1982 Lancia 037 Group B

In compliance with the FIA Group B regulations, Lancia released the 037. It was the 37th project number which was developed closely with Abarth. Although a large car, it won the Manufacturers’ World Championship in 1983.

Built from the ground up, the 037’s basis bodyshape came from the Lancia Montecarlo. It shared the Montecarlo’s center tub chassis with new front and rear steel subframes. A major departure from the the production car was repositioning the engine in a transverse position. The body was entirely new and made from Kevlar.

Powering the 037 was an inline-4 engine similar to the unit in the Fiat Abarth 131 rally cars. It displaced 2.0 liters and was initially supercharged to produce 265 bhp. This engine was upgraded in 1982 to 300 bhp with a water injection system and again in 1984 to 2111cc.

During the first year of racing the 037 suffered from many reliability problems including gearbox failures at the car’s debut at the 1982 Rally Costa Smeralda. With drivers Walter Röhrl, Markku Alen the car managed much better the following year.

In 1984 an second evolution car was released, but couldn’t compete with the new 4WD cars coming from Audi.

1982 Lancia 037 Group B Videos

This video is about another rally icon car: the Lancia Rally 037 Group B car. This amazing rally car made its first participation in the 1982 World Rally Championship season, at the Rally Costa Smeralda in Italy.  The last evolution of the car (1984) is moved by a supercharged 2.1 liter 4-cylinder engine which was able to produce around 320 bhp at 8000 rpm and a max torque of 333 Nm at 5500 rpm.

 

To compete in Group B events, Lancia was obliged to meet homologation rules by producing 200 street versions of the 037. While visually striking and invigorating to drive, the 037 Stradale remains, at heart, a race car and is thus anything but comfortable. This, however, is precisely what appeals to owner Philip Toledano, who grew up watching Lancia–more specifically, the Stratos and 037–dominate European rally racing.

 

In Detail

submitted by	Richard Owen
type	Racing Car
released at	1982 Rally Costa Smeralda
engine	Inline-4
aspiration	Supercharged
valvetrain	DOHC 4 Valves / Cyl
displacement	2000 cc / 122.05 in³
compression	9.0:1
power	197.6 kw / 265 bhp
specific output	132.5 bhp per litre
bhp/weight	276.04 bhp per tonne
redline	8200
driven wheels	Mid Engine / RWD
front tires	205-55×16
rear tires	225-50×16
front wheels	F 40.6 x 20.3 cm / 16.0 x 8.0 in
rear wheels	R 40.6 x 22.9 cm / 16.0 x 9.0 in
curb weight	960 kg / 2116 lbs
wheelbase	2445 mm / 96.3 in
front track	1508 mm / 59.4 in
rear track	1490 mm / 58.7 in
length	3915 mm / 154.1 in
width	1850 mm / 72.8 in
height	1245 mm / 49.0 in
transmission	5-Speed Manual
gear ratios	2.417:1, 1.611:1, 1.136:1, 0.846:1, 0.704:1
final drive	5.25:1

 1983 Lancia 037 Group B – sold for €360,000. Chassis 210, registered as TO Y88743, was campaigned during the 1983 World Rally Championship season, and it helped the automaker capture the manufacturer’s title over Audi. The Martini Racing team used it for several races during the season. At the Tour de Corse, taking place from 5–7 May, it was driven by Jean-Claude Andruet, but it failed to finish. Later that month, at the Acropolis Rally, this car finished 5th overall, at the hands of Bettega and Perissinot. Following its impressive result in Greece, Pentti Airikkala and Juha Piironen would finish in 5th place once more at the 1,000 Lakes Rally. Finally, in early October, chassis 210 was used as a test car at the Rallye Sanremo for the Bettega/Perissinot duo.