Lancia is the winningest manufacturer when it comes to overall titles in the history of the World Rally Championship – having taken home a total of 10 in the Manufacturers’ category and 5 in the Drivers’. And a big part of that was because the Stratos was laughably better than just about every car on the track for roughly 4 years straight.
In fact, this car was an international smash hit and has been likened to rallying’s version of a supercar, thanks in part to it being loaded with a Ferrari Dino V6 engine and its sleek appearance (which stands out in stark contrast to a lot of the boxy hatchbacks and coupes of the era). This car was so influential and widely loved, in fact, that one of the original Transformers toys from the 1980s, a character called Wheeljack, turned into a 1976 Group 5 Stratos Turbo done up in an Alitalia livery.
Aerospace Dynamics 