The Lancia Rally 037 is one of those classic proportional sports car models that just doesn’t age. Simple, intentional and spotless with frivolous aggressive traits, 037 is the link between form and function. Not surprising, givengoing 037 Stradale was built for homologation purposes and is truly a competition rally car.
For these reasons, this special prototype 037, launched at auction in Milan in June next year RM Sotheby’s, looks so annoying. If you’ve never seen this test car before, it’s an amazing turning point on the road to Lancia’s first Group B hero – not to mention a shout away from that Lancia you could. destroy by turning the steering wheel at the wrong time.
You can detect clues about the final form of 037 here and there, but some clues reveal that everything is not exactly as it should be. The prototype headlights are the first and most visible. The exterior lamps sink into the bumper in an awkward manner. I push the turn signals down to the edge of the splitter, which itself is much less pronounced than it would eventually appear on the road car.
The square and flatter cuts for the front wheel springs are another oddity that would not reach the finish line and the body would not be divided under the A-pillar either. The rear panels are particularly strange, flaring rounded compared to the from the production machine on the face.
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In the background, things get especially weird. There are some curious details here. The taillights seem to be lifted from a Ferrari 308, and the “Abarth” and “SE 037” labels are extruded just below that giant rear wing. Abarth did lead the development of the 037 development, despite the fact that the car bore the Lancia badges and books once it was finally left. weakened on special stages. The presence of the red-painted metal that hides the engine under the Plexiglas cover is another special oddity for this mule.
Broadly speaking, Lancia has built about 220 models of the 037 model, inclusivewalking and racing incarnations. This example – chassis # 001 – was launched from Dallara’s factory in September 1980, according to a List Bonhams since 2016, the last time it went to auction.
Lancia announced the 037 program in December 1981, and road vehicle type-approval went into production in 1982. In 1983, Lancia won the World Rally Championship manufacturers’ trophy with 037. To date, it is the last rear-wheel drive rally car to claim . a WRC title.
Chassis # 001 was restored in 2014. Hagerty notes that the car was not sold the last time it fell under the hammer, then projected to sell for between $ 380,000 and $ 470,000. It appears that the car is still owned by Sergio Limone, the 037’s chief engineer, who also oversaw the development of other Lancia rally cars, as well as Alfa Romeo’s cunning passenger car and GT programs throughout the 1990s.
