This Lancia 037 Group B Works Evolution 1 is among the automobiles that made the mid-engine Lancia an icon of Group B’s earlier years.
These had been the final of the rear wheel drive automobiles that truly gained races, earlier than the four-wheel-drive revolution took over and dominated the ultimate years of Group B competitors.
Quick Information – The Lancia 037 Group B
- The Lancia 037 was designed primarily by Abarth and was fitted with an Abarth Volumex supercharger for its Lampredi designed inline 4 cylinder engine.
- The 037 was primarily based on a extremely modified and strengthened Lancia Montecarlo (aka Lancia Scorpion in North America) central monocoque with new design tubular metal entrance and rear sub-frames.
- These Lancia 037 automobiles had been very excessive efficiency and near the skills of the four-wheel-drive automobiles that outmoded them. For instance, throughout the follow for the 1983 ADAC Saarland Rallye Walter Röhrl managed to lap the Nürburgring Nordschleife in simply eight minutes. Two years later he tried the identical factor in his Audi quattro and couldn’t match that point.
Group B And The Mighty 037
The Lancia 037 Group B was a objective constructed supercharged mid-engine two seater GT rally automotive whose creation was made attainable largely because of the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Car) Group B class for competitors automobiles which was launched in 1982.
The Group B classification was meant to supply producers with quite a lot of flexibility in each the design of their competitors automobiles and within the homologation necessities (“homologation” referring to the variety of automobiles the maker must produce so as to qualify the automotive as a manufacturing automotive). For Group B the requirement was for 200 automobiles to be produced.
The Lancia 037 was due to this fact among the many first of the Group B automobiles particularly created for this class of rally competitors.
Lancia is an Italian automotive maker whose identify is comparatively unfamiliar to most individuals, and even to many automotive lovers, however they’ve a historical past of making imaginative automobiles and had been the primary to create a unitary physique automotive, the Lancia Lambda, which was in manufacturing from 1922-1931.
Lancia have additionally had a protracted historical past in rallying, the Lancia Stratos being a well-known instance.
Entrance view of Lancia 037 chassis #319, the highlight configuration was sufficient to light up even the darkest of forest phases.
To create the Lancia 037 mission supervisor Sergio Limone introduced in Abarth who had been charged with the lion’s share of the design work, together with racing automotive maker Dallara, and design home Pininfarina – this was to be an Italian competitors automotive so not solely did it have to be rally successful quick but it surely additionally needed to be stunning: and exquisite it might certainly show to be.
The 037 was constructed on a a lot modified bolstered centre monocoque construction of the Lancia Montecarlo mid-engine sports activities automotive (referred to as the Lancia Scorpion in North American markets) however with all new objective designed parts and new metal sub-frames. The physique panels had been of Kevlar with hearth retardant fibreglass.
Suspension was by the tried and examined double wishbones for entrance and rear with coil springs, Bilstein gasoline shock absorbers and an anti-roll bar on the entrance, and coil springs with twin shock absorbers and no anti-roll bar on the rear.
The engine chosen was the Fiat/Abarth DOHC inline 4 cylinder with a Volumex supercharger bolted on to present it a terrific enhance in enthusiasm to outrun the Audis and Peugeots it was going to be competing with.
This Lampredi designed 2.0 litre supercharged twin cam engine was fitted with an Abarth double-valve (i.e. 4 valves per cylinder) head with gasoline/air combine being fed into the engine by one suitably massive Weber carburettor on the early automobiles, and later with a gasoline injection system.
That is the Lampredi-designed Abarth DOHC Volumex supercharged four-cylinder engine.
This dry sump engine produced 280 hp in its preliminary type and this was subsequently elevated within the elevated capability 2.1 litre (2,111 cc) Evolution 2 model to 325 hp.
This engine was mounted longitudinally within the standard rear-mid-engine format mated to a ZF 5 pace handbook transaxle with robotically locking differential and single dry plate 230 mm (9.1 in) hydraulically actuated clutch.
The brakes for the Lancia 037 rally automotive had been Brembo-Abarth disc brakes on all 4 wheels with alloy calipers: fully satisfactory for laundry off numerous pace to get the automotive across the many and sometimes sharp corners rally programs are likely to favour.
The top end result was a really fast however fantastically balanced rally automotive that instantly gained the respect of the drivers who had been going to push it simply as rapidly because it they usually had been in a position to go.
Above Video: This can be a little over 5 minutes of in-period Group B footage of the Lancia 037 being pushed in anger, with loads of engine noise and no commentary.
When the Lancia 037 made its debut there was debate concerning the want for fixed four-wheel-drive: some believing that any traction benefit could be offset by the load of the centre differential system. 1982 was a 12 months when this was actually put to the take a look at.
Audi had been nonetheless working to good their four-wheel-drive system which had come from the somewhat agricultural Volkswagen Iltis. Issues with the system precipitated Audi to not have the speedy success that they had hoped for, and drivers needed to discover ways to get the very best out of the brand new system.
These teething troubles had been to the Lancia 037’s benefit: it was a really standard mid-engine GT automotive constructed round tried and confirmed parts, with wonderful aerodynamics, and it was going to be a really exhausting automotive to beat.
For the 1982 season mechanical issues plagued the Lancia 037 with the automobiles being compelled to retire from quite a lot of occasions. A Lancia 037 did handle to win the 1982 Tempo Rally in Britain.
For the 1983 season Lancia’s engineers had been exhausting at work to type out the causes of the earlier 12 months’s failures and in order that 12 months noticed the Lancia 037 deliver house 5 WRC victories and the World Rally Championship Constructors’ title.
The Martini livery is among the most iconic in all of motorsport historical past, having been used on all the pieces from System 1 automobiles and Group B legends to prime flight grand prix bikes.
Lancia 037 Chassis #319
Lancia 037 chassis #319 was one in every of three works rally automobiles and she or he made her debut sporting the well-known Martini livery on the 1982 Rally Costa Smeralda with Markku Alén within the driver’s seat and Ilkka Kivimäki because the co-driver. The Alén/Kivimäki group gained three of the primary 5 phases earlier than a gear selector failure put them out of the operating.
Chassis #319 made its subsequent try at a podium three weeks later on the Rallye dell’Isola D’Elba, this time pushed by Adartico Vudafieri who took her to 13 stage wins resulting in an total class win.
#319 was repainted within the livery of Totip as a Jolly Membership sponsered automotive, and in Could driver Andrea Zanussi piloted her to a category win within the Rally 4 Regioni, after which the automotive was given some mechanical TLC which included her being upgraded to Evolution 1 specs, and making her the primary Evolution 1 automotive to enter competitors.
Along with her new Evolution 1 energy #319 seemed set to attain some podium outcomes however compelled retirements prevented that. For instance within the Rali Vinho da Madeira driver Antonio Zanussi managed to dominate the early phases of the occasion – however in the long run the engine’s cooling system proved to not be as much as the duty of protecting that sizzling little automotive cool and he was compelled to retire with an overheating engine.
The tail finish of the 037 is distinctive, with its excessive spoiler and uncovered gearbox, there’s additionally little or no rear physique overhang.
The subsequent problem for #319 concerned a visit to Africa for the Rallye Côte d’Ivoire the place she was pushed by Adartico Vudafieri and once more was compelled out of the operating by overheating.
#319 was then handled to a different coat of paint, this time in Würth livery, and given some mechanical work which should have included work on the engine’s cooling system so it might deal with the Evolution 1 elevated demand. Lancia had signed Walter Röhrl as a driver for the 1983 season, and he was one of many highest rated drivers particularly for the extraordinary calls for of the Group B competitors.
The primary occasion for 1983 for #319 was the ADAC Saarland Rallye for which Röhrl had Christian Geistdörfer as his co-driver and the group managed a second place total.
After that occasion #319 was again within the paint store for a change of livery, this time again into the Martini colors, for the Tour de Corse and Rally Argentina rounds of the World Rally Championships with Attilio Bettega and Francisco Mayorga as driver and co-driver.
#319 would then make her closing aggressive look again within the palms of Walter Röhrl and Christian Geistdörfer for the ADAC Rallye Deutschland: and a wonderful finale it might show to be with Röhrl and #319 successful each stage and ending a full 14 minutes forward of his nearest rival, a Mercedes-Benz 500 SLC pushed by Austrians Sepp Haider and co-driver Jörg Pattermann.
That is the cockpit of chassis 037 #319, not that there is no such thing as a speedometer, only a tachometer tilted to the facet in order that the redline is close to the highest for higher visibility.
It was a wonderful excessive word on which to deliver #319’s aggressive profession as a Lancia Works automotive to an finish, she had performed her half in cementing the legend that the Lancia 037’s had carved out making them probably the most well-known of the legendary Group B automobiles.
Her aggressive profession was not fairly over but nevertheless: In 1986 she was offered to Tre Gazzelle Srl, and Jean-Michel Blanchi who campaigned her in France gaining two outright victories earlier than her closing retirement in 1987.
In 1988 #319 moved into the palms of collector Man Domet after which by way of the palms of three different collectors earlier than being positioned within the Gran Turismo assortment for static show in 2019.
Lancia 037 #319 is a historic Group B rally automotive and she or he is developing on the market by RM Sotheby’s at their London, UK, sale to be held on fifth November 2022.
You’ll be able to discover the itemizing web page for this automotive right here in the event you’d prefer to learn extra about it or register to bid.
Above Video: On this clip from The Grand Tour Jeremy Clarkson takes a take a look at the 037 and takes it for a spin.
Image Credit: All footage of the sale #319 automotive courtesy Neil Fraser at RM Sotheby’s.
Jon Department has written numerous official car Shopping for Guides for eBay Motors through the years, he’s additionally written for Hagerty, he’s a very long time contributor to Silodrome and the official SSAA Journal, and he’s the founder and senior editor of Revivaler.
Jon has carried out radio, tv, journal, and newspaper interviews on numerous points, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China, and Hong Kong. The quickest factor he’s ever pushed was a Bolwell Nagari, the slowest was a Caterpillar D9, and essentially the most difficult was a 1950’s MAN semi-trailer with surprising brake failure.
