Genuine period Stratos HF Group IV
1979 Giro d’Italia competitor & 1980 Rallye dell’Appennino Reggiano winner!
Huge photo-documented period competition history
Recently engine and gearbox rebuild by Ferrari and Dino specialists, Barkaways
The Lancia Stratos HF Group IV
The Lancia Stratos was
a game changer, it changed the way manufacturers considered competition and
road cars. Rally regulations in the 1970’s required a manufacturer to take a
mass-produced road car and turn it into a competition car. However, the Stratos
was the first car designed as a competition car from the drawing board – Rally
cars were never the same again.
The unique
eye-catching Stratos was designed by Bertone, the styling house’s first Lancia,
with its Stratos Zero concept being unveiled in 1970. Bodies were designed, and
then assembled by Bertone in Turin, before being delivered to Lancia’s assembly
plant in North East Turin, where the V6 double overhead camshaft engine was
fitted mid-ship, with twin fuel tanks fitted either side to ensure optimum
weight distribution.
Three men were
instrumental to the competition success of the Stratos, Lancia team manager,
Cesare Fiorio, British race and engineer Mike Parkes, and the Lancia factory
rally driver, Sandro Munari. The Lancia Stratos HF Group IV claimed its first
of eighteen World Rally victories at the 1974 Rallye Sanremo in its home
country. The Stratos was dominant, claiming WRC victories in the hands of 1977
WRC Champion Sandro Munari, 1978 WRC Champion Markku Alén, 1979 World Rally
Champion Björn Waldegård along with Jean-Claude Andruet, Bernard Darniche,
Antonio Fassina and Tony Carello. Of these eighteen WRC victories, four were
achieved at the Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo, often considered the most
challenging of tests, five Rallye Sanremo victories were also accompanied by
five Tour de Corse successes!
By the end of the 1974
season, the Lancia Stratos had claimed the World Championship for Manufacturers
(at this time there was no Drivers’ championship), before repeating the
achievement in 1975 and 1976, with Lancia today still remaining the worlds most
successful manufacturer in the World Rally Championship with 10 Manufacturers
Championship titles!
This Lancia Stratos HF Group IV
As was common with all
non-factory Group IV Stratos’, this car left the Lancia factory as a HF
Stradale, finished in Acrylic Blue with Avana Alcantara seats and Sereno
carpets. From Bertone records we can see that the Scocca, or bodyshell, of this
car was completed in January 1975, before completing production at the Lancia
factory in Turin, in January 1976.
A copy of the Estratto
Chronologico, which documents the Italian ownership history, accompanies this
Stratos, confirming the car as having been issued its Certificate of Origin on
the 19th January 1977. This car was first registered on 22nd
March 1977 to Jose Orlandis Ramon, care of the local Automobile Club, and
assigned the license ‘TV 360186’.
Mr Ramon had
instructed University Motors to source a Stratos to upgrade to Group IV
specification and compete with. University Motors was a renowned and successful
race and rally preparation team, having previously prepared Stratos Group IV
cars, with drivers including Fabrizio Tabaton, Antonio Carello, Attilio
Bettega, Franco Cunico and the female team Isabella Bignardi and Luisa Zumelli.
When Mr Ramon
purchased the car, it was still brand new with University Motors quickly upgrading
it to Group IV competition specification. Upon completion of the works, Mr
Ramon no longer had the funds to pay for the works, and in early 1979 the car
was sold by University Motors to Francesco Ferretti and Roberto Curatolo in
Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Francesco
Ferretti was already competing in rally events, but in order to avoid his
parents learning of his activities, he used the nickname ‘Ragastas’, which
means ‘naughty boy’ in Italian! For the 1979 season, Ragastas and Curatolo
initially shared driving duties at several rallies, before it became clear that
only one good driver was required, along with one good co-driver, not two good
drivers!
Thanks to a
huge and impressive collection of period images accompanying this car, we can
see that for the first season in 1979, this Stratos was finished in white with
the Italian flag running over the car from the front left corner, to the rear
right. The left side of the car also featured a large red stripe, with the
right side a green stripe, clearly a patriotic appearance.
The
highlight event for the 1979 season was the Giro d’Italia Automobilistico held
from the 20th - 25th October. Ragastas competed with
Vittorio Cigarini as co-driver, with the event covering a large part of
Northern Italy, including races at Imola, Misano, Vallelunga, Magione, Mugello,
Varano and Monza. Ragastas was enjoying the new challenge offered by this
Stratos, and towards the end of the event was placed fourth overall, being led
only by World Rally Champions Markku Alen and Walter Rohrl in their Lancia Beta
Montecarlo’s and Facetti in a Porsche 935 Turbo. Sadly, Ragastas and CIgarini
dropped to finish seventh overall, still a hugely impressive result.
Prior to
the 1980 season, this Stratos was re-registered in Italy and assigned a new
registration ‘RE 353450’, with Ragastas continuing to regularly compete. Entering
another six events, with the first podium coming at the Rallye Dei Vini –
Trofeo Scaini in May, followed by a second-place finish at the inaugural Rallye
della Lanterna in June, this Stratos’s first outright victory came at the
Rallye dell’Appennino Reggiano in July. The 1981 season saw continued success,
with another eight fruitful outings, still wearing its white, red and green
paint scheme.
The final
year of competition for this Group IV Lancia Stratos came in 1982, still with
Ragastas driving, with Antonio Sighicelli as co-driver for seven of the eight
events. The biggest change for the 1982 season was the livery of the car, now
heavily sponsored by textile company ‘Blue Mirror’, creating one of the most famed
privateer Stratos liveries.
Once its competition
duties were complete at the end of 1982, this Stratos was purchased by Jobst
Heemeyern in Germany in early 1983, before it passed to French collector and
classic car dealer Jean-Jacques Bailly. As one of the leading classic car
dealers, Bailly was constantly requested to sell this Stratos, eventually
caving in after 17 years of ownership in 2000, selling the car to a friend, Mr
Gilles, in France. The car remained in this collection for a further 10 years,
being presented in the famous Alitalia works livery, before being bought back
by Jean-Jacques in 2010.
After a
further 5 years in the ownership of Jean-Jacques, this Stratos was sold to
Englishman, John Reaks, who immediately sent the car to Ferrari and Dino restoration
specialists, Barkaways in Kent. This Stratos was the recipient of a full engine
and gearbox rebuild, including new pistons, crankshaft, valves etc. These works
are photo-documented in a booklet accompanying this Stratos, along with
detailed invoices. Further works at Barkaways included new dashboard wiring
along with removing the Alitalia livery, and recreating the 1982 Blue Mirror
livery, which presents fabulously today.
Since arriving
in England, this Stratos has been UK registered, and assigned license ‘TJA
572R’, and upon completion of the works by Barkaways, was featured in Auto
Italia Magazine in November 2016. Later, in 2018 the car was awarded its FIA
historic Technical Passport. Also during his ownership, Mr Reaks arranged to
travel to Italy and meet with Ragastas to discuss the car in more detail, even
returning to the UK with two trophies won by this car in the hands of Ragastas!
Ofcourse, these trophies still accompany 1873.
Since
arriving at Girardo & Co, we have had the pleasure of using this Stratos on
the open road, finding it to be impressively compliant and powerful. The car
has pin-point steering, as one expects from the Lancia Stratos, along with a
fabulous exhaust note, and genuine usability, we even drove it from London to
Bicester Heritage for a meeting.
Today, a
genuine Lancia Stratos is special, but for competition enthusiasts, the Group
IV Stratos is one of the ‘must-have’ corner pieces for any collection. This car
stands apart from other examples, being heavily photo-documented in period
competition events over four seasons, including the 1979 Giro d’Italia. This
car also benefits from a recently fully rebuilt engine and gearbox, also being
presented in its period-correct ‘Blue Mirror’ livery. A truly rare opportunity
to obtain a period Group IV Stratos in fabulous condition, with impressive
competition history. What’s not to like?
Price Upon Application
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