Ex works Lancia Delta Integrale HF Evo for sale
Driven by icons, raced by the factory, upgraded by Abarth, road registered in the UK - Deltas come no better
So there’s a new Lancia rally car in the world. The Ypsilon HF Racing is Rally6 spec, which is a new set of French rally regs, and sits underneath the existing Rally4 Ypsilon HF Racing. It has a Sadev gearbox, Ohlins dampers, costs less than €40,000… and we’re losing you already. Because if we’re going to talk Lancia HF rally cars, only the classics are going to suffice. It’s great that Lancia is building competition cars, but the brand and the sport just aren’t as revered as they once were.
Of course, it could be any from Fulvia, Stratos, 037 and more, though the Delta Integrale will always have a special place in so many hearts. As a road car, it was a more usable shape than the two doors and actually affordable until not very long ago; as a rally car it was dominant for season after season after season. What made it a great rally car made it a great road car, and the Delta Integrale has been a cult hero for well over 30 years now. (Don’t go telling anyone else that the last road cars were made in 1995.)
As far as the Group A rally cars will go, it’s hard to picture an Integrale without some kind of Martini livery. It’s like a Castrol Toyota of the time - they’re inseparable. This car originally wore the famous colours; chassis 500852 was built for the 1991 WRC season, Group A spec for the Lancia Martini Racing Team. Which is some claim to fame. And get this: Miki Biasion took second place on the Monte in this very car. Strangely, it wasn’t used again that season, but while this Delta was at the factory it was upgraded by Abarth to Evo spec - or Deltona, as it's sometimes known. The rear wing and the even bigger arches are the giveaway.
Lancia retired its factory rally programme at the end of ‘91, so this car was taken on by Jolly Club - which explains the livery changes. It ran a couple more times in the 1992 WRC, then in 1993 this very car was used for a rally special of the Race of Champions, held on Gran Canaria. It was raced by Didier Auriol, Ari Vatanen and François Delecour, and was Carlos Sainz’s steed all the way to the final. Where he biffed a hay bale attempting to beat Didier Auriol, the scuff remaining to this day.
See this Delta is unrestored as well, in case its competition pedigree wasn’t captivating enough. It went back to the factory in 1993, was sold to a Greek collector in 1996, was given Classiche certification in 2016 and sold to its UK-based owner in 2018. So two owners in almost 30 years, ‘not rallied extensively’ since a Race of Champions, and ready to roll if you’re courageous enough. Quite some opportunity.
This Delta HF Integrale Evo is for sale at Girardo, with price on application; given there are road cars in the classifieds for a quarter of a million, it’s safe to say this old Lancia rally car will cost quite a bit more than the new Lancia rally car. But '90s motorsport, from Super Touring to Group A and GT1 to V10 F1, is really getting collectors going at the moment, the cars boasting both great nostalgia value as well as proper speed still. And nothing quite encapsulates the era from a rally car perspective like a Repsol Delta Intregrale damaged at Race of Champions by Carlos Sainz. At least the next owner won’t have to worry about adding another war wound…
Very interesting seeing the engine shot - the block is very, very far forward which must make this car very nose heavy (and quite prone to understeer).
I guess the professionals would sort that out with a 'dab of oppo' and the handbrake!
Very interesting seeing the engine shot - the block is very, very far forward which must make this car very nose heavy (and quite prone to understeer).
I guess the professionals would sort that out with a 'dab of oppo' and the handbrake!
Trick diffs/transmission and as you've said, skilled drivers using left-foot braking and judicious use of the handbrake, meant understeer was rarely an issue :
He booted it and i was surprised at how well it went. Guessing the “ wick had been turned up on it “.
He booted it and i was surprised at how well it went. Guessing the wick had been turned up on it .
Not sure of the spec but he told me of a very panicked phone conversation he had with the engine builder/tuner after an engine rebuild demanding they put it back on the dyno to take a couple of hundred horsepower out of it as he didn't want to spend several tens of thousands on another rebuild.
Couldn't see the problem myself, if the Delta Integrale went pop he could still use his 6R4...
They were driving the car (Giallo at the time) to fettle it through the high street.
Obviously in traffic I said "that doesn't look standard, how many horses does she have?"
The reply:- "Currently about 500, but should be good for 700 when we're done"
The thing literally made the floor shake.
They must have spent a fortune on that car, but I still reckon it's a drop in the ocean compared to what this will go for.
The intercooler has been arched back which was a rally mod.
Road cars can get to 240 bhp plus easily, best upgrade on mine was a more modern intercooler, the boost starts much lower in the rev range, meaning it had more get up and go. The way they pull themselves around a corner is amazing.
I rather bought something other specials for that money, say a nice newly build up restomod Evo if you really want a Evo Delta.
A lot more usable than an ex-works Group A rally car, and one would hope cheaper to fix with better spares availability (but non of the provenance admittedly)
I rather bought something other specials for that money, say a nice newly build up restomod Evo if you really want a Evo Delta.
A lot more usable than an ex-works Group A rally car, and one would hope cheaper to fix with better spares availability (but non of the provenance admittedly)
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