Lancia Stratos Gr4 S1

In the final version, both the engine and the transmission were those of the Ferrari Dino 246, which, combined with a central steel monocoque frame, made the Stratos a very competitive sports car. The slow production activity at the Bertone factory in Grugliasco forced Stratos to compete as Group 5 until the quantity of specimens required for type approval in Group 4 was reached. As far as Fiorio's declaration is concerned, it is stated that On July 23, 1974, more than 500 specimens were built (515 for precision). The truth of this statement has been questioned by many; On the other hand, 17 months after the minimum threshold was lowered to 400 specimens, making every controversy useless. However, the first series production was completed, and was competed in the rally in Group 4 and was the most competitive car for years: in the 1974, 1975 and 1976 seasons it became the World Rally Champion; He also had many other prestigious achievements at European level and in individual national championships, of course, Italian.


Rear view of a Lancia Stratos HF Stradale
The race began in 1972 at the Tour de Corse, where he was entrusted to the pilot Sandro Munari [1], who had to retire after the breakdown of the rear suspension. He achieved his first success on September 8, 1973 at the Firestone Rally of Spain with Munari and Mario Mannucci. To date, the only global rallying missions in the Stratos palmarès are the RAC Rally and the Safari Rally. Also in 1973 Stratos was employed in the 57th Targa Florio, where second was piloted by Munari and Andruet.


1983: Group 5 Stratos 3.0 for use in rallycross
Although Stratos continued to be a winning car with no major rivals, the Fiat Group stopped using it as the official car in the Rally World Championship in 1977 to replace it with the Fiat 131 Abarth Rally: an obviously commercial choice to promote the image of the new Mirafiori model for families. However, Stratos continued to compete and win until 1982, the expiration date of the approval.

After the adoption of the Fiat 131 by the Fiat Group racing team, two more specimens were specifically designed to compete as Group 5 Turbo. One of them was completely destroyed in a fire at Zeltweg, while the other won the Italian Motor Show in 1976, before being sent to Japan to participate in a Silhouette Silhouette Championship that he never took part. From here it became part of the Matsuda collection. It is currently part of the collection of Chris Hrabalek, the world's largest Stratos collector, along with another ten unique pieces, including the 1977 Safari Rally. The small number of specimens built and the fact that the car was used in all types of racing (even in rallycrosss certainly unfit for a collecting car) make it one of the most sought after models from collectors around the world.