Lancia is a very old and well established motor company, now part of the FIAT group. It has great racing heritage, both in Formula 1, and the World Rallying Championship. It is not as prestigious as it once was, but still sells well in mainland Europe, especially Italy, France, and Germany.
Lancia is the most successful rallying company ever, with a range of superb rallying cars to its name. Among them are the Stratos, which you've already seen, and the Delta HF Integrale, the most successful rally car of all time. The Delta won the World Rallying Championship 6 years in a row, nothing could touch it. In road form, it was just as inspiring. Wide and aggressive, it looked like it was on steroids. With a turbocharged, intercooled, 2 litre 4 cyl. engine, it went as hard as it looked. The engine developed 215bhp, enough to send this little rocket to 60 in 5.5 secs, and up to a top speed of 137mph. With 4WD, roadholding is superb, and the steering feedback is amazing, unlike any other. On a twisty road, nothing can touch it. 911, 355, you name it. They all succomb to this legend. I have attached a pic of the Integrale in its final evolution, the Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione. Not many of these road cars were built, and Limited Editions have retained their value well.
Lancia built another truly superb car, the Hyena, on the Delta platform. This car developed even more power (250bhp) and needless to say, also went like stink! I can't seem to attach more than one pic (if that at all) so i'll post a few sites where you can check out these awesome cars. Look out for the Hyena on
www.grale.net
and the different versions of the Evo including the Limited Editions (watch out for Giallos and Lagos Blu's, priceless!!)
http://www.infonex.com/~mark/lancia/...elta-faq.html.
http://digilander.iol.it/hfalex/evostradale.htm
http://www.rallycars.com/Cars/Lancia/Integrale1.html
Lancia's weren't offered for sale in the States. Boy did you guys miss out! ;-)