Lancia Stratos HF Stradale. Just let those glorious words tingle your spine a bit. Feel the connections being made in your mind, sending the endorphins flying and giving you that butterflyish feeling. This is the car that redefined car-ness. It completely obliterated the competition on the rally scene during the seventies and early eighties, with its short wheelbase and furious Ferrari Dino V6 engine. It's just utterly stunning in every aspect. The notion that this small, mid-engined beauty is pushing forty in a couple of years is mind-boggling. It puts every design ever created in its wake to shame. No wonder Pininfarina is creating a new Stratos these days that look almost exactly the same...
Only 492 road cars were ever produced, between 1972 and 1974. As they are getting harder and harder to come by, kitkars such as Hawk are becoming more and more popular. Build quality varies, but many Hawk cars are told to be almost identical to the real thing. This, on the other hand, is no kitcar. It's the real deal.
The thing I love about the car, is that it's cool in every possible way. It's got a driving position which is slightly ajar from the point of direction, tilting the driver right a bit and the passenger left, thus allowing a more wedge-shaped body and curved windshield. The doors have huge slots in them which might seem odd to the untrained eye, until you're told it's for putting your helmet in when not racing. Fabulous.
Driving the thing can be a chore if you're expecting an easy ride. The pedals have no deadspots at all, and a very short travel. This can result in either being fully on or fully off the throttle, until you apply your best dexterity. Apart from this, it's actually very forgiving and fun to drive. Except having my head stuck in the roof liner - it's not tailored for people over 190 centimetres.
But this is no daily driver. It's an important part of automotive history and needs to be kept in good nick. Mind you, this doesn't mean you can't use it. And if you use it, other people will se it. It's like giving people a priceless visual gift.
Seeing a Lancia Stratos up close will keep your petrolhead fizzing for weeks.
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