5 Reasons Why The Lancia Stratos Is The Greatest Rally Car Of All Time
2023 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the World Rally Championship, but what is the greatest rally car of all time? It depends on who you ask, but if you asked me…
… I would pick the legendary Lancia Stratos, and here are five reasons why.
One: The first purpose-built rally car
The Lancia Stratos marked a turning point in the sport’s development, as it was the first car to have been designed from the ground up for the sole purpose of winning rallies.
Until then, rally cars had been pretty close derivatives of production models, but for the Stratos, it was the other way around: developed as a race car first and foremost, the road-going version was almost an afterthought, a necessary evil Lancia had to make for homologation but whose commercial fate was practically inconsequential to its plans.
Two: A dominant force
Such a bold move paid off handsomely for Lancia, as the Stratos gave the Italian marque an almost unassailable competitive advantage.
The Stratos gave Lancia three consecutive World Rally championships and three…
