Lancia Delta S4 Group B

Posted on May 8, 2020 by classiccarweekly

1985 Lancia Delta S4 Corsa Group B

For Sale by Girardo & Co.

The Lancia Delta is a car closely associated with rallying. The first-generation of the Delta was built from 1979 through 1994, and there were a number of variants of this five-door hatchback, including sporty ones.

The Delta S4 is related to the standard Delta hatchback mostly in name only. It was a mid-engined, all-wheel-drive near-supercar designed with one purpose in mind: to win in Group B rallying, which of course was the pinnacle of rallying when it was introduced in 1982. Group B was a little too extreme, and the FIA dialed back the regulations after 1986.

Power is from a supercharged and turbocharged 1.8-liter inline-four good for 550 horsepower. Sixty arrived in 2.5 seconds. This thing is a beast, even by today’s standards. And don’t forget: they built 200 road-going versions.

This car is chassis #208 and was a works Lancia Martini test car before being sold to a partner team. The car actually wears the Jolly Club team’s ToTip livery and is wrapped in a Martini livery. This is one of the most serious Group B cars, and it can now be yours. Click here for more info.

Delta S4 Stradale

Posted on May 22, 2017 by classiccarweekly

1985 Lancia Delta S4 Stradale

Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Villa Erba, Italy | May 27, 2017

Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

Ah, the sweet, overpowered world of homologation specials, specifically, Group B homologation specials. You see, Group B was the most intense and scariest form of rallying of all time and it occurred from 1982 through 1986. The cars were required to be based off of road-legal cars so manufacturers designed super sophisticated rally cars, and then added the barest of passenger niceties to sell a few hundred “road cars” to make their rally cars legal. But to be fair, the interior here is pretty nice.

There are a bunch of Lancia Delta special editions, such as the successor to this car, the HF Integrale of the late 1980s and early 1990s. But this was the Mack Daddy. It was an evolution of the supercar-esque Lancia 037 that preceded it. The Delta S4 rally car raced only in 1985 and 1986, the same years that Lancia built the Stradale road cars.

They are four-wheel drive, mid-engined rockets. Where the later HF Integrales were four-doors, these sported two. And the engine is a supercharged and turbocharged 1.8-liter straight-four making 300 horsepower. Top speed was 140 mph and 60 arrived in about six seconds. That’s serious mid-80s performance from a sub-2.0-liter four-cylinder car.

Lancia only built 200 of these and they don’t change hands often. This one should bring in the neighborhood of $490,000-$600,000. Click here for more info and here for more from RM Sotheby’s.

Update: Sold $551,147.

Rugby Pickup

Posted on April 6, 2015 by classiccarweekly

1930 Rugby S4 Closed Cab Express

Offered by Mecum | Houston, Texas | April 9-11, 2015

Photo – Mecum

Rugby was an automotive brand sold by Durant Motors outside of the U.S. In the U.S., the Rugby passenger cars were sold under the Star brand. However, between 1928 and 1931, Americans and Canadians alike could purchase a Rugby pickup truck.

This truck is in beautiful condition. Look how sharp that paint is. And the woodwork looks great too. Old trucks are hard to come by because they were used until there was nothing left and thrown away, more or less. The S4 was powered by the same 2.2-liter straight-four found in Star motorcars.

Durant Motors closed in 1931 and Rugby went down with them. This is about as nice an example of a Rugby truck you’re likely to find. You can check out more pictures here and see more from Mecum here.

Update: Sold $35,000.