A One-off Rebuild, A Legendary Group 4 Rally Racer, The 1974 Lancia Stratos Auctioned

Some were built to be a legend and some were driven to be one. For the 1974 Lancia Stratos rally car, it’s both, and a one-off rebuild of this iconic racer has gone up for auction.

Homologated as a Group 4 contender, a model of this racer was driven by Sandro Munari and Bjorn Waldegard to three World Rally Championship titles back in 1974, 1975, and 1976.

Probing the auctioned ‘74 Stratos Group 4 rally car, due to Lancia’s connections to Ferrari, there were plenty of resources for the automaker to gather from for the rebuild.

First off, one of those was the Prancing Horse’s Dino 2.4-litre V6 engine that had been tuned up to boost 275 hp. The legend also features a 324 hp, 24-valve version.

Said output was possible courtesy of the forged billet aluminum pistons, a ported and gas-flowed cylinder head, larger 45 mm valves and twin-throat 48 IDF Weber down-draft carburetors.

With that, a sturdier transmission was needed. Thus, fitted was a new cascaded-ratio dog-leg gearbox to a new sintered-metallic dual plate clutch. The flywheel was also traded for a lighter type.

For a rougher terrain drivability, the suspension was transformed into a fully rose-jointed version with Eibach coil springs and Bilstein telescopic dampers. 

As for stopping power, upgraded 267 mm AP Vented Discs that come with AP-Lockheed 4-piston aluminum monobloc calipers were installed.

Last but not least, the rally racer auctioned over at Classic Driver comes with FIA papers, as proof of being an actual competition car.

The ’74 Lancia Stratos is a rare piece of machinery to own, as very few models of it were made. In fact, only 492 units were built by the Italian carmaker in their Turin factory.

That said, for all the collectors out there, the probability of ever being able to own one, would truly be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.