Ferrari CEO Drives the New Stratos

The legendary Lancia Stratos HF has, undoubtedly been the most spectacular and successful rally car of the 70s. The iconic sports car has suffered a major redesign under the supervision of one very popular car design firm and coachbuilder, Pininfarina. The modern interpretation of the exclusive race car demonstrated its abilities around the Fiorano race track in Italy in the hands of Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo.

The New Stratos is built around a 4.3-liter V8 engine sourced from the Ferrari F430 and has an immense power output of 503 horsepower. Thanks to the carbon fiber used for its body, the vehicle weighs only 1,240 kg (2733 lbs), 108 kg (238 lbs) less than the Scuderia. That means the car has a power to weight ratio of 413 bhp/ton.

The particular test drive was thoroughly planned: on November 18th, Ferrari president, Luca di Montezemolo, and his chief test driver, Dario Benuzzi, took the New Stratos out on the Maranello-Fiorano circuit for the first time. After a few quick laps, the car had obviously enchanted Mr. Montezemolo with its nimble handling, judging by his spirited exclamations of "bellissima!" and "congratulazioni!" as he exited the car.

Montezemolo couldn't resist paying a sincere homage to his technical director, Roberto Fedeli, as he immediately phoned him and invited him to the track. Fedeli made a careful inspection of the vehicle and ended up praising the technology, details and painstaking workmanship that were put in this car.

While exclusivity was one of the previous model's main characteristics, the creators of the New Stratos state that currently the car is one of a kind. Whether a limited batch of the model will be manufactured or not depends on demand.

Luca di Montezemolo testing the New Stratos from New Stratos on Vimeo.