Lancia Stratos HF Stradale

Chassis No. 001715
Body No. 1240210

Carrozzeria Bertone's Stratos Zero, unveiled at the 1970 Turin Motor Show, was conceived as a design study rather than a proposal for production; however, Cesare Fiorio, head of Lancia's competition department, saw the shape of his next rally contender. With the approval of managing director Pier Ugo Gobbato, granted on the condition that the car use a Ferrari Dino V6 to contain costs, Bertone and Marcello Gandini set about turning the wedge into a rally car.

What emerged was the Stratos HF, the first car conceived from a clean sheet for the World Rally Championship. A steel monocoque center section carried the 2.4-liter, four-cam Dino V6 amidships, driving through a five-speed transaxle, and the whole was wrapped in coachwork of remarkable compactness, its wraparound windscreen curving into the doors. FIA Group 4 homologation followed on 1 October 1974. The Stratos took a hat-trick of Manufacturers' Championship titles in 1974, 1975, and 1976, carried Sandro Munari to the Drivers' Championship in 1977, and won the Monte Carlo Rally as late as 1979, gathering more than 80 international victories along the way. Of the 492 built, roughly half were completed as road-going HF Stradales.

Germany took a particular view of the Stratos in the 1970s, legislation of the period prohibiting spoilers and similar addenda on road cars on safety grounds. The result was a special batch of approximately 20 examples configured and built specifically for the German market, delivered in a single consignment to the German Lancia distributor. They remain a distinct rarity within the model's production.

Chassis number 001715 was among that small group of Stradales delivered new to Germany, a group understood to have numbered around 20 cars. Its Certificate of Origin, issued by the Stellantis Heritage Hub, records a delivery date of 27 August 1974, wearing Bertone body number 210 finished in Stratos Red over Black skai Alcantara avana trim and Saval red carpets. Desirably, it left the factory without the front and rear spoilers, leaving Gandini's lines uninterrupted. Deutsche Lancia Vertrieb GmbH of Heilbronn first certified the car for German road use on 31 August 1976. It was supplied through Auto Becker of Düsseldorf to Adam Jacobs & Sohn of Aachen, whose name is recorded on the rare original Lancia warranty certificate and appears as the first line of the Fahrzeugbrief. Registration followed on 6 September 1976 under the Aachen plate ''AC-S 88.'' The car remained in Aachen with a second owner from April 1977 before moving south to Esslingen. It was in the Rhineland by 2011 and in Saarlouis by 2023, and in April 2024 it passed to Modena Motorsport GmbH of Langenfeld.

Professionally refinished approximately a decade ago in its original color, 001715 presents today as an otherwise largely original example. The interior is well kept, and the exterior exhibits panel gaps and minor imperfections consistent with a car that was never fully restored. It wears Group 4 Campagnolo magnesium wheels, today a scarce and expensive period item in their own right valued at over €20.000, in place of the narrower standard rims, and its German registration papers record a comprehensive list of Group 4 equipment, including AP/Lockheed brakes, Eibach and Bilstein suspension, Sparco seats, and a roll bar.

The car has been inspected by the noted Stratos specialist Udo Sparwald, who confirmed that it retains its original, matching-numbers engine. That engine was overhauled and prepared at approximately the same time, and records on file show a bench figure of 240 horsepower against 190 horsepower as standard. The work is reported to have cost in excess of €120,000. The Stratos has been used only for occasional drives since and has not been rallied.

The car is accompanied by copies of its first German Fahrzeugbrief, together with its original current registration documents, an Italian Uso e Manutenzione handbook, and the original Lancia service and warranty booklets in their blue wallet. Presenting an exceptional opportunity to acquire one of Lancia's most iconic motorsport creations, this Stratos HF Stradale would be a welcome addition to any collection of Italian competition machinery from rallying's golden era.