Lancia Delta HF Integrale Edizione Finale for sale
Japan's 'Deltisti' were the sole audience of the Final Edition, but its appeal extends far beyond that
I will never stop dreaming about one day owning a Lancia Delta. It all started when I was a wee lad, peering out the window of my Mum’s Renault Scenic after an attempt to bunk off school had, once again, failed. Had I been successful, mind, I wouldn’t have spotted the Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16V sitting on the driveway of one of our neighbours. Never had I seen such boxy, swollen-arch goodness before; the complete antithesis of all the swoopy designs that cropped up at the turn of the millennium. I’ve been addicted ever since. I simply must own one.
At the time, the prospect of one day owning an old Italian hot hatch didn’t seem all that far-fetched. Especially as the maker of said Italian hot hatch had been driven out of the country by its rusty past. But here I am some 20 years later and I’m still no closer to worrying about pimply corrosion spots on my own Delta. Because I don’t have one. And I won’t any time soon, unless I settle for a front-wheel drive HF Turbo or stretch to an Integrale 16V – though the latter’s getting pricier by the second. Obviously, an Evo I or II sits right at the top of the wish list, but they’re now fast approaching six figures and are therefore completely out of reach.
However, just because a Delta Evo is off my radar for the foreseeable future (to sugarcoat it), doesn’t mean that it’ll be off yours. There’s this lovely Evo II Bianco Perlato for sale at £110,000, or this gorgeous Lord Blue example with only 7,000 miles on the clock for a cool £159,995. Oh, you want something even more special? Well, I was saving this for myself, but seeing as though I’m coming up a touch short, there’s no harm in offering it around. It’s this ultra-rare, one-of-250 Edizione Finale.
Now, you don’t need Google Translate to figure out what we’re looking at here. The final in a long line of limited-edition Delta Integrales and, while not the rarest, one of the most sought-after variants. Sure, it may look like an Evo II with a new lick of paint (that’s Rosso Amaranto with a blue and yellow stripe), but there’s a lot more going on than meets the eye. Firstly, an engine management upgrade upped the Integrale’s 2.0-litre turbo four from 215hp to 250hp, while the suspension was refreshed with new Eibach springs and an OMP strut brace to improve rigidity. Other changes include larger outer headlights akin to the old 16V, the 16-inch Speedline wheels finished in Anthracite and, bizarrely, a start button.
What’s even more bizarre is that despite being a staple of Italian motor history, the Finale Edizione was designed to appeal to the Japanese ‘Deltisti’. That’s right, the Delta had such a huge following in Japan (not hard to see why) that Lancia decided to throw in all the bits its Japanese fans loved about the rally icon into one final package and sell it exclusively to the region. Granted, we do get a fair share of JDM imports to the UK, though it’s hard to imagine more than a handful of Final Editions have made their way over here.
Better jump on this one while you can, then, because the ultimate Delta isn’t going to stick around for long. This one’s number 241 of 250 and has recently undergone £30,000 worth of work, including a fair bit of mechanical work and a full respray in 2020. So it should feel every bit the ultimate Delta as everyone says it is. And being a Japanese import should bring some peace of mind – especially on a Delta - given that it hasn’t been exposed to our rust-friendly salted winter roads. Yes, £194,995 is a lot, but you could be paying an arm and a leg on maintenance for a cheaper, high mileage example, whereas this one’s had all the painful bits sorted out. For now, at least.
Let that sink in for a minute.
The purchaser of this must be doing it for the rarity alone, and hope against hope that in a few years time there's a greater fool who will pay even more than this asking price. The driving experience is good - but not £190,000 good.
My last-of-the-line-Japanese-import 16v has the same horsepower and the same Final Edition suspension and it's for sale at less than a quarter of the price.
I loved the integrale back in the day and seriously considered one. Now at these prices I wish I had bought one instead of the similarly priced tvr chimera.
I've owned several between 1996 and 2010 so, admittedly, this was prior to the crazy prices that we see nowadays, but I've kept an eye on the market. Those over £80k or are POA don't appear to be selling. If they disappear from the classified ads they appear again a few weeks or months later.
It seems that the sellers are all pitching for the same (few) customers and trying their luck to win the jackpot, whereas the market itself is not going to pay 10x the price that the same car would've been 10 years ago, especially someone that has previously owned one when they were affordable - we know that, at best, an Evo or Evo2 is a £40k car. A limited edition would add a premium but that also depends on the version.
Those who take the plunge at today's asking prices are probably going to a specialist like Walkers garage to source them one. That's what I'd do anyway.
Its pointless really saying if this is too expensive or not, nobody will be selling their semi detached for it, will be someone for whom money is no object, if they are interested. The Integrale is sufficiently famous and well regarded, plus its Italian and this one is a special edition so wouldnt bet against it ending up in the collection of some Swiss Industrialist, German music mogul or British shoe warehouse multi millionaire.
I think its easier when stuff has always been out of your price range, like say an F430 something or other, its low point was say 100 grand and now its half a million maybe (making that up) so most of us mortals couldn't have afforded one at any point but Integrales used to pop up for 3 grand and up not that long ago when it was just a cheap, LHD, slightly shonky but good looking Italian hatchback that did some rallying, but since it was canonised and ascended to the rarefied place in car history and has accelerated out of the grasp of many car enthusiasts. Bit like that girl (or lad) at school you were once snogged at a party who is now drop dead gorgeous and lives in a massive house, married to a high achiever, also earns a fortune whilst you are still struggling to pay for that semi.
£195K for a final Edition integrale or £650K for a Cosworth RS500? It's all the same bonkers end of the market, but if you are super rich and want it for your collection, go for it.
I am lucky to have bought a nice clean Evo 2 in 2007 and still have it today. Rather than sit in a collection, it gets used lots - even for the tip run. :-)
£195K for a final Edition integrale or £650K for a Cosworth RS500? It's all the same bonkers end of the market, but if you are super rich and want it for your collection, go for it.
I am lucky to have bought a nice clean Evo 2 in 2007 and still have it today. Rather than sit in a collection, it gets used lots - even for the tip run. :-)
The only ones that can command this sort of money would be the cars with genuine rally history surely?
Let that sink in for a minute.
The purchaser of this must be doing it for the rarity alone, and hope against hope that in a few years time there's a greater fool who will pay even more than this asking price. The driving experience is good - but not £190,000 good.
My last-of-the-line-Japanese-import 16v has the same horsepower and the same Final Edition suspension and it's for sale at less than a quarter of the price.
Behold an even rarer Ford/County 1474 'Short nose' which sold at auction last April for GBP 214,000. Let that sink in.
If theres the audience for it it will sell.
Sadly it was an absolute money pit, everything was about expense from the mpg, oil usage, things going wrong, expensive parts, electrical gremlins, oil leaks, top end rebuild was the final straw as well as the 'we may as well change the clutch at the same time sir'
Beautiful car, when it was running right was a great thing to be in, but due to the issues I had, it always felt like one drive away from the next expensive catastrophe.
I must say I prefer the look of the standard same size Evo headlights rather than the ones on this car. Seems a bit odd to go back to the small and large headlight combo like the old 16v. Seen a few Japanese imports with that combination though, even on the later standard EVOs.
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