ppl seem to be getting excited abt the new FENOMENON STRATOS. almost nothing is known about it's mechanicals,chassis,powerplant,etc and yet the press seem to regard this as the "legendary" stratos' 2nd coming. thing is...is the original stratos that great in the 1st place? anyone with stratos driving experience here?or maybe own one? (here's a chronological stratos mini album) (1970,1974,2000,2005) Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
btw,ive always rated ALL stratos' in the LOOKS department.fabulous if entirely impracticle.i saw a baby blue stratos as a child and suffice to say it left an impression!almost as jaw dropping as a countach or f50 in my book.
The Stratos is definitely a legend. http://www.rallycars.com/Cars/Lancia/Stratos2.html The new one looks like a Hotwheels rendition of the original. Image Unavailable, Please Login
YES ITS A LEGEND IN ITS OWN TURF... HAS WON MANY RALLY WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS.. WOULD LOVE TO ADD A LANCIA STRATOS IN MY FUTURE CAR COLLECTIONS.. EVEN THOUGH I DRIVE MY EXOTICS 500 MILES A YEAR.... JOHN LA...
Legend in Part due to the Ferrari 246 Four Valve Engine (only 12 engines made) Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have a video of that 1970 prototype, quite insane looking car for its time. The Lancia Stratos is a legend to Rallying.
I've always been a big fan of the Stratos. Just out of curiosity .. Would it be faster than todays AWD HOT hatch/sedan rallye cars?
errr....no today's WRC machines would eat it alive.however,the 80's group b "supercars" would still definitely kick ass!
Check out european classic car websites, there should be a few floating around. Original GR.4 (racing-spec) cars can fetch up to 400K. Original road cars if in concours condition are worth about 150-200K. There may be a few rough cheaper Stratoses around, but most are well looked after and thus not cheap.
the original lancia stratos DIDN'T sell well at all.unsold units were still in dealerships across europe 4 years after production ended!i guess people were more interested in the AUDI QUATTRO brigade and it's doppelgangers such as the delta integrale,peugeot 205 rallye,etc. IMHO,what the world needs is a mid-engined,affordable rallye car. sort of a renault clio v6/porsche boxster that can do EXACTLY what a subaru imprezza can but at around $40-45k.
The original cars are a definite legend, wheras the new design is a bit too cartoony for my tastes. Hopefully they will tone it down a bit if production goes forward. In July I was in Vegas and took time out to visit The Auto Collections museum/dealership located inside the Imperial Palace hotel where they had a Stratos on display. I recommend any car enthusiast with an hour to spare pay it a visit. There will definitely be a few things to appreciate and you may even learn something too as each car is presented with a card explaining some of the history of the brand and the particular car if applicable. I've always liked the Stratos a lot, and had purchased an 1/18th scale diecast to add to my collection since that's about all I can afford. This was my first time seeing one in person and while I don't particularly care for the wheels on this car, I did like everything else about it. It looks purposeful and fast. Here's a few of my pictures including one of the sign with an asking price of $112,500. The car may still be there as it has been for quite sometime. Of course there could be a reason for that - you never know. >8^) ER Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
that's the whole POINt of this post.i called upon ppl whom have actually raced/driven/owned one of these great cars. it doesn't receive enough credit or coverage,and from the rally drivers i know is that the stratos was great BEFORE the whole 4wd phenom took over.
Having owned many Lancias over the years and being a true fan of their cars, until recently, I can tell you the Stratos owned rallying before 4wd. The Stratos also received tons of press when they were rallied - it's just that its been so many years and Lancia today is just a minor badge in the Fiat organization. The Stratos was not a cruser - it's short wheel base and (for the time) its HP along with touchy steering/handling made it a car that demanded constant input from the driver. A nice Stratos today will run $100,000 plus or minus $20,000. There isn't that much of a demand for them as the Dino had the same drive train and was more of a "refined" driver, costs approximately the same $ and has a body that is basically perfect from any angle while the Startos (to some) is an acquired taste. With that being said in the right hands the Lancia will beat the Dino performance wise but is also a handfull. It would be fantastic to see a Lancia with a Ferrari engine. Historically Lancia is the ONLY production car to ever be built, other than Ferrari, with a Ferrari engine. Quite possibly because the first true Ferrari F1 team drove rebadged Lancias. Visually the new Startos is quite successfull at updating the original concept. Unlike some manufacturers who keep old body designs with new mechanicals - think GT40. The real problem with the original Stratos and it appears to still be a problem is if you are 6'-3" you can't get into the car much less drive it.
Very nice collection your cousin has! Is that the real ex Darniche blue Stratos? If I had the money I would chose a Stratos over a Ferrari. It's my all time favorite. Ciao, Peter
beautiful collection... i think i was actually IN the car shown in the first picture (the one with VI = Vicenza license plate), i knew the guy who was racing it... he had a used car dealership in bassano, near vicenza (i grew up there) ... it might have been another similar one, but it is a funny coincidence... BTW, the stratos was definitely a legend, until the delta integrale came along and wiped out pretty much any 2wd car. when i lived in the u.k. i visited a company that made wonderful PERFECT replicas of the stratos, so good that stratos owners would go to them for spares... if i remember correctly they were even fitted with a ferrari engine, they would get them from lancia thema 8.32 ... never bought it but i did give it some thought!
And? What has that got to do with how great/bad the car was/is? The Mclaren F1 didnt sell well, nor did the Bugatti EB110, XJ220, the current Porsche CGT isnt selling well. They are on the extreme supercar side of things but just an example of great cars failing in sales due to many factors but few to due with how good the car was/is. Over here in Oz they struggled to sell 100 Lancer EVO6 TM's over 2yrs. Some still claim the Lancer EVO6 TM was the best EVO made yet it struggled, why the pricing for one also it may be a awesome rally rocket, but everyday living ppl could call it sparse. The amount of cars sold doesnt decide if its great or not. Going by that theory the most mass produced cars would be the greatest cars on earth
The Stratos is definately a ledgendary machine. Any car that can win a wrc title 3 years straight and still be competitive enough to win in the hands of privateers 2 or 3 years after that is deserving of the title. A friend of mine has 2 of them. Not sure of the history of the first one. He rebuilt a damaged car using a lot of original parts including the engine, but it's a rhd car. I've driven it and passengered in it a few times and it is a true wonder. The power of the dino V6 in such a light car is sensational. It's always a thrill. He also bought a group 4 Stratos with race history from europe a couple of years back and has just done his first rally in it. I haven't seen the completed machine yet, but I can't wait to go for a ride in it, as I'm told it makes the other car feel slow!
