The Lancia Rally 037 is one of those classically proportioned sports car designs that simply don’t age. Straightforward, purposeful and pristine with frivolous aggressive features, the 037 represents the link between form and function. That’s not surprising, given the road-going 037 Stradale was built for homologation purposes and is essentially a true competition rally car.
It is for these reasons that this particular 037 prototype will be auctioned next June in Milan RM Sotheby’s, looks so shocking. If you’ve never seen this test car before, it will be a stunning turning point on the path to Lancia’s first Group B hero – not to mention the great distance you could have from that one Lancia. destroy it by turning the steering wheel at the wrong time.
You can find hints here and there of the 037’s final shape, but certain clues show that everything isn’t quite as it should be. The prototype headlights are the first and most notable tell. The outside lights awkwardly plunge into the bumper. They push the turn signals down toward the lip of the splitter, which itself is much less pronounced than it would eventually appear on the road car.
The squarer, flatter cutouts for the front wheel arches are another quirk that wouldn’t make it to the finish line, nor would the bodyshell under the A-pillar. The rear side panels in particular are strange, they flicker around compared to those of the production car with flat sides.
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At the back, things get especially weird. There are a few curious details here. The taillights seem to come from a Ferrari 308, and the ‘Abarth’ and ‘SE 037’ labels are extruded just below that gigantic rear wing. loose on special stages The presence of red painted metal that obscures the engine under the plexiglass hood is another peculiarity that is special to this mule.
All in all, Lancia has built about 220 copies of the 037, including roadgo and race incarnations. This example – chassis # 001 – rolled out of the Dallara factory in September 1980 according to a Bonham’s listing from 2016, the last time it was auctioned.
Lancia announced the 037 program in December 1981, and road car homologation went into production in 1982. In 1983 Lancia won the manufacturer’s trophy of the World Rally Championship with the 037. a WRC title.
Chassis # 001 was restored in 2014. Hagerty notes that the car was not sold the last time it went under the hammer, and is subsequently expected to sell between $ 380,000 and $ 470,000. The car is reportedly still owned by Sergio Limone, the 037’s chief engineer who also oversaw the development of some of Lancia’s other rally cars. The crafty Alfa Romeo touring car and GT programs throughout the 1990s.
