GROUND ZERO

BUYING A LANCIA DELTA REPLICA IS ONE THING. GETTING UP TO FULL TARGA RALLY SPEC IS A WHOLE OTHER LEVEL

- COLIN BYRNE WITH GUY ALLEN

For Colin Byrne, building and owning a Lancia Stratos replica may have had some inevitability to it. Alongside his father, he’s been racing Alfa Romeo 105s in tarmac rallies since 2005.

“We started off in the same car and after the first event vowed never to be in the same car together ever again!” He laughs. Father Paul and he have since raced their own 105s in tandem. But for Colin, it was starting to lose its shine, despite ending up with a handful of winds and places.

“We pushed it as far as we could with that car and the rules – it was a handicap competition and we wanted to get into the classic GT or outright class, with a bigger engine and something designed for the task.

“I was looking around, watching some old Group B videos and came across the fact you could buy Stratos replicas.” He and Paul decided to pitch in together  to get one. There were two main options: The Hawk which is a reasonably faithful replica of the original, or a ListerBell which is an updated silhouette version.

They decided to put their name on the two-year waiting list for a Hawk until a Sydney car popped up for sale. “I remember coming around the corner and seeing it on a trailer and thinking that thing is coming home with me,” said Colin.

All the bones were there, but it was still a very big build as the car was nowhere near what was required for a tarmac rally. “The fact it was a complete car meant we didn’t have to track down a lot of little things like door handles and trims, which saves a lot of time. Mechanically and performance-wise we started again.”