The Tamed Group B Terror: Exploring the Twin-Charged Lancia Delta S4 Stradale

One of the wonderful aspects of rally racing is that manufacturers are frequently required to turn their racecars into street-legal versions. And few are as legendary as the extremely limited edition Lancia Delta S4 Stradale.

It’s significantly rarer than other homologation specials due to alleged cheating on Lancia‘s part, with only 70 or 80 examples of the car believed to have been produced — considerably fewer than the ‘generous’ 200 units the company was required to build according to the rules

However, you can totally understand why Lancia might have felt the need to ‘bend the rules’ a bit, because the car only shares its grille, windshield, and taillights with the Lancia Delta production car. Meanwhile, its spaceframe chassis and its mid-mounted engine come from the competition model that gained a brutal reputation as one of the fastest rally cars of its day, as well as one of the vehicles that contributed to the ‘glorious’ demise of Group B rallying

Despite its fearsome reputation, Henry Catchpole reveals in a new video from Hagerty that the Delta S4 Stradale is surprisingly civilized from the driver’s seat. Even with its 1.8-liter engine being both turbo- and supercharged, it produces a ‘mere’ 300 hp (224 kW/304 PS). This output is more than sufficient, yet it doesn’t give the impression that it’s ready to snap your head off at every turn (though it does enjoy spitting flames, just in case you forget it’s a true Group B car).”

Although the engine provides it with plenty of oomph, the open diff at the front means that it has a tendency to understeer safely, rather than spinning like a top, in a rally driving fashion.

However, what really contributes to making it feel civilized is the interior. For a car that was built in lower numbers than were required, and which was primarily designed as a necessary expense for a rally team, it doesn’t feel like it was thrown together at the last minute.

Sure, the interior is loud, and there are squeaks and rattles, but the seats are incredibly comfortable (and eventually made their way into an Aston Martin). The interior is also covered in Alcantara, which gives it an air of purposeful civility.

“Compared to other Group B homologation road cars, I think this has to be — no, not the prettiest — but the most extraordinary,” says Catchpole. “It’s a curious, but quite beguiling, cocktail of competition and comfort. You could imagine doing a decent road trip in this, I think.”

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