Lancia 037

In 1980 Lancia began development of the 037 to comply with the new FIA Group B regulations, which allowed cars to race with relatively few homologation models being built. The project number 037 eventually became the car’s common name. Abarth, by then part of the Lancia-Fiat family, handled most of the design work, incorporating styling cues from its race cars of the 1950s and 1960s, including a double bubble roofline. Development was a collaboration between Pininfarina, Abarth, Dallara, and project manager engineer Sergio Limone. To comply with Group B homologation requirements, 200 road-going models were built prior to the car’s competition debut.

The 037 was loosely based on the Lancia Montecarlo (sold as the Scorpion in the US and Canadian markets), sharing only the center section of the chassis. Steel subframes were used fore and aft of the center section, and most body panels were made from Kevlar. The mid-engined layout was retained from the Montecarlo, but the engine was rotated 90 degrees from transverse to longitudinal, allowing greater freedom in suspension design and shifting engine weight forward.

An independent double wishbone suspension was used on both axles, with dual shock absorbers in the rear to handle the stresses of high-speed off-road driving. The 037 was notable in Group B for retaining rear-wheel drive, a layout nearly universal for rally cars before the Group B era; nearly all subsequent successful rally cars adopted four-wheel drive, making the 037 the last of its kind.

Unlike its predecessor, the V6-powered Lancia Stratos HF, the first 037s used a 2.0-litre four-cylinder supercharged engine. Based on the long-stroke twin cam engine that powered earlier Fiat Abarth 131 rally cars, the four-valve head was carried over from the 131 Abarth, with the original two carburetors replaced by a single large Weber carburetor in early models and later by fuel injection. Lancia chose a supercharger over a turbocharger to eliminate turbo lag and improve throttle response. Initial power was quoted at 265 hp (195 kW), later increased to 280 hp (206 kW). The 037 featured a ZF transaxle. The final Evolution 2 model’s engine generated 325 hp (239 kW) through a displacement increase to 2.1 L (2,111 cc).

The 037 made its competition debut at the 1982 Rally Costa Smeralda in Italy, where both entered cars retired due to gearbox issues. The 1982 season was marked by retirements, though the car achieved several wins including its first at the Pace Rally in the UK.

The 1983 season proved considerably more successful. Lancia took the 1983 World Rally Championship Constructors’ title with Walter Röhrl of Germany and Markku Alén of Finland as principal drivers, despite serious competition from the four-wheel drive Audi Quattro. Both drivers missed the final round of the series; Röhrl maintained a mathematical chance at the drivers’ title, but the honour went to Audi’s veteran Finn Hannu Mikkola.

For the 1984 Constructors’ title defence, Lancia introduced an Evolution 2 version with improved engine power, but this was not enough to counter four-wheel drive competition. Lancia lost both 1984 championships to Audi and again in 1985 to the four-wheel drive Peugeot 205 T16. Alén collected the final 037 win — the sole victory for the E2 model — at the 1984 Tour de Corse, before the car was replaced by the supercharged and turbocharged four-wheel drive Delta S4 for the season-ending RAC Rally in Great Britain. Driver Attilio Bettega died in a 037 crash in 1985. António Rodrigues won the 1984 Falperra International Hill Climb in an 037. The 037 made its final works appearance at the 1986 Safari Rally, entered by the Martini Lancia team in place of the Delta S4 due to the team running out of time to develop the S4 for that event.

In 1994, one ex-works Lancia 037 was entered by ROSS Competition in the third round of the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship. The car performed poorly, significantly underpowered in the GT1 (now GT500) class, using a short-ratio five-speed gearbox and an engine not designed for sustained high-speed operation. Driver Naohiro Furuya finished 12th overall and 9th in the GT1 class, seven laps behind the race-winning Team Taisan Porsche 962C and three laps behind the Team Gaikokuya Nissan Skyline that won the GT2 class.

Produced between 1982 and 1984, the Lancia 037 Stradale is the road-going version built to satisfy Group B homologation. A minimum of 200 road-going examples were required; 207 037 Stradale cars are known to have been produced. The Stradale was equipped with an Abarth-developed DOHC 2.0-litre (1,995 cc) 16-valve straight-four engine mated to an Abarth Volumex Roots-type supercharger generating 205 hp (151 kW) at 7,000 rpm and 166 lb⋅ft (225 N⋅m) of torque at 5,000 rpm. It was capable of exceeding 220 km/h (137 mph) and reaching 60 mph from a standstill in 7.0 seconds.

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