By the early 1980s Fiat would try to maintain its succession of successes (with the Lancia Stratos and Fiat 131) in the world and European rally with a great challenge: Group Braces. Fiat considered it necessary the official return of Lancia to the competitions, for which he assigned the company Abarth (acquired by Fiat in 1971) as manager of the development of the Rally cars for Lancia.
The bodywork was designed by Pininfarina, who built it with light materials such as kevlar reinforced glass fiber. Then the history of the Lancia 037 in racing and the street version for homologation.
The Lancia 037 was born as a derivative of the Lancia Beta Monte Carlo built for the “Giro d'Italia” career of 1979. With similar characteristics, the 037 had a rigid tubular structure with substructures at the front and behind. The front substructure housed the radiator and suspensions, while the rear substructure contained the engine, transmission, suspensions and two 35-litre fuel tanks each.
The version “Stradale” (street in Italian) is exactly the street model, of which 200 units should be sold to be able to homologate the 037 to compete in the FISA championship. The first prototype was manufactured at the end of 1980 and in 1981 marketing was authorized, which began in 1982 with 207 manufactured specimens.
Indeed, many of those cars were then used to convert to a race version, so it is estimated that fewer than 170 units were sold to the public. All of them were red and presented very few optionals, one of them the huge rear spoiler. The Lancia 037 was very expensive (40,000 lire plus taxes) but buyers valued it for its excellent performance and unusual appearance.
Technically, the Lancia 037 was a spectacular machine designed for competition. Its 1,995 cm3 in-line four-cylinder longitudinal engine was supercharged with a turbocharger and presented all the advances possible. Highlights are its 4 valves per cylinder driven by double overhead camshaft, a Weber 40 DCN VH 15/250 carburetor and Marelli ignition system. The five-speed ZF transmission was operated manually.
With this technology that provided 205 hp at 7,000 rpm plus a very low weight of 1,170 kg, the Lancia 037 accelerated from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds and reached a top speed of 225 km/h. While Audi was beginning to demonstrate the benefits of all-wheel drive, Lancia felt that a very light car with less mechanical complexity could be very competitive and defeat their rivals.
From the outside, with the naked eye, there are no differences, except for the width of the wheels and the diameter of 18 inches on the rear. The tyres adopted were Pirelli P7 Corsa of the latest generation. The first generation of the Lancia 037 racing kept the details of the design of the Stradale model. However, their differences under the bodywork achieved a reduction of 200 kilos, lowering the total weight to just 960 kg.
The engine presented was completely reconfigured, with new spark plugs and an increase in turbo pressure that gave it an initial maximum power of 280 hp. Abarth chose to incorporate a Bosch mechanical injection system that did not yield the expected result. Soon after that system was discarded and Weber carburetors were re-used. The gearbox was the same as the street car, though modified.
The debut in April 1982 at the Rally Costa Smeralda (Italy) for the European Rally Championship saw Markku Alen score the best time in the third stage, although both cars then deserted due to technical failures in the transmission.
The World Cup debut took place in the “Tour de Corse” rally, with Alen and Bettega as pilots on board two new units. Alen had difficulties and an 8 minute penalty relegated him to ninth place, while Bettega had a terrible accident in which he suffered multiple fractures in both legs.
The new Lancia 037 Evoluzione 1982 wore changes on the outside like the new adjustable front spoiler and bigger lights. In its rear sector there were also differences, as the rear panel was removed and the brake lights mounted on a horizontal ventilation grille.
Mechanically, the novelties involved the inclusion of a new intake manifold, mechanical injection Kugelfischer and a turbo Abarth Type R18 that increased power from 280 to 315 hp. Suspensions were also optimized. To keep the weight low and gain on board safety, Lancia designed kevlar doors and tubular titanium cages.
The 037 Evoluzione debuted in August 1982 at the Madeira Rally. The driver Andrea Zanussi was leading until in the tenth stage he had mechanical problems. The 037 Evoluzione later debuted for the World Rally in Finland, where Markku Alen suffered technical damage. In the Tour de France for the European Rally Championship a Lancia placed third behind a Ferrari and a Renault.
The first major victory (although the second of 037) came in the World Championship “Pace Rally”, with Markku Alen driving.
The first World Cup victory of 1983 happened at the Monte Carlo Rally, where Rohrl rider beat Alen by striking 7 minutes. For the European Championship Miki Biasion he won the first victory of the year in the Rally Costa Brava. The reliability of the Lancia 037 had been consolidated.
Lancia scored more World Cup victories at the Tour de Corse, Acropolis, New Zealand and San Remo. And finally Lancia won the title of Constructors of the 1983 World Rally Championship. The European Championship was also dominated by Lancia achieving 12 victories, 7 of them by champion Miki Biasion.
Lancia managed to repeat as champion in the European Rally Championship in the 1984 and 1985 seasons. In turn, Lancia continued to improve the 037 for the World Cup, although it was not enough to compete against the all-wheel drive cars as the 1984 Audi champion and the 1985 Peugeot 205 T16 champion.
The final point of Lancia 037 arrived in 1985 when Attilio Bettega died in an accident driving his 037 in Corsica. Also ended the era of the famous but dangerous Group B.
© Adrián Blanco 2007 - No full or partial reproduction of text and/or images without explicit written consent of the author. —
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