From the private collection of one of the world’s most devout Lancia loyalists comes what may be the finest example of a Delta HF Integrale 16V rally car left in existence.
The car in question is listed for sale on Race Cars Direct, where its touted as the first of seven Group A rally cars built in 1989 to Integrale 16 valve-spec. This upgraded Integrale model made its racing debut toward the end of the 1989 World Rally Championship at Rally Sanremo, where it raced (and won) in a one-off red livery.
While it may share a paint scheme with the 1989 Rally Sanremo winner, it isn’t the same car; its ad states that it was the car revealed to the press. As such, the car’s pristine condition is presumably attributable to having never been raced.
Its seller posted the for-sale ad under the name “scuderiajolly,” suggesting potential affiliation with defunct Italian rally team Jolly Club, operators of the Integrale in the WRC. They assert that their Integrale 16V was the only one built with a tarmac-spec body shell and that all panels and paintwork are original. This statement is contested in a blog post by PubbliMais, which claims to be the shop that originally liveried the car. It alleges that the original body and livery were damaged in a small accident in May of 1989, though it adds that the car has since been properly restored.
1989 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16V #1/7
, Race Cars DirectRegardless, all the car’s underlying mechanicals are said to be genuine. That means a turbocharged, 2.0-liter engine with all-wheel-drive and a six-speed manual transmission. Does it still make its supposed 330 horsepower and 332 pound-feet of torque? A dynamometer could answer that question, but odds are you won’t get the chance to put its power to test unless you purchase the car, whose price is available only to “serious buyers.”
The seller says they’ll also accept a trade…provided you have a disused modern LMP2 car in your garage.