Anyone else confused by the fact that all the bots are leaving positive comments and not asking for money/sharing explicit stuff??? Just goes to show what a quality channel Aidan runs!
There isn't a bad line on the Stratos. It's such a masterpiece of car design that Jeremy Clarkson's "It just sort of is" is such a good way to sum it up. It doesn't even look dated like a lot of the '70's wedges do now, even the Miura, while still gorgeous, looks like a classic. The Stratos in modern traffic still looks like it comes from the future. All the Lancia rally cars were beautiful actually. The Fulvia is a little gem, the 037 is so elegant compared to its contemporaries, and the Delta Integrale is a masterpiece of hot hatch design. I'll go out on a limb and say the Delta S4 isn't beautiful exactly, though the Stradale isn't bad, but it does look like the monster it was.
Delta Integrale was not a classically beautiful Lancia like, say, the Stratos or the drop-dead gorgeous Flaminia. It's a box. But you can see its beauty in its purpose. I'd sell my kidney to have a Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione II in Giallo Ginestra with white wheels.
Now YOU know what you are talking about! I agree with everything you said. You are spot on... the Miura is beautiful, no doubt, but it, as you said, is a representation of where technology was at that moment and no more. It is a classic car. But as you also alluded to, the Stratos is still current. It is a promise of the future. It has spent 50 years representing the promise of an impossibly cool future - of spectacular things to come. Only a handful of cars REALLY generate overwhelming emotions and the Stratos is one of them. I just this week took possession of a Lister Bell STR Stratos recreation (Busso 3.0L 24V V6) and upon it's arrival in my garage on Monday I just sat there with it. Staring. For like and hour. I had waited 49 years for that moment, to be near that shape... because that really is what the Stratos means to so many of us. Sure, the race history and sound of it's Ferrari powerplant were heroic but really it was Marcello Gandini's final design that captured us all. One of the greatest pieces of car design ever placed in one of the most odd environments imaginable... WRC. The juxtaposition of those two things is part of what make the Stratos so incomprehensibly desirable.
I felt this in my soul. And my knees, and hips, and hands... ugh. Take care of your bodies y'all. You only get one! (I mean, yeah... but the other way is illegal. Don't do that)
No kidding. When I turned 40 I had that whole holy crap 1982 was 40 years ago, my life is more than half way over and I still feel like it's 2005 moment. That was rough
I saw her at an expo. Brutal. Beautiful. Gorgeous. I knew about her and her story, but first time I saw her with my eyes. I fell in love desparately. A work of art, with a little evolution she could gave a really hard time even to 4WD. Nice video, good work! Greetings from Italy.
With your frequent mentions of rally, I was wondering if you would ever do a video on the Stratos. One of my absolute favorite cars, and sitting behind only the Jenson Interceptor on my dream car list! Still I didn't know so many of the details of its creation. I'm happy to have learned something today, thank you. Great video. Well done!
The Delta Integrale will always be my favourite Lancia. The Stratos is a great car, no disputing that. I guess it comes down to personal opinion. The Group B Lancia changed the playing field when it was introduced. Along with the Audi Quatro. I miss those times. Thankfully this brilliant channel takes us back to the golden era of motorsport. It's the golden era for me anyway. Great video as always. Cheers.
The intergrale is probably a better car to live with than the S4, but I guess if someone was giving you a mint one the s4 would make you a lot more money. Personally I prefer the sound of the 037
A great video and sinopsis of, as you say Aidan, the icon that was and is the Lancia Stratos. I was a little disappointed that you didn't mention the Fiat X1/9 Abarth. I agree that Italian politics - especially back then - was opaque to say the least! And certain drivers confirmed the X1/9 Abarth was faster, easier to drive and more reliable than the Stratos... Anyway, some years later, as a youngster, I was lucky enough to own a Radbourne Racingl X1/9. Not quite an Abarth but an immensly enjoyable - and practical - road car, especially in those days before Gatsonides.. In 1990 I owned a Lancia Delta 4x4. Then living in London it was amazing - especially in the wet! As for the Stratos, it must be the most stunning looking rally car of all time.. The golden age of Italian sports cars. Thanks again Aidan
I remember the Escort twin Cam and the BDA in races and rallies when I was growing up. If only the ordinary Escorts they sold to the public had been better cars, perhaps my brothers would never have switched to Datsun/Nissan and I might never have got my first alfasud.
Thank you so much for the excellent review of the car's history and usage. The Stratos will always have a special place in this 63 year old geezer's heart. And the Type 037. The S4 is great too, but it killed Henri and Sergio, so there's that.
I think a lot of people would like to have look at the Lancia Stratos turbo group 5. I mean, that's a different Stratos, but it's cool and it fits really well with Hot Wheels toys.
You should see about discussing one of the two 1972 rallies that the Fulvia didn’t win, the one where a Jeep Wagoneer won so handily it banned AWD until 1982. Also, I’d like to see a video covering the Group 5 Stratos Turbo. I have no clue what it was like, and I was hoping to see info on it in this video.
There weren't many photos and videos of the Stratos Turbo but I think if you go to Wikipedia's page of either Stratos or Sandro Munari you can see the picture. Tamiya also has a model kit of Stratos Turbo Gr. 5 if I remembered correctly. Not a fan, nowhere near as elegantly brutal as the original Stratos...
Speaking on the Stratos' reliability, my favorite line from Clarkson/Hammond driving it (forgot which one pointed it out) was "You know how Porsche put the tachometer dead center on the dashboard because they claim it is the most important thing for a driver to know?....Lancia's center gauge is the coolant temperature".
Someone here on the Right Coast of Canada daily drives a green and white Stratos in the summer. It's the only one I've ever seen in the flesh. I've never met him (or her?), but I give them mad respect for style and masochistic tendencies. The thing sounds like an absolute beast, and looks like nothing else on the road. Ever. I want one.
Well that car started Lancia s legendary WRC story...Fulvia was conventional at just did the job...Stratos dominated...037 did the miracle against the Quattros...Delta S4 took Group B to another level...Delta Integrale dominated and became the most succesfull rallycar till today... Lancia is an example of what happens when the Italians decide they want to make fun of the rest of the world...especially the Germans...
Hello Aidan: At the time, I read a review of this car in "Car and Driver". It said, that like a race car, it would do what ever you asked of it. If you asked the wrong thing well ..... that was your problem. Keep up the good work.
Well done! Wild design and history. Had always wondered about the back story. And BTW, what is the source of the intro and outtro music? It works great with your presentation style.
I just love any mentions of the Fulvia. My dad owned an HF 1300 when I was younger and it was beautiful and beautiful to drive. And i guess the Stratos is alright
Another great video Aidan! Perhaps a video on the olde defunct Langhorne Speedway ("The Track That Ate Heroes") north of Philadelphia might be of interest to your viewers. Thanks!
Im 2 meters tall and have sat in a Stratos drivers seat. Im sure the old Meme about Italian drivers all having short legs and long arms is real. I have driven a Montreal and that had a better seating position but not by much. The story told here is very different to other versions of the birth and development of the Stratos. Versions I have read in magazines prior to the release of To Fast To Race that was similar.Things like the engine was never volunteered willingly by Ferrari and forced by Fiat as the Lancia engines were falling apart even more so than the Ferrari units that were changed mid development program..
I seem to remember Lancia entered the WRC and won it while hardly turning up. On the subject of Rallying, the car I remember has to be the Midlands missile: The Metro 6R4.
That episode of TG was as surprising as it was right. I loved it so much. Lancia is the most awe inspiring manufacturer? Really? Oh… er… hm. Second thing: imagine going into a 1000 lake or Argentina rally without a rollcage. I’d need diapers, a lot of them. In fact, they could be my title sponsor. Pretty please? Free samples?
Really recommend the Italian “Lancia. La leggenda del rally” documentary that came out a couple years ago, although unfortunately I highly doubt they ever made it with English subs
Speaking of rallying, there was a delegation in the town of Tralee, where I live, recently exploring possible venues for the potential 2025 Rally Ireland WRC round. They are in Waterford at the moment I think and they'll put in a bid when the venue is decided.
I live just outside of Birmingham and it was supposed to get a Formula E race that a lot of people were down for becuase of the throwbacks to the old SuperPrix and stuff. Then they decided “no, London is having FE cos you’ve just got the Commonwealths. Cope harder”
@AidanMillward so I won't be getting my hopes up then. One thing's for sure. It's not going to clash with the Rally of the lakes in nearby Killarney which is typically held in May.
In 1990 i found ESPN and racing 24 hrs a day lol. I watched everything but hard to find rally in the USA then. I loved the cars and thought the drivers were the Craziest... Lol navigators were another level crazy.
Ha-have we converted Aiden over to the way of Lancia!? I will always have a soft spot of old Lancias, they're a company that you jus can't be mad at! Jeremy and Richard described them as charismatic, their cars as "art", a sentiment I, in my honestly completely unbias view, agree with! The 037 is half of my perfect 2-cars garage along with the Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R V-Spec II, another icon, only here mainly due to films and video games! Also, the 037, lest we forget, is the ONLY 2WD Rally Ca to ever beat the "Mighty Quattro" - being MR! I also can't help but remember that kit car they had on Top Gear that broke down (very Lancia!) as well having other issues and the Stig spinning twice, as far as I can see, mullering his Lap Time! And it's no easier in the games, either! I'm reluctant to take it out on Gran Turismo, both the road and Rally versions, even in the 70's Cups, there, I prefer something more comfortable like the E-Type Jaaaaaag! But the Deltas are still my go-to "I'm going to kick your arse" cars, the S4 Monster for 80's competition and the 037 is my mainstay on Forza, an absolute brute on Horizon!
The Audi Quattro was never quite the dominant car that people seem to remember. It took the Audi team until 1984 before they won both the drivers and manufacturers championship in the same year, and they only did this once, something Fiat, Lancia, Peugeot, Toyota and other car makers did multiple times. I remember watching the Rally of New Zealand in 1983, when there were many long fast gravel stages, some stages more than 50 km long. The rally should have been ideal for the Quattro and Mikkola and Mouton were both leading for Audi at different times, but both dropped out with mechanical problems. Walter Röhrl took the win on gravel in the Lancia 037. On tarmac, the Quattro drivers complained about understeer in tight corners and were at a disadvantage in events like Tour de Corse. The Lancia 037 remains my favourite rally car.
@@alexjenner1108 I know, the engine was sat so forward, they used to joke that it sat about half a mile in front of the headlights, that's what made it so frontend heavy and so notorious for understeer! A lot of people forget that! Or conveniently overlook said fact! From what I understand, I believe some modern Quattros have similar problems of being frontend heavy! I remember that race on Top Gear between Jeremy in the RS4 Quattro and those rock climbers and he complained about the same issue there!
Actually, technically, the 2WD Renault R5 Turbo also beat the UR Quattro... It was 1981 and both cars were to debut at the Monte Carlo Rally. The Quattro's broke and Jean Ragnotti piloted the then new R5 Turbo to the Monte Carlo victory, one of it's only victories in WRC.
Two item to bear in mind ... first, I was waiting for the words "polar moment of inertia" to appear, because that was one of the design features. Mount the heavy mechanical parts - engine and gearbox - as close together in the centre of the chassis as you can, and the car is able to corner as if it's on rails at faintly ridiculous speeds. Which, with the short wheelbase, made the car able to blast around rally circuits at what must have been, for the 1970s, utterly frightening speeds. The second feature of the car was massively adjustable suspension. The car could be tweaked to suit individual rally stages at will. But there's a downside to this. The car is *very* sensitive to suspension setting changes, and while this is an asset in the hands of a professional rally team, with suspension tuning experts who know what they're doing, it's a *gigantic* liability without that expertise to keep it properly balanced. Which is one of the reasons the Stratos can become a widowmaker. Again, it's a car you acquire to teach yourself *restraint* until you've learned its quirks (not to mention the bizarre driving posture). Drive one that's set up properly, and build up your skill incrementally, and you learn why it was such a weapon. But do NOT let amateurs alter the suspension, because that's a sure fire way to enter pine box territory. In effect, this is a road going Lockheed Starfighter - brilliant performer with respect to its design mission, thrilling like nothing else while in its proper performance envelope, but lethally terrifying if you enter the *wrong* parts of the envelope. The dividing line between the two can be narrow, and leaving suspension tuning to experts is necessary to keep you out of the "widowmaker" parts of the envelope. But even if you do keep amateurs away from the suspension, unless you're already at Lauda or Senna levels of driving skill, you'll need a decade to learn how to drive it properly. Spend that decade doing just that, though, and you'll acquire some *extremely* valuable skills that will serve you well elsewhere. You'll also earn a LOT of respect from people in the know, and distance yourself from the idiots accordingly. Remember, this car is a weapon in far more of a literal sense than usual, and like all genuine weapons, requires skilled operation. But if you have the skill, it's one *hardcore* thrill.
@@AidanMillward Cool. I have two Fender Strats, Gibson SG Supra, Epi Casino, Rickenbacker 360/12, 70’s Fender tele, Ultra Jazzmaster, Cordoba Flamenco, Alvarez Flamenco, AMI acoustic and a Fender Jazz bass. Fender Twin Reverb ToneMaster and Spark 40 Pearl amp. If I start listing my pedals I’ll be here until next Friday!
Correct me if I'm wrong here... While the Dino V6 was designed by Lampredi for Ferrari, all the 2.0 and 2.4 V6 engines for Dino 206 / 246, Fiat Dino and Stratos were built by Fiat, so that Ferrari assigning engines to Lancia may be a myth.
"They didn't whack a massive engine into a car that didn't have one to start with" soooo the Holden Torana L34? That car was quick but since dropping that V8 in was pretty much all they did, it was fragile - accelerate too hard and you could snap a tail shaft or shatter your diff (a unit fitted to four cylinder cars going back to the 50s), and the drum brakes on the rear were the only thing slowing you down. Harry Firth had a far grander vision for what would have become the XU-1 V8. A different engine package, a Super T-10 gearbox, nine inch diff... These would make it into the A9X which would dominate the ATCC from 77-79, a run which included Peter Brock setting the lap record on the last lap of the Bathurst 1000 in 1979, before he moved over to the then new Commodore model.
Never mind Clarkson, if the Italians would have made you sit on a bed of nails, it woulda still been an icon. And people say V6's sound shyte? Yeah right... Fun fact: Kaufman and Anthony have written "Poetry in Motion" for the Stratos! (Don't believe anyone who says otherwise) 😀
There used to be one on someones driveway near where I grew up, I don't know the person who owns it but I think it's a kit car not an original, but I have no evidence either way
The Stratos was brutal. It's a small thing, and a handful to drive according to those who have driven one. And it sounds ungodly. Back then V6 engines sounded like a small V12, only angrier. Now V6 engines sounds like people having flu.
I’ll never drive one irl. But I do know that, in granturismo at least, she’s a devilish cat to get to behave anywhere near trustworthy. In either race- or rallytrim, she’s that sort of cat. You get an armed truce or you die. Claws are featured. Funny, in Dirt she’s reasonably compliant in rallytrim. Games often disagree with each other, I wish they’d fix that. It’s why I play racegames after all, to get a feel for the hero cars of my youth that I will never drive irl.
It is pronounced lan-cha, not lan-sya. Do not argue with me; my dearly departed father started his career as a tool & die maker at Lancia and spent 11 years there before immigrating to Canada. He would know the proper pronunciation of the company he worked for.
30 years ago in the 1970s they made some really cool looking cars didn't they? I think it has to do with the limited understanding of aerodynamics. They look sleek but they really aren't. Makes for some cool looking stuff though.
Yes, you don't fit in it. Yes, it's hard to drive. Yes, it's impractical. Yes, it's too short. Yes, it rusted to nothing within weeks. But just LOOK at it! I want a bodyshell like that on an MX5.
Your description of driving the car is utter tosh, yes the pedals are offset, and its a pain in the arse to get into/out of, once in it's very comfortable (I'm 6' 01") its not twitchy if set up properly. The original 'stradale' road cars were thrown together, the chassis, in the absence of a role cage, was questionable at best. In consequence suspension rates were softened. This is what created the 'it wants to kill you' reputation. Cesare Fiorio once said that the only Stratos Stratii? that were built properly were the works competition cars. Hence why they couldn't sell them.
The Stradale chassis is identical to the Group 4 racing chassis with very few detail exceptions. Why the Stradale wanted to kill you more than the Group 4 car is because of the use of silent blocs instead of rose joints. Both chassis include an integrated and identical roll cage.
![SahBabii - Viking [Official Music Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/D37cL92JX0I/mqdefault.jpg)
Anyone else confused by the fact that all the bots are leaving positive comments and not asking for money/sharing explicit stuff??? Just goes to show what a quality channel Aidan runs!
I’m just that good I can alter AI behaviour.
@@AidanMillwardgold
Look at the profile pictures of the accounts....
Outstanding vid, Aidan, as always! You make my life worthy! Praise be to our great leader, Xi Ai Dan!
You don’t want that. Where is Sarah Connor?
@@AidanMillward
Yeah, but be careful, I saw an older bots working from Windows ME just working because of you... These one should just BSOD.
In my opinion one of the most beautiful and spectacular cars of all time.
Amazing sound too.
I agree
One of the cutest too imo
There isn't a bad line on the Stratos. It's such a masterpiece of car design that Jeremy Clarkson's "It just sort of is" is such a good way to sum it up.
It doesn't even look dated like a lot of the '70's wedges do now, even the Miura, while still gorgeous, looks like a classic. The Stratos in modern traffic still looks like it comes from the future.
All the Lancia rally cars were beautiful actually. The Fulvia is a little gem, the 037 is so elegant compared to its contemporaries, and the Delta Integrale is a masterpiece of hot hatch design. I'll go out on a limb and say the Delta S4 isn't beautiful exactly, though the Stradale isn't bad, but it does look like the monster it was.
Delta Integrale was not a classically beautiful Lancia like, say, the Stratos or the drop-dead gorgeous Flaminia. It's a box.
But you can see its beauty in its purpose. I'd sell my kidney to have a Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione II in Giallo Ginestra with white wheels.
Now YOU know what you are talking about! I agree with everything you said. You are spot on... the Miura is beautiful, no doubt, but it, as you said, is a representation of where technology was at that moment and no more. It is a classic car. But as you also alluded to, the Stratos is still current. It is a promise of the future. It has spent 50 years representing the promise of an impossibly cool future - of spectacular things to come. Only a handful of cars REALLY generate overwhelming emotions and the Stratos is one of them. I just this week took possession of a Lister Bell STR Stratos recreation (Busso 3.0L 24V V6) and upon it's arrival in my garage on Monday I just sat there with it. Staring. For like and hour. I had waited 49 years for that moment, to be near that shape... because that really is what the Stratos means to so many of us. Sure, the race history and sound of it's Ferrari powerplant were heroic but really it was Marcello Gandini's final design that captured us all. One of the greatest pieces of car design ever placed in one of the most odd environments imaginable... WRC. The juxtaposition of those two things is part of what make the Stratos so incomprehensibly desirable.
😂 " the 70s were 30 years ago " I felt that sentence lol ! Top channel ! always looking forward to the next video.
I felt this in my soul.
And my knees, and hips, and hands... ugh. Take care of your bodies y'all. You only get one! (I mean, yeah... but the other way is illegal. Don't do that)
No kidding. When I turned 40 I had that whole holy crap 1982 was 40 years ago, my life is more than half way over and I still feel like it's 2005 moment. That was rough
Not one person on this earth can prove to me that the 70’s aren’t 30 years ago.
My uncle used to have one of the road cars, in a beautiful blue colour.
A gorgeous little wedge of a car.
Was that Roger Perry?
I saw her at an expo. Brutal. Beautiful. Gorgeous. I knew about her and her story, but first time I saw her with my eyes. I fell in love desparately. A work of art, with a little evolution she could gave a really hard time even to 4WD.
Nice video, good work!
Greetings from Italy.
With your frequent mentions of rally, I was wondering if you would ever do a video on the Stratos. One of my absolute favorite cars, and sitting behind only the Jenson Interceptor on my dream car list! Still I didn't know so many of the details of its creation. I'm happy to have learned something today, thank you. Great video. Well done!
112 pts to 57 in 2nd that's crazy.
Also tried that car on various rally games, it is a handful to drive
Remember unlocking this in Sega Rally. That was a good day.
The Delta Integrale will always be my favourite Lancia. The Stratos is a great car, no disputing that. I guess it comes down to personal opinion. The Group B Lancia changed the playing field when it was introduced. Along with the Audi Quatro. I miss those times. Thankfully this brilliant channel takes us back to the golden era of motorsport. It's the golden era for me anyway. Great video as always. Cheers.
Which group B Lancia do you mean? 037 or the S4?
@@erikheijden9828 the S4. I should have written that it my original comment, my apologies!! 👍👍
The intergrale is probably a better car to live with than the S4, but I guess if someone was giving you a mint one the s4 would make you a lot more money.
Personally I prefer the sound of the 037
The Delta was perfection... but when it comes to looks and sound it just couldn't hold a candle to the Stratos (or the 037). ;)
A great video and sinopsis of, as you say Aidan, the icon that was and is the Lancia Stratos. I was a little disappointed that you didn't mention the Fiat X1/9 Abarth. I agree that Italian politics - especially back then - was opaque to say the least! And certain drivers confirmed the X1/9 Abarth was faster, easier to drive and more reliable than the Stratos... Anyway, some years later, as a youngster, I was lucky enough to own a Radbourne Racingl X1/9. Not quite an Abarth but an immensly enjoyable - and practical - road car, especially in those days before Gatsonides.. In 1990 I owned a Lancia Delta 4x4. Then living in London it was amazing - especially in the wet! As for the Stratos, it must be the most stunning looking rally car of all time.. The golden age of Italian sports cars. Thanks again Aidan
You can stop at 1:23. As someone of a certain age, quad spotlight Mk1 with the bubble arches is heaven.
GPLaps drove one in the SRM series a couple of years ago.
Richard Burns Historic Rally. Lot of fun but it’s HARDCORE.
@@AidanMillward I thought that was a Mk2? Before he swapped to the 911 like a crazy person 😁
I remember the Escort twin Cam and the BDA in races and rallies when I was growing up. If only the ordinary Escorts they sold to the public had been better cars, perhaps my brothers would never have switched to Datsun/Nissan and I might never have got my first alfasud.
There are some very good replicas available and I do get tempted
Thank you so much for the excellent review of the car's history and usage. The Stratos will always have a special place in this 63 year old geezer's heart. And the Type 037. The S4 is great too, but it killed Henri and Sergio, so there's that.
The Attilio Bettega was killed in a 037, afaik nobody was killed racing a Stratos, the Stratos chassis is built like a tank.
Great rundown on this car and its history. Definitely an icon, though as far as Lancias go I like the Lancia Delta Integrale.
Excellent job, awesome car. Thanks, Aidan
I think a lot of people would like to have look at the Lancia Stratos turbo group 5. I mean, that's a different Stratos, but it's cool and it fits really well with Hot Wheels toys.
Can confirm, the 2-pack of BMW M1 Procar and Stratos Group 5 Turbo is amazing
You should see about discussing one of the two 1972 rallies that the Fulvia didn’t win, the one where a Jeep Wagoneer won so handily it banned AWD until 1982.
Also, I’d like to see a video covering the Group 5 Stratos Turbo. I have no clue what it was like, and I was hoping to see info on it in this video.
There weren't many photos and videos of the Stratos Turbo but I think if you go to Wikipedia's page of either Stratos or Sandro Munari you can see the picture. Tamiya also has a model kit of Stratos Turbo Gr. 5 if I remembered correctly. Not a fan, nowhere near as elegantly brutal as the original Stratos...
@@AntoniusTyas I know what it looks like, but how it raced is what I'm more interested in
Speaking on the Stratos' reliability, my favorite line from Clarkson/Hammond driving it (forgot which one pointed it out) was "You know how Porsche put the tachometer dead center on the dashboard because they claim it is the most important thing for a driver to know?....Lancia's center gauge is the coolant temperature".
And a BIG ashtray in middle console on 037 stradale
😂😂🇮🇹🇮🇹
Would always choose it in rally games where available 😍
Do love me some Aidan Millward in the morning from America. Great Stuff, Mate. Lancia LOVE!
Morning? It's dark here already.
I'm in Merica..
Wow, the '75 championship had 21 manufacturers? Big difference to the lowly 3 manufacturers the WRC has now.
Very good and informative video, thank you sir
Someone here on the Right Coast of Canada daily drives a green and white Stratos in the summer. It's the only one I've ever seen in the flesh. I've never met him (or her?), but I give them mad respect for style and masochistic tendencies. The thing sounds like an absolute beast, and looks like nothing else on the road. Ever. I want one.
Well that car started Lancia s legendary WRC story...Fulvia was conventional at just did the job...Stratos dominated...037 did the miracle against the Quattros...Delta S4 took Group B to another level...Delta Integrale dominated and became the most succesfull rallycar till today...
Lancia is an example of what happens when the Italians decide they want to make fun of the rest of the world...especially the Germans...
Best channel out there
Hello Aidan: At the time, I read a review of this car in "Car and Driver". It said, that like a race car, it would do what ever you asked of it. If you asked the wrong thing well ..... that was your problem. Keep up the good work.
would love to see a video covering Henri Toivonens entire career.
Still one of my favorites
Fantastic video about an amazing car
The first Stratos's had a 12v engine as did all the production cars. The 24v heads came much much later.
Well done! Wild design and history. Had always wondered about the back story. And BTW, what is the source of the intro and outtro music? It works great with your presentation style.
I just love any mentions of the Fulvia. My dad owned an HF 1300 when I was younger and it was beautiful and beautiful to drive.
And i guess the Stratos is alright
Fulvia sounds like an alternative name for a vagina.
Another great video Aidan! Perhaps a video on the olde defunct Langhorne Speedway ("The Track That Ate Heroes") north of Philadelphia might be of interest to your viewers. Thanks!
1:27 - Yea, the 70's were not 30 years ago. lol. Another good video.
2004 being 20 years ago scares me, where has time gone
Im 2 meters tall and have sat in a Stratos drivers seat. Im sure the old Meme about Italian drivers all having short legs and long arms is real. I have driven a Montreal and that had a better seating position but not by much.
The story told here is very different to other versions of the birth and development of the Stratos. Versions I have read in magazines prior to the release of To Fast To Race that was similar.Things like the engine was never volunteered willingly by Ferrari and forced by Fiat as the Lancia engines were falling apart even more so than the Ferrari units that were changed mid development program..
My all time favourite rally car ❤
I seem to remember Lancia entered the WRC and won it while hardly turning up. On the subject of Rallying, the car I remember has to be the Midlands missile: The Metro 6R4.
You had me at 'Stratos' 😍
Have you done a video on the history of IMSA? It's a really interesting series and the start of the new season is only a few weeks away 😊
The only rally car that needed windscreen wipers on the side windows as the drivers spent more time going sideways than forwards!
“1970 was 30 years ago “
Accurate
That episode of TG was as surprising as it was right. I loved it so much. Lancia is the most awe inspiring manufacturer? Really? Oh… er… hm.
Second thing: imagine going into a 1000 lake or Argentina rally without a rollcage. I’d need diapers, a lot of them. In fact, they could be my title sponsor. Pretty please? Free samples?
The Stratos never took part in the 1000 Lakes or Argentina rallies.
Really recommend the Italian “Lancia. La leggenda del rally” documentary that came out a couple years ago, although unfortunately I highly doubt they ever made it with English subs
Speaking of rallying, there was a delegation in the town of Tralee, where I live, recently exploring possible venues for the potential 2025 Rally Ireland WRC round. They are in Waterford at the moment I think and they'll put in a bid when the venue is decided.
I live just outside of Birmingham and it was supposed to get a Formula E race that a lot of people were down for becuase of the throwbacks to the old SuperPrix and stuff.
Then they decided “no, London is having FE cos you’ve just got the Commonwealths. Cope harder”
@AidanMillward so I won't be getting my hopes up then. One thing's for sure. It's not going to clash with the Rally of the lakes in nearby Killarney which is typically held in May.
just watched the Lancia vs audi movie bloody great movie
Could you do a video about the group 5 le mans class? Some stunning cars but not alot of information to find on RUclips.
"Wedgy Boi" 😂😂😂 👊
In 1990 i found ESPN and racing 24 hrs a day lol. I watched everything but hard to find rally in the USA then. I loved the cars and thought the drivers were the Craziest...
Lol navigators were another level crazy.
Ha-have we converted Aiden over to the way of Lancia!? I will always have a soft spot of old Lancias, they're a company that you jus can't be mad at! Jeremy and Richard described them as charismatic, their cars as "art", a sentiment I, in my honestly completely unbias view, agree with! The 037 is half of my perfect 2-cars garage along with the Nissan Skyline R34 GT-R V-Spec II, another icon, only here mainly due to films and video games! Also, the 037, lest we forget, is the ONLY 2WD Rally Ca to ever beat the "Mighty Quattro" - being MR! I also can't help but remember that kit car they had on Top Gear that broke down (very Lancia!) as well having other issues and the Stig spinning twice, as far as I can see, mullering his Lap Time! And it's no easier in the games, either! I'm reluctant to take it out on Gran Turismo, both the road and Rally versions, even in the 70's Cups, there, I prefer something more comfortable like the E-Type Jaaaaaag! But the Deltas are still my go-to "I'm going to kick your arse" cars, the S4 Monster for 80's competition and the 037 is my mainstay on Forza, an absolute brute on Horizon!
I’ve not been converted to Lancias. Don’t think I even have a car brand where I am a brand fanboi.
The Audi Quattro was never quite the dominant car that people seem to remember. It took the Audi team until 1984 before they won both the drivers and manufacturers championship in the same year, and they only did this once, something Fiat, Lancia, Peugeot, Toyota and other car makers did multiple times. I remember watching the Rally of New Zealand in 1983, when there were many long fast gravel stages, some stages more than 50 km long. The rally should have been ideal for the Quattro and Mikkola and Mouton were both leading for Audi at different times, but both dropped out with mechanical problems. Walter Röhrl took the win on gravel in the Lancia 037. On tarmac, the Quattro drivers complained about understeer in tight corners and were at a disadvantage in events like Tour de Corse. The Lancia 037 remains my favourite rally car.
@@alexjenner1108 I know, the engine was sat so forward, they used to joke that it sat about half a mile in front of the headlights, that's what made it so frontend heavy and so notorious for understeer! A lot of people forget that! Or conveniently overlook said fact! From what I understand, I believe some modern Quattros have similar problems of being frontend heavy! I remember that race on Top Gear between Jeremy in the RS4 Quattro and those rock climbers and he complained about the same issue there!
Actually, technically, the 2WD Renault R5 Turbo also beat the UR Quattro... It was 1981 and both cars were to debut at the Monte Carlo Rally. The Quattro's broke and Jean Ragnotti piloted the then new R5 Turbo to the Monte Carlo victory, one of it's only victories in WRC.
When you see the car head on it looks futuristic even today. Almost like a stereotypical alien spaceship, only with wheels.
Those futuristic looking Supercars of the 70s never sat well with me
YES, the 70’s will always be thirty years ago!
I say that all the time and get weird looks, I really don’t get how this simple little fact can be so hard to understand..
I've never found this car i video game form that wasn't hard to control. I could not imagine how those drivers ever got this thing to handle.
Two item to bear in mind ... first, I was waiting for the words "polar moment of inertia" to appear, because that was one of the design features. Mount the heavy mechanical parts - engine and gearbox - as close together in the centre of the chassis as you can, and the car is able to corner as if it's on rails at faintly ridiculous speeds. Which, with the short wheelbase, made the car able to blast around rally circuits at what must have been, for the 1970s, utterly frightening speeds.
The second feature of the car was massively adjustable suspension. The car could be tweaked to suit individual rally stages at will. But there's a downside to this. The car is *very* sensitive to suspension setting changes, and while this is an asset in the hands of a professional rally team, with suspension tuning experts who know what they're doing, it's a *gigantic* liability without that expertise to keep it properly balanced. Which is one of the reasons the Stratos can become a widowmaker.
Again, it's a car you acquire to teach yourself *restraint* until you've learned its quirks (not to mention the bizarre driving posture). Drive one that's set up properly, and build up your skill incrementally, and you learn why it was such a weapon. But do NOT let amateurs alter the suspension, because that's a sure fire way to enter pine box territory.
In effect, this is a road going Lockheed Starfighter - brilliant performer with respect to its design mission, thrilling like nothing else while in its proper performance envelope, but lethally terrifying if you enter the *wrong* parts of the envelope. The dividing line between the two can be narrow, and leaving suspension tuning to experts is necessary to keep you out of the "widowmaker" parts of the envelope.
But even if you do keep amateurs away from the suspension, unless you're already at Lauda or Senna levels of driving skill, you'll need a decade to learn how to drive it properly. Spend that decade doing just that, though, and you'll acquire some *extremely* valuable skills that will serve you well elsewhere. You'll also earn a LOT of respect from people in the know, and distance yourself from the idiots accordingly.
Remember, this car is a weapon in far more of a literal sense than usual, and like all genuine weapons, requires skilled operation. But if you have the skill, it's one *hardcore* thrill.
And it appeared at LeMans with a turbo charged engine, weird body additions, and failed to finish if I'm correct
This was using an elongated version of the chassis, finished 20th. Even in a longer wheelbase not really a track car.
Call me crazy but first thing that comes to my mind when you mention Lancia is "Integrale" 🙂
Aidan,
I see a two Tele’s or a Tele and a Strat plus the Marshall. What else do you have?
Two Les Pauls.
@@AidanMillward
Cool.
I have two Fender Strats, Gibson SG Supra, Epi Casino, Rickenbacker 360/12, 70’s Fender tele, Ultra Jazzmaster, Cordoba Flamenco, Alvarez Flamenco, AMI acoustic and a Fender Jazz bass. Fender Twin Reverb ToneMaster and Spark 40 Pearl amp. If I start listing my pedals I’ll be here until next Friday!
Can you do a review of the new Rally movie coming out about the 82-83 season
Correct me if I'm wrong here...
While the Dino V6 was designed by Lampredi for Ferrari, all the 2.0 and 2.4 V6 engines for Dino 206 / 246, Fiat Dino and Stratos were built by Fiat, so that Ferrari assigning engines to Lancia may be a myth.
"They didn't whack a massive engine into a car that didn't have one to start with" soooo the Holden Torana L34?
That car was quick but since dropping that V8 in was pretty much all they did, it was fragile - accelerate too hard and you could snap a tail shaft or shatter your diff (a unit fitted to four cylinder cars going back to the 50s), and the drum brakes on the rear were the only thing slowing you down. Harry Firth had a far grander vision for what would have become the XU-1 V8. A different engine package, a Super T-10 gearbox, nine inch diff... These would make it into the A9X which would dominate the ATCC from 77-79, a run which included Peter Brock setting the lap record on the last lap of the Bathurst 1000 in 1979, before he moved over to the then new Commodore model.
Alpine A110 = French 912
The Stratos is one of the greatest looking cars of all time. Sad that Lancia is a shadow of what it once was
Never mind Clarkson, if the Italians would have made you sit on a bed of nails, it woulda still been an icon. And people say V6's sound shyte? Yeah right... Fun fact: Kaufman and Anthony have written "Poetry in Motion" for the Stratos! (Don't believe anyone who says otherwise) 😀
The Gr.5 ones are my favouite but there are no bad Stratos'
One of the greatest cars never to win the RAC Rally
Please stay as you are love your videos 😁👍
I remember reading that only a few drivers actually mastered this car........
There used to be one on someones driveway near where I grew up, I don't know the person who owns it but I think it's a kit car not an original, but I have no evidence either way
Brilliant "Fk'it It's an Icon"
The Stratos was brutal. It's a small thing, and a handful to drive according to those who have driven one. And it sounds ungodly. Back then V6 engines sounded like a small V12, only angrier. Now V6 engines sounds like people having flu.
I can tell you a rally game that doesn't have the Stratos in it. Rally Sport Challenge for the original XBOX.
Costa del Sol? Always thought that was a Final Fantasy thing.
It’s a British exclave these days 😅
I’ll never drive one irl. But I do know that, in granturismo at least, she’s a devilish cat to get to behave anywhere near trustworthy. In either race- or rallytrim, she’s that sort of cat. You get an armed truce or you die. Claws are featured.
Funny, in Dirt she’s reasonably compliant in rallytrim. Games often disagree with each other, I wish they’d fix that.
It’s why I play racegames after all, to get a feel for the hero cars of my youth that I will never drive irl.
Clearly the Lancia has taken your breath away cause your hold your inhaler alot😂 funny detail I noticed
It is pronounced lan-cha, not lan-sya. Do not argue with me; my dearly departed father started his career as a tool & die maker at Lancia and spent 11 years there before immigrating to Canada. He would know the proper pronunciation of the company he worked for.
I wasn’t about to argue…
It's hard to drive in Dirt Rally
You’ll fucking hate it in RBR 🤣
30 years ago in the 1970s they made some really cool looking cars didn't they? I think it has to do with the limited understanding of aerodynamics. They look sleek but they really aren't. Makes for some cool looking stuff though.
Yes, you don't fit in it. Yes, it's hard to drive. Yes, it's impractical. Yes, it's too short. Yes, it rusted to nothing within weeks. But just LOOK at it!
I want a bodyshell like that on an MX5.
Lancia is pronounced Lahncheeah, not lahnzia.
I know.
It's pronounced LAN-CHAR.
@@paul_mumford nah, put on an over the top Italian accent. It’s the rules. 🤌🏻
In Finland, we call it "Lanssia"
Can you make a video about how foolish you look after the Las Vegas GP?
Wheeljack. That is all
Behrtoneh
Generic positive comment from an avatar that is someone's bum.
(Also, hell yeah Lancia!)
Your description of driving the car is utter tosh, yes the pedals are offset, and its a pain in the arse to get into/out of, once in it's very comfortable (I'm 6' 01") its not twitchy if set up properly.
The original 'stradale' road cars were thrown together, the chassis, in the absence of a role cage, was questionable at best. In consequence suspension rates were softened. This is what created the 'it wants to kill you' reputation. Cesare Fiorio once said that the only Stratos Stratii? that were built properly were the works competition cars. Hence why they couldn't sell them.
The Stradale chassis is identical to the Group 4 racing chassis with very few detail exceptions. Why the Stradale wanted to kill you more than the Group 4 car is because of the use of silent blocs instead of rose joints. Both chassis include an integrated and identical roll cage.
Looks too much like a Skoda Roomster.