1982 Lancia 037 Stradale, The Last RWD Car To Win A Rally Championship, Up For Auction

Jan. 18, 2015 4:46 AM ET by Jacob Joseph Classic Cars / 34 Comments

It's a bold move give your car a model name that starts with a "0."

The legendary Audi Quattro, the car that made RWD obsolete in rally racing, won the constructor's championship in 1982 and 1984. Knowing as we do what a beast the Quattro was, how amazing must the car that won in 1983 have been? Meet the Lancia 037 Stradale. Though the car shows a certain resemblance to the Lancia Montecarlo of the time, this is in bodywork alone, as under the skin the car was pure rally machine, built only for homologation.

It was built jointly by Lancia and Abarth as a replacement for the Fiat 131 Abarth, a highly successful rally car which replaced the legendary Stratos. The 037 borrows its engine from the 131, a supercharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder making 205 horsepower. Since it was a homologation special, just 207 units were made, including preproduction units, and the one you see here is one of the few which was never converted to a full race car. It has just 14,000 km (8,750mi) on it, and when it goes up for auction in Paris next month, it is expect to grab 200,000 to 250,000 euros.

1982 Lancia 037 Stradale, The Last RWD Car To Win A Rally Championship, Up For Auction

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