Race Retro 2012

Stratos Replicas @ the NEC

A bit late, but here goes - the Hawk display.

Stratos Zero sold for €761.600 RM Auctions

Ah, Bertone, what have you got yourselves into! It's gone now. I have no idea who the new lucky owner of this legendary vehicle is, but I truly hope that the general public will still be able to catch an occasional glimpse of this treasure once in a while. They say, with great power comes great responsibility. I say, with cars like this one, the responsibility could be even greater. 

Click HERE to check out all other lots.

Lancia Stratos 40th Anniversary San Marino 2011

Hello my dear Lancisti, as promised, here's some interesting info I have recently got my hands on. Anyone wants to take me to San Marino for a short vacation?

If you click on pictures, they should open up in their original size so you can read it better. Now that the good deed is done, I'm off to see Rush play at Sheffield Arena.

Disclaimer: I am not aware if this event is heavily publicized, I got it from the third party, not the organizers. If there are any problems with my posting this info on this blog, please email me.

Tour Auto 2011 - Pictures

Woohoo! I have finally made it to the checks and scrutineering stage of Tour Auto 2011. Mind you, Monday isn't exactly the best day of the week to go to a car show (the rest of the working population will agree with me on this one!) Anyway, some real gems here, so hope you enjoy the pics (apologies for the barrier strap getting in the way, but it was difficult to get decent pics unless you were from the press. That's it, next year I'm getting myself a press pass and a mean looking camera!)

Flavia Sport (driven by our team. Look closer & you'll see the LMC sticker!)

Flaminia Sport

Looks absolutely stunning in red, don't you think?

Well, hello there!

Fulvia

                      

Aurelia B20

...in need of a good clean and polish!!

Flaminia Coupe (driven by the Japanese team)

Straaaaaaaatos!!!

...mind you, not sure about the colour.

Poorly Stratos

Red Stratos

Tour Auto brochure (I have 2, anyone wants one?)

The New Stratos

Ok guys, I know I'm a bit late writing about stuff that everyone already knows, but I genuinely forgot about it. I've actually read a massive feature that Classic and Sports Car magazine did on it ages ago. I won't talk about specs here, you all know your technical stuff and it's on the official website anyway. I'll tell you what I think in terms of design/bodywork.

Now let me honestly tell you, Lancia Stratos is my favourite Lancia (sports Lancia, obviously, because nothing tops Aurelia and you can't compare the two). In fact, Stratos Zero is so far the ultimate concept car for me in terms of design.

I must tell you, I am not overly convinced with this new reincarnation. I mean, I do admire people for having a go at something in order to bring it back and revive the true Lancia brand, however I just can't seem to fall in love with this particular car. First of all, I don't think it should have been made in black. Black isn't the colour for a sports car (ever thought why Ferraris are all red?) To quote my dad, "every red is a racing red in Italy, like every blue is a racing blue in France and green in this country". Racing black anyone? Nope, didn't think so either. Second, the lights. Ok, I'm clued up on legality and all, but the shape of the front lights? Stratos has round lights. Round. Why have the designers completely disregarded this fact? Why? Porsche 911 lights looks more like Stratos than this black creation. I understand that you can't replicate the whole idea, but the front lights on the new version look too simplistic. Boring. Plain. Just-like-any-other-car. Why would you downgrade something so unique and recognizable? Take the badge off the new Stratos, and we can play guess the car. Ok, lets have a look at the back.

Ok, can't say much, they've kept the standards pretty much, although again, what is going on with the exhaust here? I'm afraid it reminds me of Barry Boys too much, so I won't comment further. In fact, I won't comment anymore on it. However, I'd like to say that everyone else who is into Lancias and who I know seem to like the new Stratos quite a lot. And as I've mentioned before, I am all for supporting anything that attracts attention to the true Lancia brand (ie, I'm certainly not into Chrysler stuff, makes me shiver!), so long live the Stratos.

You can check all about the new Stratos HERE.

NEC Gems

Lots of Lancias from Birmingham Motorshow.

Guess who else turned up?

Enjoy :)