After the Stoneleigh show... a Stratos
Discussion
After the Stoneleigh show in 2015 my thinking was....
SO.... I am getting a Lister Bell Stratos!! The Stratos was always the 1st WTF car I remember seeing when watching rallying on telly and I am actually really excited.
I have spoken to a few folk who know what they are talking about in terms of cars and kits, I spent ages getting lots of reassurance about the quality of the kit, on Thursday I went on an 800 mile round trip journey to have a 3hr visit at the Lister Bell workshop with Craig going over all the options and specs for my ideal car and will be putting my deposit down on Monday to secure my chassis number. Craig was fantastic at not only answering all my questions but also answering all the things that I hadn't even thought to ask about. A great "buying" experience. To be fair, he probably sold me on the car at the point during the test drive when we were airborne going down the road.
Unfortunately it is a 12 month wait for things to start moving and I am the most impatient guy on the planet and I SO wish I had taken this step back in 2015 but hey... I got there
Fortunately, I know exactly what I want at the end of the process and am 100% confident that it will be exactly what I wanted. Obviously I am not nailing it together myself but have made arrangements for that bit to be done by an expert. I think my part in the build process will be asking, "is it ready yet, is it ready yet" every few weeks.
Anyhow... the goal is a Group 4 wide body rally replica with the full painted Alitalia livery and race decals of car number 4 from the 1977 Tour de Corse. Engine will be a totally rebuilt and refreshed 3 litre Alfa Romeo V6 on Jenvey individual throttle bodies with an Emerald programmable ECU which I am told will allow me to have a couple of sensible maps for MOT and road use and a full-on pop/bang/crackle flame spitting rally mode for fun. Should be around 300bhp. It will be built LHD and will have the full Group 4 rally dashboard as per the original. No half measures
Anyhow.. no pics of the car but some pics of my 1:18th scale model of what it should (hopefully) exactly look like. Appreciate it might not be to everyones taste but if nothing else, it will stand out from the crowd (which may be good... or bad)
Wife thinks I am daft. Dogs think I am dafter. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle
renmure in 2015 said:
If I had a little corner of a garage spare then I think I would have a Stratos replica in it, especially a full rally-rep decaled one with all the lights. Hmmmm... wonder if I can move things around a wee bit 
Then with a bit of consistency my thinking after the 2016 show wasrenmure in 2016 said:
My main thoughts were that I was really impressed with the Lancia Stratos cars in the full rally replica livery (I love the OTT Rally spec
Roll on to the 2017 show and I spent a fair bit of time looking at the Lister Bell and Hawk cars again this year and also had a few hours being nosey while looking at the owners cars in the Stratos parking area. Fellow Ultima owners Pete and Mark were good enough to help me ask sensible(ish) questions over the weekend... like can I get in and out of it.... SO.... I am getting a Lister Bell Stratos!! The Stratos was always the 1st WTF car I remember seeing when watching rallying on telly and I am actually really excited.
I have spoken to a few folk who know what they are talking about in terms of cars and kits, I spent ages getting lots of reassurance about the quality of the kit, on Thursday I went on an 800 mile round trip journey to have a 3hr visit at the Lister Bell workshop with Craig going over all the options and specs for my ideal car and will be putting my deposit down on Monday to secure my chassis number. Craig was fantastic at not only answering all my questions but also answering all the things that I hadn't even thought to ask about. A great "buying" experience. To be fair, he probably sold me on the car at the point during the test drive when we were airborne going down the road.
Unfortunately it is a 12 month wait for things to start moving and I am the most impatient guy on the planet and I SO wish I had taken this step back in 2015 but hey... I got there
Fortunately, I know exactly what I want at the end of the process and am 100% confident that it will be exactly what I wanted. Obviously I am not nailing it together myself but have made arrangements for that bit to be done by an expert. I think my part in the build process will be asking, "is it ready yet, is it ready yet" every few weeks.
Anyhow... the goal is a Group 4 wide body rally replica with the full painted Alitalia livery and race decals of car number 4 from the 1977 Tour de Corse. Engine will be a totally rebuilt and refreshed 3 litre Alfa Romeo V6 on Jenvey individual throttle bodies with an Emerald programmable ECU which I am told will allow me to have a couple of sensible maps for MOT and road use and a full-on pop/bang/crackle flame spitting rally mode for fun. Should be around 300bhp. It will be built LHD and will have the full Group 4 rally dashboard as per the original. No half measures
Anyhow.. no pics of the car but some pics of my 1:18th scale model of what it should (hopefully) exactly look like. Appreciate it might not be to everyones taste but if nothing else, it will stand out from the crowd (which may be good... or bad)
Wife thinks I am daft. Dogs think I am dafter. The truth is probably somewhere in the middle
Edited by renmure on Sunday 14th May 00:21
Yea... Im with FC Im afraid sir... Was nodding in agreement the whole way except LHD. I even had a moment of.... am I getting my right and lefts mixed up? I feel I need to say a few things cos this sounds like a dream come true and wouldn't want it to be 'ruined' by not considering the full implications.
If its a keeper? I'd suggest RHD for these reasons:
- LHD is a pain when all the parking, take always, junctions and tolls are the other side.... the novelty will wear off quickly
- Insurance is higher
- position on the road... you are closer to the kerb, but you may go into autopilot and sit where you normally do except this time the rest of your car is in another lane or worse the wrong side of the road.... Don't deny the power of autopilot! So you have to concentrate.
- overtaking on country roads.... this deserves its own point. You have a light 300 bhp car and your stuck behind a caravan, you know there is a massive straight after this sweeping right hander and you cant see a damn thing and by the time you can, theres a car and your stuck for another mile! Also....you cant have a 'wee peep' on the other side to see whats coming.... Deal breaker that one for me right there.
- Resale value in UK, I've seen some amazing cars for sale and as soon as I see LHD I'm disappointed and move on.
Unless you are actually taking it to Europe to go rallying and LHD would be useful between stages..... RHD make lots of sense to me. the above points for me would detract from the experience rather than add.
I get you want a proper replica, but everyone who knows that Stratos only made 1 RHD will also know the car will be a Lister Bell and then wonder why on earth you made it LHD!
Anyway Ive said my bit, if you still want LHD....you may now ignore me...
If its a keeper? I'd suggest RHD for these reasons:
- LHD is a pain when all the parking, take always, junctions and tolls are the other side.... the novelty will wear off quickly
- Insurance is higher
- position on the road... you are closer to the kerb, but you may go into autopilot and sit where you normally do except this time the rest of your car is in another lane or worse the wrong side of the road.... Don't deny the power of autopilot! So you have to concentrate.
- overtaking on country roads.... this deserves its own point. You have a light 300 bhp car and your stuck behind a caravan, you know there is a massive straight after this sweeping right hander and you cant see a damn thing and by the time you can, theres a car and your stuck for another mile! Also....you cant have a 'wee peep' on the other side to see whats coming.... Deal breaker that one for me right there.
- Resale value in UK, I've seen some amazing cars for sale and as soon as I see LHD I'm disappointed and move on.
Unless you are actually taking it to Europe to go rallying and LHD would be useful between stages..... RHD make lots of sense to me. the above points for me would detract from the experience rather than add.
I get you want a proper replica, but everyone who knows that Stratos only made 1 RHD will also know the car will be a Lister Bell and then wonder why on earth you made it LHD!
Anyway Ive said my bit, if you still want LHD....you may now ignore me...
Deposit paid and I am waiting (im)patiently in line
(ok, I am sure, but Mrs R might be reading this so around *cough* £50k *cough* ... but that is including ticking pretty much all the upgrade boxes like painted stripes, all the engine rebuilding and balancing, after market ecu and custom mapping, throttle bodies, big brakes, nitrons, competition radiator and other bits and custom exhaust plus lots of other bits that I can't remember) It can obviously be done considerably cheaper and still be a fantastic car tho.
tuffer said:
Love it, out of interest what sort of ball park figure for completed car?
Ummm... not quite sure yet. Infact, having come off the phone to Lister Bell and the gentleman building it when it is all ready, the plan is to source a rarer 3.2 litre Alfa V6 engine... just 'cause. (ok, I am sure, but Mrs R might be reading this so around *cough* £50k *cough* ... but that is including ticking pretty much all the upgrade boxes like painted stripes, all the engine rebuilding and balancing, after market ecu and custom mapping, throttle bodies, big brakes, nitrons, competition radiator and other bits and custom exhaust plus lots of other bits that I can't remember) It can obviously be done considerably cheaper and still be a fantastic car tho.
renmure said:
Ummm... not quite sure yet. Infact, having come off the phone to Lister Bell and the gentleman building it when it is all ready, the plan is to source a rarer 3.2 litre Alfa V6 engine... just 'cause.
(ok, I am sure, but Mrs R might be reading this so around *cough* £50k *cough* ... but that is including ticking pretty much all the upgrade boxes like painted stripes, all the engine rebuilding and balancing, after market ecu and custom mapping, throttle bodies, big brakes, nitrons, competition radiator and other bits and custom exhaust plus lots of other bits that I can't remember) It can obviously be done considerably cheaper and still be a fantastic car tho.
That is actually less than I expected, seems pretty good value. Chassis looks excellent, how about the body fit and finish?(ok, I am sure, but Mrs R might be reading this so around *cough* £50k *cough* ... but that is including ticking pretty much all the upgrade boxes like painted stripes, all the engine rebuilding and balancing, after market ecu and custom mapping, throttle bodies, big brakes, nitrons, competition radiator and other bits and custom exhaust plus lots of other bits that I can't remember) It can obviously be done considerably cheaper and still be a fantastic car tho.
Hogging the Ultima forum (but that's allowed cause I have one) ... body fit and finish seemed great to me but I really am not an expert and I guess the cars on display at the show were chosen because they were the best or showed something to the best advantage. Like with the Ultima, I am sure the skill of the builder plays a big part in grading the good, the very good and the seriously very good.
Although I am not building it, I have spent a few geeky hours, days and weeks searching for, and reading, build threads and the like on the net and usually that's when folk hit problems and blind alleys with putting things together or where folk comment about things that could have been better or different or whatever. I wasn't specifically looking for problems, but having looked, I can't really find any which is obviously good.
Although I am not building it, I have spent a few geeky hours, days and weeks searching for, and reading, build threads and the like on the net and usually that's when folk hit problems and blind alleys with putting things together or where folk comment about things that could have been better or different or whatever. I wasn't specifically looking for problems, but having looked, I can't really find any which is obviously good.
I am sure you have probably seen this........ http://www.lanciastratos.com/en/video
I hadn't! Thanks! Some nice vids in there too!
One for the list of things to do in a couple of years? :
https://youtu.be/tKQyO60Kxus
One for the list of things to do in a couple of years? :
https://youtu.be/tKQyO60Kxus
I have the same problem with lambo COUNTACH 
They say you should never meet your hero's.
The Stratos was said to be a very twitchy, edgy car and the Lambo was one big compromise. Both had fab sounding engines, which is what we remember, along with 'those' looks.
Both cars date from the 1970's, a period when they looked better than they drove. Worth remembering.
P
The Stratos was said to be a very twitchy, edgy car and the Lambo was one big compromise. Both had fab sounding engines, which is what we remember, along with 'those' looks.
Both cars date from the 1970's, a period when they looked better than they drove. Worth remembering.
P
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