisis stilla fabulousshape,andoneof the

era’s mostdistinctive‘wedges’. Lookatit in

profileandthereis barelyanychangein angleas

youfollowthelineofthefrontpanelallthe

wayupthebig,curvedwindscreen.The

heftywheelarchespunctuatetheflow, andyou

quicklyappreciatethattheStratosis a carof

extremes:widebutveryshort;a heavilytapered

bottomhalf;generousat waistlevelbuttight

aroundthepinchedroofline.

Yo u alsoquicklyappreciatethatit wasplanned

fromtheoutsettobea competitioncar. The

frontandrearclamshellpanelsswingoutof the

wayto revealthecentralsteeltubplusthefront

andrearsub-structures thathouseeasily acces-

siblemechanicalcomponents– essentialif

servicecrewsweretocarryoutswiftremedial

workbetweenstages.Therearefewofthe

compromisesoftenfoundin a designthatwas

firstandforemosta roadcar.

Development contin ued apace through 1972,

withGianPaoloDallaraandMikeParkes

helpingtoengineerthechassis.Toimprove

durabilityandusabilityonroughroads,for

example,therearsuspensionwaschangedfrom

doublewishbones(asusedonthefrontend)to

MacPhersonstruts.Suchwastherateof progress

thatthecar– notyethomologatedforGroup4,

butableto runin certaineventsas a prototype–

madeit s debut onthe ’72 Tour deCorse,Sandro

MunariandMarioMannucciunfortunately

beingforcedto retirewithsuspensionfailure.

Atthattime,thehomologationrequirements

104 Classic& SportsCarDecember 2015

‘YOU QUICKLYAPPRECIATE

THATTHE STRATOS WAS

DESIGNEDFROMTHEOUTSET

TO BE A COMPETITIONCAR’