1974 World Rally Championship Diorama |
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A Lancia Stratos during a 1974 World Rally Championship round |
Introduction - Vehicle Background
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Lancia did extensive testing with the Stratos and raced the car in several racing events where Group 5 prototypes were allowed during the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Production of the 400 cars required for homologation in Group 4 were launched in 1973 and the car was homologated for the 1974 World Rally Championship. The Dino V6 was phased out in 1974, but 500 engines among the last built were delivered to Lancia.
For racing, the engine was tuned up to 280 hp (209 kW) and even to 560 hp (418 kW) with a single KKK turbocharger. However, turbocharged versions were only allowed to compete in Group 5 and were never as reliable as their naturally aspirated counterparts.
The car won the 1974, 1975 and 1976 championship titles in the hands of Sandro Munari and Björn Waldegård, and might have gone on to win more had not internal politics within the Fiat group placed rallying responsibility on the Fiat 131 Abarths. As well as victories on the 1975, 1976 and 1977 Monte Carlo Rally, all courtesy of Munari, the Stratos won the event with the private Chardonnet Team as late as 1979.
The road is basically some foam core to provide contour covered with newspaper soaked in diluted white glue then covered with plaster of paris and painted. The “rock wall” is some foam packing from a stereo (from memory) painted with several grey/green colours. The large rock front right is an actual rock from the roadside, with the foliage being commercial product. The car was smeared with brown paint to cover some damage to the old decals.
The car is a 1/20th scale Tamiya kit that I first built over 20 years ago. The model is actually of a Group 5 racing machine. To be strictly correct, to model the Group 4 machine I would need to remove the front spoiler and door platforms. To do this to the model would require some structural modifications, and may be undertaken at some time in the future.
Lancia Stratos - Wikipedia
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