LANCIA

Rally 037

The Lancia Rally 037, developed under Abarth project code SE037, was born in 1980 when Lancia set out to win the new Group B category of the World Rally Championship. The project united Abarth engineer Sergio Limone, chassis specialist Gianpaolo Dallara and Pininfarina, which shaped the body around the central cell of the Lancia Beta Montecarlo. Unlike its four-wheel-drive rival Audi Quattro, the Lancia Rally 037 kept rear-wheel drive and relied on a mid-mounted 2.0-litre four-cylinder fitted with a Volumex Roots-type supercharger, chosen over a turbo to eliminate lag. To homologate the car for Group B, Lancia had to build 200 road-going examples, and the resulting 037 Stradale, assembled by Carrozzeria Savio in Turin with around 205 hp, is known today in roughly 207 units. Presented at the 1982 Turin Motor Show and campaigned by the works Martini Racing team, the Lancia Rally 037 delivered one of the most celebrated upsets in motorsport history: in 1983, with Walter Rohrl and Markku Alen driving, it beat the Audi Quattro to the World Rally Championship manufacturers title, making the 037 the last rear-wheel-drive car ever to win the WRC makes crown. Works Evolution versions eventually reached 325 hp before the model was replaced by the four-wheel-drive Delta S4 in 1985. Extremely rare and steeped in competition history, the Lancia Rally 037 Stradale now trades well into six figures, with the best examples approaching or exceeding one million dollars.