When Lancia Went From Crazy To Genius

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When Lancia Went From Crazy To Genius
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Born from the futuristic Stratos Zero concept, the Lancia Stratos became the first car purpose-built for rallying, featuring a Ferrari-sourced V6 engine and a lightweight, mid-engine chassis. Despite its unconventional looks, it dominated the World Rally Championship, winning three consecutive titles from 1974 to 1976. The Stratos cemented its legacy as a motorsport icon, embodying Lancia's bold innovation and brilliance in rally racing.
#rally #lanciastratos #stratos
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[@bobyoung1698]

I first saw the Stratos at a rally in 1974. I was smitten. It was the fastest car I had ever seen racing in dirt roads. Iam in love with it still.

[@Fester_]

In those days, they weren't known as Hysterics.

[@danieltemple4815]

Holy cow, thats a cool looking car. Its amazing that it was engineered from the ground up to be a rally car.

[@congerthomas1812]

Right, need the chassis built around the drive for the job! The ACR viper says it well,not the fastest but the fastest on track.

[@mikesuch9021]

You should go check out group b rally videos.

[@andrewlipsiner9791]

One of the " ALL TIME BEST , ICONIC " cars...PERIOD 🏁🇮🇹🏁🇮🇹

[@nico_cc]

Lo Stratos é veramente incredibile, é la mia machina preferita, grazie per questo video 🇮🇹🇮🇹

[@YOYOshart]

Such a groundbreaking car! Great video 👍🏼

[@vintageman91]

It still remained competitive in private hands just before group B. All thought it was made for rally, it was also used in cirquit racing.

[@abikepeddler]

I own a Lister Bell Lancia Stratos recreation with a Afla Busso 3.0L 24V V6 (226hp) and it is interesting... when people say to me "It is one of the prettiest cars" I have to disagree. In my opinion, the Stratos is not "beautiful" in the same way a Ferrari 246 Dino, Jaguar E-Type or Lamborghini Miura is beautiful. What the Stratos is, is unique. Unique in the same way a fictional space ship from a movie is unique. For example, the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars is not what I would call beautiful and yet, it is striking! It is unlike anything else. It's a testament to it's creators. The same goes for the Stratos. Nothing else is really like it. The reason for this is because designer Marcelo Gandini took design cues from unexpected places to create the Stratos shape. For instance, the windshield shape was a homage to a racing helmet visor. He figured if their racing driver has to pilot their racing car, why not put him INSIDE a helmet!? And the exterior body styling has so much Lamborghini Countach DNA in it's design... it's cut lines, slashes and kamtail like abrupt endings to body panels create a sense of purpose unlike any other car NOT designed by Gandini. I own another of Gandini's benchmarks, a Renault R5 Turbo 2, and you see this same DNA in that cars body panels as well. It's a "Gandini thing". But the Stratos takes design to such an extreme that I think we, as onlookers, just use the word "beauty" because we don't have another word in the English language that jumps to mind to help us deal with the shock of it. I mean I own one and I am shocked every time I uncover it in the garage and stand near it. It never gets old. It is never not an alarming thing to look at. It is the only car I have ever owned that I purchased solely because of how it looks. It dazzled me when I was 7 years old (1974) and it dazzles me now. Driving it however is another matter. The incredibly short wheelbase means it is agile. It doesn't really like going in a straight line, understandable in a car with a rally purpose. It's steering feels alive in your hands and the engine is immediate. It weighs 2190 lbs with a full tank and while it is not fast by today's standards, the thing is rapid as hell when you think of when it raced. Visibility out is pretty terrible just because the windshield is pretty far away and rear visibility is almost non-existent. I mean, when I have to back up, there is a bit of praying going on in the cabin. The pedal box is small. So small that when I let my buddy Dave drive the car, his shoe got jammed between the throttle and brake pedal, foot to the floor, full throttle. He had to shut the car off, roll to a stop and separate himself from his footwear so we could continue on our journey... barefoot. (It was quite funny...) Oh, and the trunk is huge. We're talking, put a keg in the back huge. Hide the dead body of your rally competition huge. It means the Stratos can actually be used on a road trip which, lets admit, is unexpected. The Stratos is just a unique thing. I hesitate to even describe it as a "car". Sure, it has 4 wheels and an engine but it is more like a living entity rather then a mode of transportation. It' breathes. It also is plotting on you. It want's you to make bad decisions. It is not your friend. I love it.

[@UberLummox]

Thus, making it very beautiful. At the very least fascinating. Ultimate in form following function. Sounds like the ultimate car to me! Have admired these since the '70s, but never learned that much about them. You're very luck to own it!

[@abikepeddler]

@@UberLummox Yea, the Stratos is a fascinating thing to look at. That's for sure. One of the funny things about the Stratos that most people don't know is it has a massive boot (trunk) for no apparent reason. Combine that with a rear suspension layout that requires the upper shock mounting point to handle both vertical as well as lateral loads, and you realize the whole form follow function of the design is a bit... well... Italian. The Italians definitely went for looks and quick mechanical design over function on a bunch of the Stratos design, unlike the McLaren F1 and the original Austin/BMC Mini. Both of those cars designs are incredibly efficient with no wasted space and all the mechanicals are tightly wrapped in their exterior skins. Heck, the Mini's transmission shares it's oil with the gearbox! Talk about form following function!

[@UberLummox]

@ Wow, ok. Interesting. You know far more about chassis design than I ever will. I'm just a body man. 👋 😁 Very much love your description of it by the way!!!

[@Surestick88]

@4:22 about the only concession to practicality in the Stratos was the door pockets designed to put your helmet in! The thing truly is a pinnacle of automotive styling though. It's so good looking I'm at a bit of a loss for words describing it and I always find myself going back to Jeremy Clarkson's summation: "It just sort of is".

[@stone-hand]

But thev Stratos 0 had no doors 😂, one had to enter from the windshield - compared to it, the rallying Stratos itself was a masterpiece of daily driving practicality.

[@Surestick88]

@stone-hand Valid point!

[@AEOH3X]

the stratos zero is such an insane work of art..

[@pedroleal7118]

The Fulvia was a beast too...!

[@Steve_in_VA]

I got a remote control Stratos for Christmas during the 70's. The term remote was false advertising as the controller was connected by a wire with a small steering wheel. Still it was fun to play with and could be played with in the dirt as it was for off road use. Cool car!

[@sc9443]

It would have been nice to actually hear the engine occassionally. Otherwise excellent video.

[@MotorLegends-stories]

Thanks for the feedback, you’re probably right 👌🏽

[@rnts08]

​@MotorLegends-storiesif you have to choose between talking and engine sound, pick the engine every time.

[@dhelix85]

​@MotorLegends-storiesjust need to hear it fire up and shift through the gears. Motor heads love the motor! Great show tho, lots of info and great presentation.

[@andrealoi4426]

The Stratos didn't win more only because Fiat decided to shift resources towards competing with a more market relevant car, the 131 Abarth.

[@leszekruminski6829]

Lancia stratos królowa rajdów!!! 😀😘

[@Ixapter]

I always thought that was a very awesome-looking car. :)

[@DRURID]

The most beautiful car out there in both looks wise and performance wise.

[@NaughtyGoatFarm]

How did they keep control with such narrow tires 2:01 Amazing.

[@MichaelBrown-ds5ll]

Two brothers from the same Bertone Marcello Gandini designer: The Stratos become dominate because of an internal decision by Fiat to cancel the Abarth X19 Prototipo with its Aurelio Lampredi engine which had already beaten the Stratos. in the end, only three X19 Prototipos were built, and one Stradale. Gino Macaluso moved on in frustration. The Stratos was really supposed to have a Lancia 4 cyl twin cam. However, since Bertone had Dino V-6 sitting around they tested it out. The Stratos was never designed to have a v-6 to start with. So in the end the Stratos went on to be the hero, the Abarth 124 and 131 became successes, and the X19 became the underappreciated step-child which would go on to win a massive amount of races and championships in the hands of privateers.

[@MichaelBrown-ds5ll]

I think the Stratos was Group 4 (not group 5). they were required to build 400 copies for homologation.

[@swakage13x]

One of my absolute dream cars to the point where I would get my hands on a fiero and literally strip it down to Bear shell cut the frame extend it and then either get replica body panels or build my own from scratch and get my hands on an equivalent engine or even take a front wheel drive V6 and slap it in the back and on the paperwork it would still be a fiero but looks like it would be a stratos but I would call it something else related to like stratosphere atmosphere

[@1240enzo]

Ahm, actually it would be far easier to simply buy a kit from the likes of Hawk or ListerBell. Both are excellent and as a rule mostly use the 3L 24 valve (Busso) Alfa Romeo V6 engine. Check them out on Google/ KZbin.

[@manitobaman5588]

I like your spirit but the Fiero is already mid-engine drive but over-all the car can be made lighter but also stronger. A worthy project for you and friends.

[@Nowheremt]

I love the Stratos! But “wonder car of the century?” I’ll have to think about that one….

[@kurtwomack6473]

Good video! I saw my first one in the flesh (Prescott AZ), even though it was a kit car. 5 year wait, parts made in England and shipped over, you assemble it. Just in case you REALLY want one.

[@wethermon]

Still one of my favorite rally cars of all times.

[@acevalentine5250]

The stratos has always looked like one of those unlicensed fictional vehicles in mobile games to me, not an insult though it still looks like a marble.

[@BEARZAGAMING]

Wow 👌

[@bellator9835]

Premium Video

[@caledonianrailway1233]

I hope lancia makes a new stratos for the concept car regulations for WRC

[@smileybup]

I remember one of these being pointed out to me in the late 70's around the streets of South London. I remember it being very stylish but actually very compact and similar in size to the average car of the day (like a Ford).

[@whosaidthat5236]

Oh I remember the landchia lol😂 or is it luanchchia? Anyway cha cha cha chia!

[@neiljohnson9686]

Rally looks so fun to me. But like so many sports it’s gotten to the point where you have to hang it out so far over the edge and on the cusp of absolute disaster…it just becomes out of reach in any real possibility for 99.9 percent of people. Maybe they have a low HP vintage class or something. Ahh who am I kidding I’ll never get to do it at all. I did used to blast my 85 escort around vacant parking lots whenever it snowed a lot: 😅 that car was a beater but I couldn’t kill it!

[@Eggyteevee]

that's one fast wedge

[@MotorLegends-stories]

The fastest wedge in the west...

[@FIashOOT]

I really like your videos, could you pls do one abt the mazda 787b

[@MotorLegends-stories]

Glad you enjoy our videos! We already have a video on the Mazda 787B, its called “It Was So Fast, It Got Banned From Racing” 🙂

[@fishinmalarkey9830]

So what tools we need to design the stratos boss? "A ruler"

[@ORMA1]

Gandini .....

[@pikminologueraisin2139]

I miss small coupe in rally

[@joshbuilds]

Lancha is a classic but i like Lancia

[@75YBA]

They blew up a lot.

[@maxasaurus3008]

Watching someone crush a rally course with a conventional stick shift is sublime 🤌🏻

[@ravichandel8690]

is lancia obsesed with headlights

[@jamesstewart760]

it never won the RAC rally as per comentry

[@StevenHaze]

CH in French is a SH sound. Please say Chassis correctly given it is is a French word!

[@r.ccustomtruckingsydneyaus4632]

This is wrong or am i . What about the delta . It was an absolute weapon . Won heaps of races. Shit or am i too early

[@TheMarsMarine]

I don't understand what you're getting at? The Stratos was a bit before the Delta, same manufacturer though. The stratos was a new way of thinking when it came to building rally cars, and it mainly competed in Group 4. Then Lancia came out with the 037 for different homologation rules. When the likes of the Audi S1 was starting to dominate, that's when Lancia homologated the Delta. There were a few iterations of the Delta and the eventual Delta S4 shared as much with the road going Delta as your daily driver does. But like with all rallying, time catches up, and the Delta was showing its age come of Group A, the likes of the Celica GT4, Evo, STI and Escort Cosworth were taking the leads.

[@nicholasagnew2792]

Fiberglass isn't light

[@manitobaman5588]

Obviously not a crazy design.

[@unovox]

Lancia Cheated!!!! Real rally cars are based on road cars.....it should never have been allowed to compete😮

[@st939]

Unfortunately this is filled with errors (unique suspension layout is an example, nothing unique about it) and shows mostly pictures of modern English replicas instead of the original's. The enormous power of the V6 Dino engine? Really? Did you check that? The rear "uprights" as you call them were actually double wishbones on the original prototype and the wishbones being too short (in order tro accomodate the engine) they wouldn't work properly and were prone to bending (when hitting obstacles as this constantly happens in rallying). When changed to McPherson struts the problem was solved, The Stratos was unique because they asked the drivers (especially Munari) on what their ideal call should be like. The answer was short wheel base and unhindered front visibility. And that's what they got, A pity that the new generation has to listen to this crap.

[@dusankocisevic6823]

One of the weirdest looking and THE best sounding cars EVER in motorsport history. Like Henry Ford himself was saying about Alfa Romeo, same goes for Stratos. I tip my hat💚🤍❤️