Lancia Stratos – The Rally Queen / Erik Comas
- NMC
- Mar 29, 2021
- 2 min read
The Lancia Stratos is one of the most memorable rally cars of all time – like it had arrived from another planet! A car designed by Bertone and the legendary Marcello Gandini, powered by a 2.4 litre Ferrari V6 Dino engine – a blend of Italy at its greatest. The car made its debut at the Turin Motor Show in 1971. For rally homologation purposes, 500 cars had to be produced.
It immediately made headlines winning the Firestone Rally in early 1973, followed by a second place on the Targa Florio and in September won the Tour de France Auto – its first major rally win. In 1974 it received Group 4 homologation status, from then until 1981 rally fans were treated to this wild wedge sliding its way around the world. It won the World Rally Manufacturers Championship in 1974, ’75 and ’76 (there was no Championship for drivers) and Sandro Munari was crowned World Rally Champion in 1977 - overseen by Technical Manager Mike Parkes (ex Ferrari test driver). Resplendent in its Alitalia livery, one of the most iconic motorsport liveries of all time. The car also achieved success in the hands of Bernard Darniche and Bjorn Waldegard. For the late 70’s, the Fiat Group then made the Fiat 131 Abarth its “car of choice” for rallying, winning the Manufacturers Championship in 1977 and ‘78, but the legend of the mighty Stratos would live on.
Erik Comas was French F3 Champion in 1988 and F3000 Champion in 1990. He graduated to F1 with Ligier in 1991. Two seasons with Ligier and a further two with Larousse yielded just 7 Championship points. Between 1995 and 2006 Erik competed in the Japanese Super GT Championship and was crowned Champion in 1998 and 1999 driving a Nissan Skyline GT-R.
Since 2012 he has been campaigning a 1974 Lancia Stratos in historic rallying. This is a particularly special Stratos because it was owned by Claudio Maglioli the official Stratos test driver during its development. Eric has achieved much success with the car. In 2015 he won the Italian Historic Rally Championship and the Centenary Targa Florio in 2016. Erik’s greatest achievement was being crowned European Historic Rally Champion in 2017.
Erik has set up a dedicated web site - LanciaStratos.com
detailing his exploits with the Stratos – and this video – “The Rally Queen” - is a great watch – it shows him putting the Stratos through its paces.
The Stratos still has many fans and is one of the most iconic car designs of all time.
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