RE: You Know You Want To... Lancia Delta S4 'Stradale'
Friday 24th June 2011
Despite the dominance of the Peugeot 205 T16 in Group B rallying, for many the definitive Group B image was Henri Toivonen at the wheel of a Delta S4. It was more powerful and, allegedly, more of a handful to drive than the lithe little Pug, but Toivonen made it look easy.
It was first registered in the UK in 1987 to the Patrick Collection and comes with the original purchase invoice for £44,590. Since then it's spent most of its time on display and has covered just 1344 miles in all that time. It has recently been thoroughly serviced by S4 specialists Walkers Garage in North Yorkshire at a cost of...ahem...£7697.
Other notable lots are a 1075-mile-from-new RS200, a Porsche 959, an F40, an ex-Sir Paul McCartney Lambo 400, oh and not forgetting of course thatpink Pagani Zonda. A full list can be found here (cars start at lot 401).
You Know You Want To... Lancia Delta S4 'Stradale'
FoS auction to provide some serious Group B love....
The Group B cars were, of course, prototypes that faintly resembled the production models for marketing purposes. But in order to homologate the cars for competition, 200 roadgoing versions had to be built, although some Lancia experts reckon that the total number of S4 Deltas built was much lower, and that fewer than 80 exist today, which makes this Delta S4 a rare beasty indeed.
If the cost of such expert attention doesn't put you off and you want to make it yours then you'll have to slide along to the Bonhams Collectors' Motor Cars and Automobilia auction at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 1st July. Auctioneers reckon the top-end estimate to be £100,000 which, frankly, if it sold for anything like that would represent a monumental bargain.
Discussion
My father had one of these ( and a RS200, but that's another story ). I always liked the odd ball looks . Lancia made a bit more effort with finishing these than the previous 037's and Stratos ( which he also had but which I don't think sold so well ) but it was still pretty raw.
The big problem with these ( and it is a VERY BIG ONE ) is trying to get spare parts. The ECU went on his, and he spent 6 months finding , what he was told at the time, was the very last one in existence ( I think he got it from Abarth ). If that one went, the car was toast. He sold it a few months later to a collector in Japan. As for the other bits and pieces, so much of this car was bespoke that you would really have problems keeping it going.
Lovely thing in a kooky sort of way though....
The big problem with these ( and it is a VERY BIG ONE ) is trying to get spare parts. The ECU went on his, and he spent 6 months finding , what he was told at the time, was the very last one in existence ( I think he got it from Abarth ). If that one went, the car was toast. He sold it a few months later to a collector in Japan. As for the other bits and pieces, so much of this car was bespoke that you would really have problems keeping it going.
Lovely thing in a kooky sort of way though....
rallyman77 said:
Correctly said: The Quattro and T16 were sweeping the floor back then but the S4 was the definition of Group B rallying era.
Was shocked to see that but looked it up and you're right. The S4 never won the world championship. Having said that the 037 was the only 2 wheel drive car to beat the Quattro.
My favourite car out there! Certainly a lottery win car with an RS200!
Jesus God there's some beauties for sale there 
http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/19286/lot/487/#
http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/19286/lot/495/
http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/19286/lot/487/#
http://www.bonhams.com/eur/auction/19286/lot/495/
Snoggledog said:
rallyman77 said:
Correctly said: The Quattro and T16 were sweeping the floor back then but the S4 was the definition of Group B rallying era.
Was shocked to see that but looked it up and you're right. The S4 never won the world championship. Having said that the 037 was the only 2 wheel drive car to beat the Quattro.Bigchiefmuffin said:
My father had one of these ( and a RS200, but that's another story ). I always liked the odd ball looks . Lancia made a bit more effort with finishing these than the previous 037's and Stratos ( which he also had but which I don't think sold so well ) but it was still pretty raw.
The big problem with these ( and it is a VERY BIG ONE ) is trying to get spare parts. The ECU went on his, and he spent 6 months finding , what he was told at the time, was the very last one in existence ( I think he got it from Abarth ). If that one went, the car was toast. He sold it a few months later to a collector in Japan. As for the other bits and pieces, so much of this car was bespoke that you would really have problems keeping it going.
Lovely thing in a kooky sort of way though....
What sort of power/performance did the road-going S4 have? Looking at the advert I'm not sure. The big problem with these ( and it is a VERY BIG ONE ) is trying to get spare parts. The ECU went on his, and he spent 6 months finding , what he was told at the time, was the very last one in existence ( I think he got it from Abarth ). If that one went, the car was toast. He sold it a few months later to a collector in Japan. As for the other bits and pieces, so much of this car was bespoke that you would really have problems keeping it going.
Lovely thing in a kooky sort of way though....
Snoggledog said:
Having said that the 037 was the only 2 wheel drive car to beat the Quattro.
I have to point you to 1981 and a chap called Ari Vattanen in a MK2 Ecort who beat the Quattros to the world championship. So that'll make the 037 one of only 2 2 wheel drive cars to have neaten the Quattros then.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff