Even though the Italian manufacturer is just a Fiat-owned brand nowadays with a lineup so boring it makes us wanna take a nap, Lancia still is the most successful carmaker in the World Rally Championship. The Stratos won the competition three years in a row, between 1974 and 1976, and it's regarded as one of the greatest road-going vehicles ever produced.
Speaking of which, only 492 of these beauties were made between '72 and '74, so it's quite a rare beast. Penned by Bertone's own Marcello Gandini and sporting a 2.4-liter Ferrari Dino V6, the Lancia Stratos HF was (and still is) a very enticing car to drive. By the way, that HF in its name stands for High Fidelity, and we have a sneaking suspicion that doesn't refer to the American comedy-drama film about a music aficionado with a poor understanding of women.
Whereas the road-going version of the Stratos produced just 190 PS and did the 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) run in under 5 seconds, the Lancia Stratos in full-on rally specification produced a whopping 560 PS thanks to a thumping great KKK turbo. But still, even the semi skimmed 190 PS variant is a handful when pushed hard, especially on a twisty bit of road spaghetti-ing through the mountains.
YouTube car spotting wonder kid Marchettino is one of the few lucky people that experienced such a thrilling ride, albeit from the passenger's seat. But still, that's what any proper gearhead dreamt to do at least once since he or she discovered what a Lancia Stratos is all about. For those of us poor bastards that hadn't had the change of doing such a thing, the video below will have to suffice for the moment.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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