In 1980, Lancia decided to accept the task of winning again the World Rally Championship for the Fiat Group, after the all-conquering Stratos had been sidelined by the Fiat 131 Abarth Rally for commercial reasons. Despite having only rear-wheel drive, the Lancia Rally 037 was able to win the World Rally Championship with Walter Rorhl being the very last non-4WD car to achieve it.
Rally Racing regulations were constantly changing and the winning Fiat 131 Abarth Rally needed replacing. Project number SE037, to which the car owed its “037” name, was modeled around the Lancia Beta Montecarlo. The Lancia Rally 037 Stradale debuted at the 1982 Turin Motor Show and, in order to meet the FIA regulations 200 of them needed to be built to finalize the homologation.

The car’s hybrid structure combined a monocoque with a tubular chassis; two tubular subframes were anchored to the central frame section derived from the production Beta Montecarlo. The front structure supported the unequal-length double wishbone front suspension and the radiators, whereas the rear structure supported the rear-mid positioned engine block, gearbox and differential, with unequal double wishbone rear suspension featuring two shock absorbers on each side and different arm attachments to easily vary the geometry.

The body, designed and produced by Pininfarina, was made of polyester and fiberglass, made in a way that the bonnet and the trunk could be detached very quickly, allowing easy access to the mechanical parts. Because race cars. The engine was developed by Abarth and derived from the 16-valve, 2.0-litre powerplant on the Lancia Trevi. In the Stradale, fuel was supplied via a twin-barrel carburettor. The famous chief engineer Aurelio Lampredi, decided to add a Volumex supercharger tuned by Abarth, the 2.0 lt supercharged engine developed 205 hp, allowing the car to achieve a top speed of 220 km/h and an acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in less than 7 seconds.

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