Lancia Stratos HF Dominated 1970s Rally: Gooding & Co. Offers This Ferrari-Powered Homologation Stratos Stradale Road Car At Scottsdale, Estimate $500,000-$600,000

In 1969 the Fiat Group took control of two Italian icons, absorbing Lancia and taking a 50 percent stake in Enzo Ferrari’s little concern. Even though its Fulvia rally car remained viable till 1972 when it won the Monte Carlo Rally and dominated rallying, Cesare Fiorio, head of Lancia’s motorsports division, knew by 1970 Lancia needed to transition, to develop a new rally car. Nuccio Bertone sought business with Lancia, which had long been a client of Pininfarina. To entice Lancia, Bertone had his star designer, Marcello Gandini, pen the Stratos Zero in 1970, a mid-engine concept car based on Lancia underpinnings that looked like the Batmobile for an Italian Dark Knight. Star debutante of the 1970 Turin Motor Show, Stratos Zero stunned the auto industry just like Gandini’s previous creations, the Lamborghini Miura and Countach.

Fiorio envisioned a purpose-built rally car inspired by the Stratos Zero and the result a year later was the Stratos HF, or “High-Fidelity.” The stubby, lightweight car had a short wheelbase to help it rotate with style on tight dirt-road corners, a central steel monocoque with tubular rear sub-frame, and a fiberglass body that still stirs the imagination. Most importantly, successful negotiations with Enzo Ferrari, who initially considered the Stratos a potential rival for his Dino, meant the 195 horsepower 2.4-liter Dino V6 was made available.

Lancia tested and raced the Stratos in several events during the 1972 and ‘73 seasons in the prototype class. By October 1, 1974, Stratos was homologated for the 1974 FIA Group 4 rally championship. The car was successful from the beginning, and dominated rally racing for five years, recording more than 80 international wins. Driven by Sandro Munari and Björn Waldegård, the Stratos won the 1974, ‘75, and ‘76 manufacturers’ championship for Lancia. At the time, there was no driver’s championship in rally, but Munari, who was nicknamed il Drago, the dragon, was dominant in the Stratos so long as the gearbox held together.

In Munari’s hands, the factory-backed Stratos won the Monte Carlo rally three times, 1975, ’76, and ‘77. Entered by French privateer Chardonnet in 1979, Stratos again won the Monte. If not for internal Fiat group politics, which dictated a shift to Fiat for rally efforts, Stratos would have continued its winning ways till the rules were changed to allow all-wheel drive, which ushered in the original Audi Quattro. Along with the Quattro and the Peugeot 205 T16 that made Group B rallying so famous, Stratos defined modern rally, and is arguably the best of the cars built before rules changes allowed all-wheel drive. Best of all, it won on the old, original and extremely brutal rally circuits, not the abbreviated courses now used to make the sport more TV-friendly.

Built to meet the required production of 500 race and road cars to homologate Stratos for Group 4 racing, the Stratos HF Stradale road car was slightly detuned for reliability, but made few concessions to civility. Stradale had a Ferrari Dino V6 connected to a 5-speed manual gearbox feeding power to the rear wheels. Suspension front and rear was fully independent, a vented disc at each wheel. It even retained the helmet holders beneath the side windows. Only about 250 are believed to have been produced.

Assigned chassis number 001948, the car Gooding & Co. will auction in late January in Scottsdale was completed at Bertone’s Grugliasco works in 1974, painted in Azzuro (Blue) with blue carpet. Sold new on November 6, 1975, Peter Kaus acquired the car from its first owner in May 1981 for his Rosso Bianco Collection in Aschaffenburg, Germany. Rosso Bianco was one of the greatest personal collections ever amassed. After 27 years at Rosso Bianco, collector Evert Louwman acquired chassis 001948. A year later the Stratos was sold and passed through the hands of a dealer before going to Phil Toledano, a New York enthusiast with a passion for rally cars.

Toledano commissioned a thorough cosmetic and mechanical restoration of the Stratos completed over a period of two years. Since then, this Stratos has appeared at the Greenwich Concours d’Elegance and participated in the annual Copperstate 1000 rally through Arizona.

I have an affection for the Stratos because I had a successful working relationship with Sandro Munari, who I met in his role as Lamborghini’s director of public relations in the 1980s and ‘90s. He facilitated several story opportunities for My Lady of Italy, an Englishwoman living in Italy who covered Italian cars for my sports car magazine and later went on to work at a well-known Italian sports car company. As part of the launch of the original Lamborghini Diablo, Munari rode beside me on the Autostrada. On my second stint behind the wheel, we cruised for a lengthy stretch at around 165-170 mph, never mind the workmen who cropped up waving small flags in the most surprising places, including the far-left fast lane. Because he was Sandro Munari, il Drago, it meant everything that he complimented my methodical approach to assessing a car and building up in speed without being a fool like so many are. He gave the faintest smile when I said, “I don’t think I’m Fangio. Don’t worry,” moving my hand in a smooth arc. He was pleased that I learned the Diablo in the first stint, and then went for high speed in the second. And I was not the journalist who crashed the Diablo the next day.

Stratos 001948 is exemplary and will prove a fine addition to any collection of rally or Italian cars.