Photo: Silverstone Auctions
When it comes to car collectors, a couple of big names spring to mind. Jay Leno is up there with the best of them, but Jamiroquai frontman Jay Kay shouldn’t be taken lightly. After all, his collection of cars beggars belief.
Like the true gearhead he is, Jason Luís Cheetham appreciates Lancia for what it was before the Italian automaker went the way of the dodo in the 1990s. Now reduced to a one-model brand exclusive to the Italian market, Lancia still holds the record for the automaker with the most WRC titles.
The Delta brought Lancia six titles in the World Rally Championship between 1987 and 1992, scoring 46 wins in no less than seven competitive seasons. The Integrale Evoluzione II is arguably the best iteration of the road-going Delta, a legendary model that sells on the classic car market for figures that beggar belief for what is, in essence, a 1990s hot hatchback.
Jay Kay is the happy owner of one such Evo II, and according to estimates, Silverstone Auctions expects to sell the car for anything between 30,000 to 35,000 pounds sterling excluding the buyer’s premium and value-added tax. To put that into perspective, an all-new example of the Ford Focus RS with the steering wheel on the wrong side is £32,265.
Produced in 1994 and imported in the United Kingdom in 2000, chassis number ZLA831AB000582708 was acquired by the famed musician in 2009. “Frustrated by an engine misfire, the car was recently sent by Jay to highly respected Lancia specialists, Walkers, for a complete engine rebuild in January 2017.” A block rebore, cylinder head skimming, polished crankshaft bearing journals, forged pistons, and some bearings later, the red-painted Integrale Evo II presents itself in tip-top condition.
In hindsight, the estimate on this blast from the past seems like a bargain considering the originality of the car and the odometer, which shows 17,610 kilometers (10,942 miles) from new.
The Delta brought Lancia six titles in the World Rally Championship between 1987 and 1992, scoring 46 wins in no less than seven competitive seasons. The Integrale Evoluzione II is arguably the best iteration of the road-going Delta, a legendary model that sells on the classic car market for figures that beggar belief for what is, in essence, a 1990s hot hatchback.
Jay Kay is the happy owner of one such Evo II, and according to estimates, Silverstone Auctions expects to sell the car for anything between 30,000 to 35,000 pounds sterling excluding the buyer’s premium and value-added tax. To put that into perspective, an all-new example of the Ford Focus RS with the steering wheel on the wrong side is £32,265.
Produced in 1994 and imported in the United Kingdom in 2000, chassis number ZLA831AB000582708 was acquired by the famed musician in 2009. “Frustrated by an engine misfire, the car was recently sent by Jay to highly respected Lancia specialists, Walkers, for a complete engine rebuild in January 2017.” A block rebore, cylinder head skimming, polished crankshaft bearing journals, forged pistons, and some bearings later, the red-painted Integrale Evo II presents itself in tip-top condition.
In hindsight, the estimate on this blast from the past seems like a bargain considering the originality of the car and the odometer, which shows 17,610 kilometers (10,942 miles) from new.
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