One of the many criteria that endow a car with classic status is competition pedigree – Ferrari, Porsche and Jaguar are just three marques with deep and successful competition histories in Grand Prix and sports car racing that imbue their road cars with unquestioned classic status. This week’s Prime Find bears the name of another marque – and model – with a tremendous motor sport background, in this instance, in the world of rallying.
Lancia is one of those names that conjures up visions of sporting saloons and coupés that exude charisma and style. The list is long – Lambda, Flavia, Fulvia, Aurelia, Beta, Montecarlo, Flaminia, Stratos, Gamma…but the last thirty years or so have been less than glorious for the company.
Some of Lancia’s glorious past
Founded back in 1906 in Turin, and taken over by FIAT in 1969, sales of Lancia’s declined from 1990 onwards, and when you look at their offerings since then, it’s not much of a surprise. For the decade from 2009 to 2020, Lancia’s were no more than re-badged Chryslers after FIAT acquired a stake in the American company. The company’s ownership now falls under the recently-formed Stellantis N.V., a 50-50 merger between FIAT Chrysler Automobiles and the French PSA Group, with HQ in Ansterdam. Besides Lancia, the Stellantis portfolio includes the Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Dodge, FIAT, Opel, Maserati and Peugeot brands among others and is the sixth-largest car manufacturer in the world – I had no idea until I looked it up. The talk is that they will try to revive the Lancia brand, and they could do worse than start with the last great name in Lancia’s history, the Delta.
Derived from the FIAT Ritmo (or Strada as we knew it in the UK), the car was designed by Giugiaro and the FIAT engines were “Lancia-fied”, adding 10bhp over the Strada’s 75bhp, making the Delta a better performer. It also had independent suspension, rack and pinion steering and an optional folding rear seat, the design of which SAAB had a hand in. The Swedes also were involved in developing the Delta’s heating and ventilation, as well as the rustproofing, something much needed by the Italians.
When the Delta was introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1979, it was positioned as an upmarket alternative to the best-selling VW Golf. It was greeted with praise from the motoring press and buyers alike and was voted European Car of the Year for 1980. Over the next 15 years the Delta underwent two full facelifts and the introduction of numerous engine and trim levels, as well as the launch of several more performance-oriented variants, starting with the GT1600 in 1982, followed by the Delta HF (for High Fidelity) in 1983, and the HF 4WD in ’86.
The Delta continued to be tweaked and improved through the latter half of the 1980’s, with a new top-of-the range HF Turbo coming ahead of the 1986 general model facelift, which quickly replaced the HF Turbo with the Delta HF 4WD in April 1986. Power in this variant came from a turbocharged 2.0-litre engine, while the rest of the range received a new front-end among other changes. The HF 4WD carried over the external modifications of the HF Turbo such as the bonnet cowls, side skirts, dual headlamps and exhausts, pinstripes along the waistline and internally, extra dials, with all instrumentation featuring yellow calibration and needles – it really looked the part. However, the HF 4WD was itself soon replaced, with the first use of the Integrale name in September 1987. This was the most powerful Delta so far, pushing out 163bhp.
By this time, Lancia – already a World Rallying Championship winner with the 037 in 1983 – were competing in the same championships with the Delta S4 against other Group B monsters such as the Metro 6R4, Audi Quattro S1 and Ford RS200 and some of the features of the competition car found their way into the Integrale road car, such as the permanent 4WD. However, Group B rallying was abandoned after too many accidents, several of them fatal, and was replaced with Group A, where Lancia won yet another championship with the HF 4WD, dominating with 9 wins out of 13 events in 1987.
The Delta was further improved with the introduction of the first Integrale, the Delta HF Integrale 8V. Power was now up to 185bhp, wheel and tyres got bigger and wider, as did the wheelarches to accommodate them, and other visual upgrades made the Integrale look like what it was – a rally car for the road, but the development story didn’t end there.
Lancia announced the Delta HF Integrale 16V at the Geneva Motor Show in 1989, a variant that was developed specifically for rallying. Performance was improved still further, thanks to 197bhp, giving the car a top speed of 220kmh/137mph and the ability to reach 100kmh from a standstill in under six seconds – serious sports car figures.
Yet this was still not the ultimate Lancia Delta – first came the HF Integrale “Evoluzione” in September 1991, and in the summer of 1993, the final and ultimate Integrale, the “Evoluzione II”, which was also the most powerful version with 212bhp, although performance remained the same.
By this time Lancia had retired from rallying, having won the World Championship for both manufacturers and drivers several times – the former for a record six consecutive years and the latter four times, and the Integrale name is firmly embedded in motorsport legend.
The road cars, too, have acquired almost cult status thanks not only to their rallying pedigree, but also their ability as road cars – very quick, with superb handling, lots of grip, courtesy of the 4WD, and purposeful styling, the Integrale is now a bona fide classic, which brings us to our Prime Find for this week.
It’s a 1991 HF Integrale 16V and will come under the hammer with CCA auctions at the Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration Show at the NEC between March 18h and 20th with an estimate range of £18,000 to £24,000, allowing me to sneak it into our Prime Find budget. This Integrale is finished in white, with a black leather and grey Alcantara interior. It looks from the auctioneers’ photos we have borrowed to be in pretty decent condition – the rear door cards have still got their protective film, which would suggest that rear-seat passengers have been rarely carried.
As with all Integrale’s – at least, those that haven’t been converted – this one is LHD, and shows a mileage of just 76,223km, supported by the documentation that comes with the car, which includes an MOT valid for almost twelve months. The WRC numberplate is also supplied with the car. This example has been in the UK since 2004, and appears to have been very well looked after – the auctioneers have a condition rating for all the lots they sell and have given this one 109/135, which is a pretty good score.
With prices of the Evoluzione models reaching up to £50k and more – in fact, there’s an Evo II on offer at the same auction, with an estimate range of £62,000 to £70,000 – there’s been a pull-up effect on the more ordinary, but still very desirable, 8V and 16V models, and compared to other examples currently on sale, this one seems very realistically priced, though of course it could go higher than the estimate range.
There are some 180 Integrale’s on UK roads, about 50 of them being the 16V, so not a huge number. This one looks in pretty good shape, though not my favourite colour for the car (that would be yellow, obviously), and while I prefer the more usual multi-spoke alloys, I could live with the black ones on this particular car. If it stays within the estimate range, it represents a good opportunity to buy one of the last great Lancia’s. You can see the full lot entry here, and as usual, should this Integrale appeal, we recommend arranging an inspection before you bid, if possible.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk.