The Lancia Rally 037 is one of those classic-looking sports car designs that just doesn’t age. Direct, purposeful, and impeccable for aggressive and frivolous traits, the 037 represents the nexus of form and function. Not surprising, considering the roadgoing 037 Stradale was built for homologation purposes and is actually a competition rally car.
It is for these reasons that this particular prototype 037 will be put up for auction in Milan next June RM Sotheby’s, seems so discordant. If you’ve never seen this test car, it’s an impressive turning point on the road to Lancia’s first Group B hero, not to mention a very distant distance from this Lancia you could make. destroy by turning the steering wheel at the wrong time.
You can spot suggestions of the final form of the 037 here and there, but certain indications reveal that not everything is quite as it should be. The prototype headlights are the first and most notable. The exterior lamps sink into the bumper in an awkward manner. They push the turn signals down toward the splitter lip, which is much less pronounced than it would eventually appear on the road car.
The more square and flat cuts for the front wheel arches are another peculiarity that would not reach the finish line nor would the body split below the A pillar. The rear panels of the quarter are especially strange, scattering from resounding shape compared to those of the production car with sides.
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In the background, things get especially weird. Here are a couple of curious details. The rear lights look like they were raised from a Ferrari 308, and the “Abarth” and “SE 037” tags are drawn just below that giant rear wing. Abarth, in fact, led the development of the 037, although the car wore Lancia badges and free once he finally left The presence of red-painted metal hiding the engine under the plexiglass cover is another special curiosity for to this mule.
In all, Lancia built approximately 220 units of the 037, including thego and take incarnations. This example, chassis no. 001, was launched at the Dallara factory in September 1980 according to a List of Bonhams since 2016, the last time it went up for auction.
Lancia announced the 037 program in December 1981 and the approved road vehicles went into production in 1982. In 1983, Lancia won the trophy of the manufacturer of the World Rally Championship with the 037. To this day , is the last rally car with rear-wheel drive 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, and that it was later sold for between $ 380,000 and $ 470,000. According to reports, the car is still owned by Sergio Limone, the 037 chief engineer who also oversaw the development of some other Lancia rally vehicles, as well as The astute tourism of Alfa Romeo and GT programs throughout the 1990s.
