Lancia · 1982–1984
Lancia 037
The Lancia Rally (Tipo 151, also known as the Lancia Rally 037, Lancia 037 or Lancia-Abarth #037 from its Abarth project code SE037) is a mid-engine sports car and rally car built by Lancia in the early 1980s to compete in the FIA Group B World Rally Championship. Three main version of the car were built; the Evoluzione 1 (EVO1) and Evoluzione 2 (EVO2) racing cars, and the Stradale road car. Driven by Markku Alén, Attilio Bettega, and Walter Röhrl, the 037 won the manufacturers' world championship for Lancia in the 1983 season. It was the last rear-wheel drive car to win the WRC.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Predecessor: Lancia Stratos · Successor: Lancia Delta S4
All Lancia 037 data: UK builds, safety, recalls, model years →
History
In 1980, Lancia began the development of the 037 to comply with the then new FIA Group B regulations that allowed cars to race with relatively few homologation models being built. As the project name was number 037, this eventually became the name by which the car was known. Abarth, now a part of the Lancia-Fiat family, did most of the design work, even incorporating styling cues from some of its famous race cars of the 1950s and 1960s such as a double bubble roof line. The car was developed in collaboration between Pininfarina, Abarth, Dallara and the project manager, engineer Sergio Limone. Prior to its first participation in the 1982 World Rally Championship season, 200 road-going models were built to comply with Group B regulations. The car made its competition debut at the 1982 Rally Costa Smeralda in Italy, where two cars were entered but both retired due to gearbox issues. The 1982 season was plagued with retirements for the 037, but the new car did manage to achieve several wins including its first win at the Pace Rally in the UK. The 1983 season was considerably more successful for the 037: Lancia took the 1983 World Rally Championship Constructors' title with Germany's Walter Röhrl and Finland's Markku Alén its principal drivers, despite serious competition from the 4WD Audi Quattro. Both drivers, however, missed the final round of the series, despite Röhrl maintaining a mathematical chance of the drivers' title: such honours instead went to Audi's veteran Finn, Hannu Mikkola. For the 1984 Constructors' title defence, Lancia introduced an Evolution 2 version of the 037 with improved engine power output, but this was not enough to stem the tide of 4WD competition, losing to Audi in both 1984 championships, and again to the 4WD Peugeot 205 T16 in its final works
Specifications
Conceptually similar to a silhouette racer, the 037 was loosely based on the Lancia Montecarlo (known as the Scorpion in the US and Canadian markets) road car, sharing the center section while all body panels and mechanical parts were significantly different. Steel subframes were used fore and aft of the 037's center section. Most of the body panels were made from Kevlar. The 037 was designated and sold, not as a Montecarlo, but as a distinct model, and both the street and race versions of it were built using the same construction methods, so it does not qualify as an actual silhouette racer. The mid-engined layout of the Montecarlo was retained, but the engine was turned from a transverse to a longitudinal position. This allowed greater freedom in the design of the suspension while moving engine weight forward. A double wishbone suspension was used both front and rear, with dual shock absorbers in the rear to cope with the stresses of high speed off-road driving. The 037 is notable in Group B as it retained the rear-wheel drive layout that was nearly universal for rally cars of the pre-Group B period; nearly all subsequent successful rally cars used four-wheel drive, making the 037 the last of its kind. In contrast to the V6-powered Lancia Stratos HF, the 037s have a supercharged 4-cylinder based on the engine which powered earlier Fiat Abarth 131 rally cars. The block is a long-stroke Fiat Twin Cam assembly, and the four valve head was carried over from the 131 Abarth, but with that car's twin carburetors replaced by a single large Weber carburetor in early models, and later by fuel injection. The 037 features a ZF transaxle. Lancia chose a supercharger over a turbocharger to eliminate turbo lag and improve throttle response. Initially, power was quoted at 265 hp (195
037 Stradale
Produced between 1982 and 1984, the Lancia 037 Stradale is the road-going version of the 037 rally car, developed to compete in the FIA Group B World Rally Championship. Homologation requirements for the World Rally Championship's Group B mandated that Lancia produce a minimum of 200 verifiable road-going examples in order to allow the 037 to compete. 207 examples of the 037 Stradale (Italian for "road going/for the road") cars are known to have been produced. The road-going 037 was equipped with an Abarth-developed DOHC 2.0-litre (1,995 cc) 16-valve straight-four engine, mated to an Abarth Volumex Roots-type supercharger generating 205 hp (151 kW) at 7,000 rpm and 166 lb⋅ft (225 N⋅m) of torque at 5000 rpm. It was capable of pushing the car to over 220 km/h (137 mph) and to 60 mph (97 km/h) from a standstill in 7.0 seconds. Today, the Lancia 037 Stradale is regarded as one of the most iconic and collectible cars ever produced by Lancia.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.
Specifications
- name
- Lancia 037 Stradale
- Manufacturer
- Lancia
- Production
- 1982–1984 (207 produced)
- Designer
- Pininfarina
- Layout
- Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout
- Engine
- 2.0 L (1995 cc) supercharged I4
- Transmission
- 5-speed manual
- Wheelbase
- 2445 mm
- Length
- 3890 mm
- Width
- 1850 mm
- Height
- 1240 mm
- Kerb weight
- 980–1170 kg
Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.
More photos
Sources
- Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q979055CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lancia_Rally_037CC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1376651409 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lancia_037_AMI_2006.JPGCC BY-SA 3.0 · Photo: Thomas doerfer · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.