New Lancia Stratos

RJH

True Classic
https://youtu.be/9zBpqLzzCUo

While the Fiat Group has more or less cut ("neutered" would probably be a more appropriate word…) Lancia from its past, a dedicated fan of the Italian brand with a lot of money to spend, decided to resurrect one the most famous sports cars of all time.
We are talking of course about German businessman Michael Stoschek and his one-off New Stratos that made its first public appearance at a major automotive event in Frankfurt.

The Stratos was designed and engineered by Pininfarina. The Italian design house based the sports car on the chassis of the Ferrari F430 Scuderia, albeit with a shortened wheelbase, while power comes from a 4.3-liter V8 engine sourced from the same model that delivers 540-horses and over 500 Nm (369 lb-ft) of peak torque.

Even though Stoschek had pondered building a limited production run of the New Stratos since he owns the copyright to the design and build, Ferrari blocked his efforts stating that it "does not consent to construction of the planned limited run by either Pininfarina or any other Ferrari-dependent suppliers.”
 
Fail! Bertone design. Not pininfarina.

Right and wrong.

The original was designed at Bertone.

The new one was designed at Pinninfarina. Which was a bit of a travesty particularly as Gandini is still alive and could have been engaged (conceivably).
 
Are those guys as mechanically stupid as they seem to be, or is that their schtick? They can drive (well, two of them), but whenever something starts going downhill mechanically, they seem to do the worst thing possible. Or if there's car trim that's a little wonky, they'll deliberately yank at it in the direction to cause the most damage. So are they astoundingly stupid when it comes to mechanics or are they playing for the camera?

I also got sick of the "lets buy 3 random cheap cars and assume they are exactly like every other same vehicle of this vintage and beat the heck out of them and be surprised when it breaks" travelogue. Then again, great job if you can get it..... And for the US version Tanner Foust is the only interesting one--the other two are complete dilettantes.
 
Interesting... I had read a long time ago that the Stratos was canceled because it was based on a engine / platform that Ferrari discontinued. I don't recall what it was...
 
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