Lancia 037 Rallye

Lancia turned to Italian tuning specialists Abarth to help develop its new rally car in 1981. In a bid to take on the likes of the Audi quattro and Ford RS200, the 037 was based on the center section of the Beta Montecarlo coupe , with an entirely new spaceframe chassis and mid-mounted supercharged 2.1-liter four cylinder engine. Although many drivers criticised the 037 for being too much of a handful to drive - like other rally cars of the period it was purely a rear wheel drive - it was ultimately a success, winning the world championship in 1983. An even more extreme Evo 2 version appeared in 1984, with a slight power increase and a larger bore and stroke. As well as the competition cars, Lancia built 200 037s for road use in order to homologate the car for competition use, and these were equally unforgiving to drive.

Lancia 037 Rallye Specifications