Legends, Volume 1: The Lancia Delta HF Integrale
- Danny Davies
- Nov 11, 2024
- 9 min read
Updated: Nov 12, 2024
Welcome to the latest story genre on Macchina Media: Legends. Through various different volumes, I will be telling the stories and histories behind the cars that I consider to be the legends of the automotive world, explaining why they deserve such high praise and are worthy of their respective legacies. In truth, there isn't exactly a simple way to answer the question asking why certain cars are considered to be legends; it could be because of motorsport pedigree, it could be that the car in question pioneered new technology, it could be that millions upon millions were sold. It could be for all of those reasons, and it could be for something else entirely.
As a result, the breadth of cars that fall under the 'legendary' umbrella is an incredibly diverse and eclectic one. Ranging from the Peugeot 205 to the McLaren F1, via the Toyota Land Cruiser and the Audi R8, there really is something here for everyone - which is why I'm so excited to get the Legends series underway here on Macchina Media.
And, what better way to get started than with the most successful rally car of all time, and one of the most legendary performance cars ever built - the Lancia Delta HF Integrale.
Lancia need absolutely no introduction when it comes to the world of rallying; the Italian brand from Turin are still the most successful manufacturer ever in the WRC, with a total of 10 World Championships to their name. They had enjoyed countless victories with the Fulvia, the Stratos and the 037 - the latter of which was the last ever rear-wheel-drive car to win the WRC, beating the revolutionary four-wheel-drive Audi Quattro - but they knew the 037's success would not last forever against the new breed of WRC challengers, which all utilised a driven front axle as well as a rear one. However, as it turned out, the butterfly effect of Audi's innovation with four-wheel-drive in the Quattro would eventually lead to Lancia developing the most successful rally car in their history. First though, we need to start with the humble origins of the Delta.
At the 1979 Geneva International Motor Show, Lancia promised the unveiling of their greatly anticipated replacement for the much-loved but ageing Fulvia. Shortly afterwards, the covers were pulled away to show off the car that would be tasked with doing exactly that, and it was called the Delta. Unlike the Fulvia, which could be bought as either a sleek, beautiful two door coupé, or as a charming four-door saloon, the Delta was a boxy, angular five-door family hatchback, marking a completely new era of design for the Italian firm.
However, despite such a drastic change, the Delta was well received, both in the way it looked and the way it drove; it was designed by the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro, who was the same man responsible for the Mk1 Volkswagen Golf and the original Lotus Esprit, and in 1980, the Delta was crowned European Car of the Year. While this was the first title the little Delta would receive, it certainly wouldn't be the last - but, if Lancia's latest model had any hope of emulating the past rallying heroics of its predecessors, it would need to a lot better than the 85bhp that the original cars left the Turin factory with.
Lancia themselves obviously released as such, and three years after the Delta's introduction, the first performance-orientated version, the GT 1600, was introduced. Although, really, it wasn't that sporty; the series of serious Deltas started with the HF, which came a year later. Sporting a Garret-turbocharged version of the GT 1600's DOHC 1.6-litre engine, a 5-speed ZF gearbox and upgraded dampers and suspension, the HF - a moniker that hadn't appeared on a Lancia since the Stratos - was the first indication of the heroic performance car the Delta would soon become.
In 1985, the HF was quickly rebranded as the HF Turbo (it was the 80s, after all), but it was simultaneously knocked off its perch as the ultimate Delta by the monstrous S4, which was unveiled at the same time. The Delta S4 was Lancia's WRC challenger for the fearsome Group B era, and it certainly had some boots to fill; the Italian manufacturer had won the championship in 1984 with the 037 against all odds, so there was a weight of expectation upon the Turin team's shoulders with whatever was next. Lancia responded by producing one of the most dramatic and technically complex cars the WRC had ever seen, that ultimately proved to be the car that ended the series it was built for.
Although it carried the Delta name, in reality the S4 shared very little with the car it was intended to resemble. The S4 pioneered twincharging technology for the first time ever in the automotive space, meaning its 1.8-litre four cylinder was equipped with both a turbocharger and a supercharger, as well as two intercoolers. It was built around a steel alloy and aluminium spaceframe, and the body panels were fibreglass, meaning the S4 in rally-guise only weighed 1200kg (despite also having a complicated three-differential four-wheel-drive system) and produced 500bhp. It was said that the S4 could sprint to 60 mph in just 2.4 seconds while on gravel; and, with such immense pace, success started to follow.
On the S4's first ever outing, it won 22 stages of the 1985 Rali Lois Algarve with Finnish driver Markku Alén behind the wheel, and were it not for a technical infringement that disqualified the S4 from the last round of the 1986 championship in San Remo, it would have won Lancia the title. However, the following year, after another competitive start, tragedy struck when Henri Toivanen and his co-driver, Sergio Cresto, were killed in their S4 during the 1986 Tour de Course - a crash that played a major role in the FIA's decision to ban the Group B series.
A dark cloud therefore hangs over the S4's otherwise stellar reputation, although Lancia didn't let such terrible circumstances stifle the potential of the Delta platform. Like the rest of their fellow competitors, the team from Turin went back to the drawing board with the introduction of the new Group A rules, and what emerged was the car that would really propel the Delta to legendary status.
Shortly after the untimely conclusion of Group B, the FIA released the regulations for the new pinnacle class of the sport, which was to be named Group A. The rulebook was much stricter than it had previously been, stating that all cars had to be four-wheel-drive, and have front-mounted, turbocharged engines, that were restricted to around 300bhp and a maximum displacement of 2.5-litres. Thankfully for Lancia, prior to the start of the 1987 WRC championship where the new Group A rules came into effect, they had released their first mass production four-wheel-drive Delta: the HF 4WD.
Lancia had been toying around with the idea of an all-wheel-drive Delta since 1982, where they had shown a prototype 4x4 Delta Turbo at the Turin Motor Show, even before they had started development on the S4 for Group B. However, the four-wheel-drive system that found its way into the HF 4WD, which was unveiled in 1986 as the new range-topping Delta, was much more complex than the one that appeared in that first prototype four years earlier, sharing more in common with the system used in the S4. The HF 4WD was therefore the perfect base for Lancia's Group A effort, as the drivetrain layout met the FIA's new rules and restrictions, and it also allowed the Turin manufacturer to continue using the well-established Delta namesake in the sport. And, what a decision this turned out to be, as the Delta HF just couldn't stop winning.
Despite not being perfect, the HF 4WD Group A went on to win nine out of the 13 world rallies in 1987, easily winning both Driver and Constructor championships for Lancia at the first time of asking. However, the 1987 season was slightly tainted by the fact that several manufacturers, including Audi and Peugeot, had decided not to return to the WRC after the events that had ended Group B, resulting in a much less competitive season than previous years. This, combined with the fact that no other manufacturer had been able to start development for their car on a base as ideally suited to the new regulations as the Delta HF 4WD had been for Lancia, meant that 'lucky' might have been an easy word to use when describing Lancia's season. However, a year later in 1988, Lancia proved it wasn't down to luck at all - the Delta went on to achieve the exact same outcome once again, only this time in a much more competitive field.
For the 1988 season in question, Lancia, as well as a team at Abarth headed by Claudio Lombardi, set about fixing some of the issues that had plagued the HF 4WD the year before, despite the success it had enjoyed. A larger Garrett turbo was installed, and more efficient intercoolers were utilised in order to cool it - but the most apparent change visually was the addition of gorgeously flared wheel arches to allow for bigger wheels, tires and brakes, providing the Delta for the first time with the iconic, hunkered-down stance that it became known for. The other significant change was the inclusion of the now-legendary 'Integrale' namesake for the first time, to create the Lancia Delta HF Integrale. A road car, the Integrale 8V, was released at the same time as the rally car, and together they took the world by storm.
The HF 4WD was reused for the first two rounds of the 1988 WRC championship, where it picked up two out of two overall wins for Lancia despite being the previous season's car. Then, the Integrale took over at the third round in Portugal, where it won on debut, before going on to win eight of the remaining 11 events. At the hands of Juha Kankkunen, Markku Alen and Massimo Biasion, the Integrale provided Lancia with back-to-back Drivers and Constructors championships, and at the same time, the Delta Integrale 8V was being revered as a brilliant road car; it had gained an upgraded turbo, widened bodywork and a Torsen rear differential, and was creating a real impression as a true rally car for the road.
For the 1989 season, the 8V morphed into the 16V, bringing yet more upgrades to the Delta platform. As well as growing to a 16-valve unit, the enhanced 2-litre engine also gained new injectors and yet another upgraded turbo, which meant that the road-going Integrale now produced 200bhp, and could complete the 0-62 sprint in 5.7 seconds - in 1989. And, on the rally circuit, the Integrale continued to dominate, bringing home a third successive driver/constructor championship double. A fourth consecutive Constructors' Championship was claimed in 1990, again with the 16V Integrale, before yet another driver/constructor double was won by the Turin team in 1991.
The Integrale 16V had obviously remained competitive throughout this period, however for the 1992 season, yet another change was made. At the 1991 Frankfurt Motor Show 12 years after the Delta first appeared, Lancia unveiled a significantly updated version of the Integrale. Although the name remained the same - it was still called the Delta HF Integrale - this new version became affectionately known as the 'Evoluzione I', or the 'Super Delta'. Power was once again increased in the road car to 210bhp, Brembo brakes were fitted and the wheel arches were extended even further, creating the Evo I's unmistakable posture.
Although, officially, Lancia retired from the WRC championship after their success in 1991, the factory continued to develop the Evo I for the following year, where the semi-privateer, Martini Racing-backed Jolly Club team ran the car to achieve a record sixth consecutive manufacturer's title. However, with the Evoluzione, the Delta Integrale had reached the peak of its development, and after the 1992 season Lancia called time on what was now the most successful rally car ever made. Jolly Club ran the car for one final season in 1993, where the Delta's age began to show as it failed to win either championship for the first time since 1987. However, this wasn't enough to tarnish the Delta's reputation; especially in Integrale form, Lancia had built simply one of the greatest performance cars the world had ever seen, and to sign such a legend off, one final special iteration was wheeled out of the factory in Turin: the Evoluzione II.
Whereas the Evo I was the final version of the Delta Integrale to be homologated for the WRC, the Evo II was more of a teary-eyed send off for the ultimate road-going rally car. Unveiled in 1993, it shared much in common with the car it replaced; however, it produced more power (215bhp vs 210, thanks to, guess what? You're correct, a bigger Garrett turbo!) and featured cosmetic upgrades like a set of gorgeous new wheels, more supportive Recaro bucket seats and a red valve cover to sit atop the world-conquering 2-litre turbo engine. There were many different special editions, both of the Evo I and Evo II, including the Evo I Martini 5, the Evo I Club Italia, the Evo II Bianco Perlato and the Evo II Dealer's Collection. All were unique in terms of their trim and colour combinations in an attempt to stretch out production for as long as possible, before production finished 1994 - 15 years after it had first started. As far as legacies go, the one that follows the Delta Integrale is up there with the best of them.
I think it goes without saying, then, that the Lancia Delta Integrale is absolutely deserving of its legendary status. It's easy to forget that the square-shouldered, widened, pumped-up Integrale versions of the Delta, adorned in their red, white and blue Martini liveries, weren't purpose-built rally cars from the offset; instead, they were spawned by an ordinary, family hatchback that had no real intentions of ever going racing. Perhaps this just shows that the world of rallying was permanently inserted into Lancia's DNA, and even when they weren't trying to, they accidently built the best base for a rally car they could ever hope for. Therefore, the extraordinary transformation that occurred from the humble, Giugiaro-styled family hatchback, to the fire-breathing rally cars that turned out to break records for the Turin manufacturer, must be one that makes the Delta - and particularly in its most successful 'Integrale' formats - an absolute and total automotive legend.
Image credit: Search | Heritage | Stellantis
I hope you enjoyed this article; if you did, please check out some of my other stories on Macchina Media, such as the ones below:
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