Collectible autos: the Lancia Stratos

Around the end of the 1960s, the CEO of Lancia said to his design division, "my 12-year-old son drew this picture of a car that looks like a spaceship. Build it."

I don't think that's actually how it went down—Lancia was bought by Fiat in 1969, so it was probably the Fiat's CEO that said something like that. But the point is that the Lancia Stratos is one of the most striking cars made in the early 1970s—it looks like a cheese wedge or a door stop, and is undeniably the sort of car that 12-year-old boys dream about. Even the Autobot's Wheeljack is a Stratos.

The concept car that led to the Stratos was even crazier—take a look at a sketch, below. 12-year-olds take note.

Yes, the driver climbs in through the windshield, which automatically lowers itself as the steering wheel is pulled into position. Now, back to the actual production Stratos.

Lancia built the Stratos in 1974 primarily to compete in rally racing, a sort of high-speed off-road race fancied by folks of the European persuasion. Now, much like many other forms of auto racing, rallying has a sticky set of rules around homologation, requiring essentially that if a manufacturer wants to race a car, it has to offer a minimum number of copies of that car for sale to the public. Homologation rules required 500 cars, although this was changed to 400 right before Lancia finished its production run—in the end, 492 Stratos' were produced.

The Stratos is a lightweight, two-seat, mid-engined coupé featuring the 2.4L V6 out of the Dino by Ferrari. These engines were mounted transverse just behind the front seats and drove the rear wheels through a transmission sourced from a Lancia Fulvia. Road-going Stratos' made around 200hp from the factory, but racing versions (particularly those fitted with turbochargers) made significantly more. A Group 5 rally Stratos made some 560hp.

These cars ended up smashing the Group 4 rallies and won the FIA World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975, and 1976. During the 1976 Portugal rally, Stratos' took first, second, third, and fourth places. Fiat S.p.A. shifted its emphasis in rallying from the Lancia brand to the Fiat brand and in 1977, the Stratos was defeated by the Fiat 131 Abarth. The Stratos continued competing on Lancia's behalf until 1982, when it was replaced by the Lancia 037.

Although I normally don't consider replicas as viable alternatives to the real thing, the Stratos is something of an exception because it was really a competition vehicle from the outset. Much like replicas of the Porsche 962 or the Lotus Seven, I think that the Stratos replicas are worth taking a look at because unlike a Fiero dressed up to be a Ferrari, they're actually designed to be competent track-going vehicles.

The number of manufacturers making Stratos kits has dropped in the last ten years and there are really only two major contenders left: Hawk (also known as Hawkridge and sold in the US by Aerosim) who make the HF2000 and HF3000 kits, and Hennessey Racing, who sell kits based on their internal CORSE platform. Both companies offer a good number of options and it's easy to spend well over $30,000 building the car. Hawk/Aerosim list prices to give you an idea of how much this sort of thing costs. Hennessey Racing will sell you a turnkey Stratos replica for around £30,000, which works out to around $50,000.

It's also possible to purchase a kit car secondhand, but this is something of a risky proposition, as someone else has done all the handiwork. Expect to spend a lot of time verifying that said builder knew what they were doing.

Collectability: Above average (original) to slightly below average (replica).

Here's the breakdown.

(+) It's a real supercar. These cars were making just under 200hp in a chassis lighter than nearly any other sports cars at the time. Surprisingly big performance from a manufacturer that really hasn't even been known for it.

(+) It has real racing heritage. Original cars with verifiable racing background can go for whole bucketloads of cash. The 560hp Silhouette Stratos has changed hands for well over $1,000,000.

(+) It's actually usable at a rally. Be it a replica or a real Stratos, these cars are simple enough that you really can take them rallying. It's little more than some fiberglass tacked on top of an engine and some seats bolted to a frame, so getting parts on and off is quick and easy. Yes, some bits are pricey if damaged (clamshell hood and tail, for example) but you certainly won't have to find a mechanic to do it. If you've got a wrench, you're good to go.

(+) It's got popup headlamps. Mark my words: five years from now, this will be seriously cool again.

(+) The looks. The Stratos has really outlandish looks but it's not the sort of thing that's overdone like a Lamborghini Countach or a Porsche 911. I really really like the unusually aggressive stance.

(-) The looks. Well, it certainly isn't subtle. And do note that it looks way better in pictures than it does in person. It's a really tiny car with tiny windows and when someone is actually sitting inside it, it tends to look a bit goofy.

(-) It's a Lancia. It's not a Ferrari, and it's not a Lamborghini, and it's not a Maserati. While low-production big-name supercars of approximately equivalent performance (think, Lamborghini Miura) are sitting pretty well in the six-figure range, the original Stratos is languishing pricewise.

(-) It's horrifically impractical. Even most Ferraris have a storage space under the hood. The Stratos is a really tiny car and there's barely enough room for two people. Forget throwing your golf clubs in the back. Consider a Stratos to be only marginally more useful than a large motorcycle—which isn't saying much, seeing as you can have way more fun for way less money on a bike.

(-) The replicas really aren't worth it. Admittedly, they're great novelties, but they're not terribly collectible. I'd love to have one to cruise around in, but it's still completely impractical and won't appreciate all that well.

Expect to pay: $50,000 for a bona-fide Stratos, $30,000 for a new kit, or $15,000–$20,000 for a finished and abused replica.

What to look for:

• Any sort of racing heritage if it's an original. A lot of the race models were repainted later, so it's worth digging through the books to see if it's got checkered flags in its past.
  
• Do verify that the original Ferrari V6 is installed in any race car. Racers can get nutty when replacing parts—especially spendy Italian engines.
  
• Absolutely positively verify all workmanship by hand if it's a replica. Big automobile manufacturers spend lots of money making sure cars roll off their assembly lines in good quality. The only person overseeing the construction of a kit car was the builder's wife.
  
• If you're getting a kit, do opt for something making more than 200hp. Even though the kits are likely to be a bit lighter than the original, it's well worth getting something with some power.
  
• Buy it to drive it. These were never meant to be museum pieces.