Lancia Stratos HF (Tipo 829) 1973

The Lancia Stratos HF (Tipo 829), widely and more simply known as Lancia Stratos, is a car made by Italian car manufacturer Lancia. The HF stands for High Fidelity. It was a very successful rally car, winning the World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

A Bertone-designed concept car called the Lancia Stratos Zero was shown to the public in 1970, but shares little but the name and mid-engined layout with the Stratos HF version. A new car called the New Stratos was announced in 2010 which was heavily influenced by the design of the original Stratos, but was based on a Ferrari chassis and engine.

Lancia presented the Bertone-designed Lancia Stratos HF prototype at the 1971 Turin Motor Show, a year after the announcement of the Stratos Zero concept car. The prototype Stratos HF (Chassis 1240) was fluorescent red in colour and featured a distinctive crescent-shaped-wrap-around windshield providing maximum forward visibility with almost no rear visibility. The prototype had three different engines in its early development life: the Lancia Fulvia engine, the Lancia Beta engine and finally for the 1971 public announcement, the mid-mounted Dino Ferrari V6 producing 192 PS (141 kW).

The Stratos was a very successful rally car during the 1970s and early 1980s. It started a new era in rallying as it was the first car designed from scratch for this kind of competition^. The three leading men behind the entire rallying project were Lancia team manager Cesare Fiorio, British racer/engineer Mike Parkes and factory rally driver Sandro Munari.

Lancia did extensive testing with the Stratos and raced the car in several racing events where Group 5 prototypes were allowed during the 1972 and 1973 seasons. Production of the 500 cars required for homologation in Group 4 commenced in 1973 and the Stratos was homologated for the 1974 World Rally Championship season.The Ferrari Dino V6 engine was phased out in 1974, but 500 engines among the last built were delivered to Lancia. Production ended in 1975 when it was thought that only 492 were made (for 1976 season, the Group 4 production requirement was reduced to 400 in 24 months). 

Manufacturer of the car was Bertone in Turin, with final assembly by Lancia at the Chivasso plant. Powered by the Dino 2.4 L V6 engine that was also fitted to the rallying versions, but in a lower state of tune, it resulted in a power output of 190 PS (140 kW), giving the road car a 0-60 mph time of just under five seconds, and a top speed of 144 mph (232 km/h). The car was sold as the Lancia Stratos Stradale.

For racing, the engine was tuned up to 280 PS (206 kW) and even to 560 PS (412 kW) with a single KKK turbocharger. However, turbocharged versions were only allowed to compete in Group 5 and were never as reliable as their naturally aspirated counterparts.

The car won the 1974, 1975 and 1976 championship titles in the hands of Sandro Munari and Björn Waldegård, and might have gone on to win more had not internal politics within the Fiat group placed rallying responsibility on the Fiat 131 Abarths. As well as victories on the 1975, 1976 and 1977 Monte Carlo Rally, all courtesy of Munari, the Stratos won the event with the private Chardonnet Team as late as 1979. The Stratos won the 1974 Targa Florio.

Without support from Fiat, and despite new regulations that restricted engine power, the car would remain a serious competitor and proved able to beat works cars in several occasions when entered by an experienced private team with a talented driver. The last victory of the Stratos was in 1981, at the Tour de Corse Automobile, another World Rally Championship event, with a victory by longtime Stratos privateer Bernard Darniche.

When the Fiat group favoured the Fiat 131 for rallying Lancia also built two Group 5 turbocharged 'silhouette' Stratos for closed-track endurance racing. These cars failed against the Porsche 935s on closed tracks but proved successful in hybrid events. While they failed in the Tour de France Automobile, one of these cars won the 1976 Giro d'Italia Automobilistico, an Italian counterpart of the Tour de France Automobile. Unfortunately one of the cars was destroyed in Zeltweg, when it caught fire due to overheating problems. The last surviving car would win the Giro d'Italia event again before it was shipped to Japan to compete in the Fuji Speedway based Formula Silhouette series, which was never raced. 

The car would then be sold and reside in the Matsuda Collection before then being sold to the renowned collector of Stratos', Christian Hrabalek, a car designer and the founder of Fenomenon Ltd, who has the largest Lancia Stratos Collection in the world, 11 unique Lancia Stratos cars, including the fluorescent red 1971 factory prototype and the 1977 Safari Rally car His interest in the car led to the development of the Fenomenon Stratos in 2005. The Stratos also gained limited success in 24 Hours of Le Mans, with a car, driven by Christine Dacremont and Lella Lombardi, finishing 20th in 1976.

Another unique Group 5 car is the Lancia Stratos HF of Austrian Rallycross driver Andy Bentza. The car was first driven by his Memphis team mate Franz Wurz, father of Formula One pilot Alexander Wurz. In 1976 Wurz claimed the first ever European Rallycross title recognised by the FIA with the car, by then still featuring a 2.4 litre engine with 12 valve head. For the ERC series of 1977 Wurz was entrusted with an experimental 24 valve engine by Mike Parkes, equipped with a special crankshaft to bring the engine capacity up to just under 3000 cc. For 1978 Bentza took the Stratos over from Wurz, sold his own 2.4 L 12V Stratos to compatriot Reneé Vontsina, and won the GT Division title of the ERC. The one and only 3.0 litre Stratos was raced by Bentza till the end of 1983. After keeping the car for another 30 years the car has recently been sold to a new Austrian owner.

New Lancia Stratos

The Lancia Stratos’s fascination lay not only in its uncompromising construction – optimized for dedicated application in motor sport – but in its unparalleled design, the exceptional sound of the Ferrari V6 engine and naturally its remarkable success in competition. Up to that point, no sports car had been so systematically developed for racing use – indeed, the street version was merely a necessary evil for homologation.

The Lancia Stratos HF’s unique technical characteristics – the lightweight plastic body with integrated roll cage, the mid-engine, the racing transmission, the adjustable chassis for all applications, the two side tanks at the center of the vehicle, the integrated car door compartments for driver and front passenger helmets, the removable front and rear hoods for servicing and the separate engine access through a hatch – are all included in its successor’s specifications.

In this respect, the New Stratos is not a mere conversion of a Ferrari, but a newly developed, independent sports car that, as in the 1970s, integrates several components from the Fiat Group’s production vehicles.

The roll cage – made from 2.5 mm thick tubing, with a 40 mm diameter, and welded into the shortened aluminum chassis – has been manufactured to current FIA standards. This not only improves safety for the vehicle occupants, but also significantly enhances the handling precision.

Despite the cage structure and the built-in air conditioning, by keeping the body, interior and almost all the components lightweight, the weight of the base vehicle could be kept at an absolute minimum.

Overall, engine performance was only slightly increased; however, thanks to the New Stratos’ minimal weight, excellent balance and new set-up, the vehicle delivered a truly extraordinary performance and unbelievable driving pleasure.

Currently, the New Stratos is one of a kind. Whether or not an exclusive, limited run will be manufactured, depends upon demand.

Lamborghini Huracán - 2014

A new era is beginning for Automobili Lamborghini and the luxury super sports car segment: with the brand new Huracán Lamborghini is not only presenting the successor to the iconic Gallardo, but is also redefining the benchmark for luxury super sports cars in this segment.
 
With its pure and unique design, an innovative technology package, outstanding dynamics and excellent quality, the Huracán offers a super sports car experience on a whole new level. The Huracán combines absolute performance with easy-todrive road behavior and both luxurious and sport-oriented finish. With the
Huracán, Lamborghini is taking a big step into the future, and enhancing the brand’s illustrious history with the next automotive legend.
 
Starting from January 2014 the Huracán will be the protagonist of over 130 private preview events in more than 60 cities throughout the world. The Lamborghini Huracán will make its world public debut at the Geneva Motorshow 2014.
 

Name
With a total volume of 14,022 cars produced, the Lamborghini Gallardo has been the most successful Lamborghini ever and, in its ten-year lifecycle, lifted the Lamborghini marque to a whole new level. Its successor, the new Huracán, has been developed from scratch down to the very last detail and, like the Gallardo and most other Lamborghini models, derives its name from the world of bullfighting. The fighting bull Huracán of the Spanish Conte de la Patilla breed was known for his outstanding courage and strong sense of attack. He fought in Alicante in August 1879, showing his unrelenting character and remaining defiant and invincible, thus entering into the legend of fighting bulls’ history.

Design
The new Huracán revolutionizes the design language of the Gallardo and is pure in its lines: precise technology and top level craftsmanship meet an audacious design with sharp edges, monolithic and sculptured volumes and precise surfaces. The starting point is the silhouette of the Huracán, born out of the
desire of creating an automobile, whose profile is defined by only one line that merges the front with the cockpit and the rear of the car. The lateral windows come together to create a hexagonal form inserted like a glass jewel in the car’s profile.

Also by night is the Huracán unmistakably a Lamborghini. Not only are the main headlamps equipped with full LED illumination, but all other light functions also feature state-of-the-art LED technology as a standard feature for the first time in the segment.
 

 
Interior
The interior is dominated by an innovative cockpit. A 12.3 inch full-color TFT instrument panel delivers all car information to the driver, from rev counter to navigation maps and infotainment functions, and can be configured by the driver in different setups. Fine Nappa leather and Alcantara distinguish the interior,
with several color combinations offered to ensure broad individualization options. The design of dashboard and central tunnel underline a new lightness in the interior. Superb craftsmanship guarantees the highest quality and sense of luxury throughout.
 

Chassis and powertrain
Systematic lightweight design and Automobili Lamborghini’s extensive expertise in carbon fiber come together in the Huracán’s new hybrid chassis -- an integrated structure of carbon and aluminum elements. With a dry weight of 1,422 kg it enables not only the excellent power-to-weight ratio of just 2.33 kilograms per horse power, but also guarantees race-car precision with outstanding stiffness.

The new 5.2 liter V10 engine delivers a maximum power of 448 kW / 610 HP at 8,250 rpm and a maximum torque of 560 Nm at 6.500 rpm. In the new ‘‘Iniezione 3 Diretta Stratificata’’ (IDS), direct and indirect gasoline injections are smartly combined. This results in more power and torque with lower fuel consumption
and emissions compared with the Gallardo V10 engine. 

The top speed of over 325 km/h and the acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.2 seconds and to 200 km/h in
9.9 seconds only partially describe the dynamic experience at the wheel of the Huracán. Also thanks to the Stop & Start technology, the combined EU consumption figure has been further reduced to 12.5 liters per 100 km (290 g/km CO2 emissions). The engine complies with EU6 emissions regulation.
 

 
Driving dynamics 
The power of the V10 engine is brought to the road via the new 7-speed dualclutch transmission ‘‘Lamborghini Doppia Frizione’’ (LDF) and fully electronically controlled four-wheel drive system. The different driving modes of the Huracán can be selected via a driving dynamics selector switch in the steering wheel -- from traction-oriented on the road to extreme performance on the race track, with three setups of the dynamics system: STRADA, SPORT and CORSA. The different modes ensure extensive modification in road behavior of the Huracán.
 
In particular they influence the set-ups of several systems, such as the gearbox and engine behavior, the sound, the four-wheel-drive system and electronic stability control. The Huracán’s carbon-ceramic brakes are a standard feature for consistently superb braking performance. The ‘‘Lamborghini Dynamic Steering’’ variable steering ratio system and magneto-rheologic suspension damper control are both available as options for further customization of the Huracán’s dynamic behavior. They are also calibrated via the three different dynamic set-ups.

The Huracán is produced at the Automobili Lamborghini headquarters in Sant’Agata Bolognese on an entirely newly-equipped production line. Delivery to the first customers is planned for spring 2014.

Racing Luxury...Bentley Continental GT3

The new Bentley Continental GT3 racecar holds third position after the completion of the first half of the Gulf 12 Hours at Abu Dhabi, showing promising pace and impeccable reliability in true Bentley fashion.
New Bentley Boys Steven Kane, Guy Smith and Andy Meyrick have driven two stints each so far, with Steven starting the race and Andy taking the six-hour chequered flag. Close battles with the Kessel Racing Ferrari and Gulf Racing McLaren have challenged the drivers, but all have driven with great skill and confidence in the new race package.
Bentley’s Director of Motorsport, Brian Gush, comments: “Six hours in and we’re very pleased with the result so far. Finishing the first half of the race in third position is testament to the hard work of the team and we’re now focussed on getting the car ready for the night race, which holds a totally different set of challenges as the track temperature drops.”

Luxury in...Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2013 - 03

Luxury in...Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show 2013 - 02