1975 Lancia Stratos

The Lancia Stratos was the first car to be designed specifically for international rallies – in which it enjoyed extraordinary success – and because 400 examples had to be built, it allowed some lucky people to buy a competition machine for the road. It was a revolutionary design of timeless beauty which was among the first of the modern “supercars.” With a top speed (in production form) of 143 mph (o-60 mph in 6.8 seconds) allied to superb handling and brakes, there are still few cars which can match it in real motoring conditions: driving from A to B along twisting roads.

The Stratos first appeared in 1970 as a styling exercise by Bertone on Lancia Fulvia running gear and was taken up by Cesare Fiorio who then was Lancia’s competition manager. Before long a prototype was built using a Lancia engine, but the car’s potential was so great the a 2.4 liter Ferrari Dino unit was substituted and a legend was born.

When it was run by the works in...