STRATOSPH ERIC

HOT-FOOTING A REINVENTION OF LANCIA’S BRILLIANT 1970S SUPERCAR WITH FERRARI F430 UNDERPINNINGS

- JETHRO BOVINGDON

INSPIRED. IT’S THE only word that does justice to the idea of a reborn Lancia Stratos based on a Ferrari F430. Think about it. Ferrari’s midengined supercar built between 2004 and 2009 is in plentiful supply, is blessed with a wickedly sharp engine, and treads that fine line between modern performance, control and excitement and old-school involvement, feel and delicacy. To start with such a sound basis, shorten the wheelbase and then pour some Stratos styling fairy dust on top should result in something spectacularly agile, overwhelmingly evocative and effortlessly cool. This car might not be a pureblood, but I’m not sure I can think of a more exciting project anywhere in the world.

The story of the reborn Stratos is long, winding and really rather extraordinary. It starts in the 1990s, when a teenager named Chris Hrabalek discovered that Lancia had allowed the rights to the Stratos name to lapse. Hrabalek registered the trademark (his father was a Stratos owner and enthusiast) and around ten years later, by then a design student at the Royal College of Art, decided his final project should be a Stratos for the 21st Century. Usually such a project would comprise a few sketches, some CAD data and maybe a scale model, but Hrabalek showed incredible tenacity to realise his dream in full-sized, rolling form. By approaching ten owners of original cars and securing funding from them, he managed to build the Fenomenon Stratos concept car and display it at the Geneva Auto Salon in 2005.