Lancia Delta Integrale
Keith looks back at his best – and worst – classic buys. This week, an Lancia that got him in to an exclusive club
WHY DID YOU WANT ONE?
Come on. The Integrale is an absolute legend, and remains the most successful rally car of all time in terms of championship victories. It also looks fantastic and drives like no other hot hatch on the road. Back in 2012, I got talking to the chairman of the owners’ club who idly told me about an 8V he knew of for sale at the sort of money I could afford. A call was made, a conversation was had, and before I knew it, I had agreed a deal with the seller, Warner Lewis. When I went to see the car, it was great news – Warner runs a rally car restoration business and had killed all of the rust already. He was happy that he’d found a buyer who wasn’t going to break his Integrale for parts – all it needed was a re-spray, and Warner agreed to do it for a little extra money, leaving me with a solid, rust-free Integrale.
WAS IT A JOY – OR A NIGHTMARE – TO LIVE WITH?
It wasn’t the most reliable car I’d ever owned, but it was far from the worst.
ENGINE 0-60MPH
128mph
1995cc/4-cyl/DOHC 6.6sec
I used it sparingly once I’d brought it home on account of some flaky electrics and partial service history. But it had been sold to me freshly serviced with a new cambelt, and aside from a few bit of missing trim, it was a good ‘un. Digging into the car’s past, it had been registered in Italy and lived in the Czech Republic before being imported into the UK in the late 1990s. It took me on several classic car runs, and gained me access into a number of supercar events that I doubt any other £3500 car would have been allowed into. It never broke down in all of the time I had it either.
WHAT’S YOUR ABIDING MEMORY OF IT?
Chasing an E30 BMW M3 on a Hagertyarranged run on Drive-it Day – no matter how hard the BMW driver tried, he simply couldn’t lose me. Another great moment was taking part in a supercar event in west London and having a hoot in my car alongside all of the £100,000-plus exotica. That was good fun. This car was all about driving and the pleasure you got from the
185bhp@5300rpm 23-32mpg
POWER FUEL CONSUMPTION
224lb ft@3500rpm
Four-wheel drive, five-speed manual
TORQUE TRANSMISSION
act of it. The amazingly communicative steering telegraphed every single nuance of the road surface and it turned in without a trace of understeer. In other words, it looked like a hot hatch, but handled like a sports car.
WHAT ARE YOUR TOP TIPS FOR BUYING ONE?
There are great specialists out there who know every nook and cranny of these cars. I’ve said it many times when advising people about buying classic cars, but you buy an Integrale on body condition first and foremost. As you’d expect from an Italian car designed in the late 1970s, it does have a propensity to rust so check the sills, suspension strut tops, inner wings and windscreen surround, plus the sunroof (if it has one). Pay close attention to the door shuts for stress cracks – especially around the base of the B-pillar – if the suspension has been lowered or stiffened. The four-wheel drive system is bulletproof, so unless there are any obvious groans and whines, you should be on safe territory here. Finally, the 8V engine is strong, and as long as it’s received regular fresh oil and cambelts, you shouldn’t have too many issues – unlike the later 16v and Evo models.
MAXIMUM SPEED
This one looks very much like mine, except that it has foglamps, looks slightly lowered, has later-spec alloy wheels and lower mileage. The history file looks reassuringly full between 1993 and 2019 and the important servicing jobs (cambelt, water pump, etc.) have been done within the last 12 months. With a little more than 100,000 miles on the clock and what the seller says is ‘no rust’, it seems well-priced. Sure, you’ll have to listen to people telling you that it’s not as good as the 16v (not true), and you might want to lose the Martini stickers, but it’s definitely worth a look.
Private seller, Oxford, 01865 351532, classiccarsforsale.co.uk
WHAT I PAID
PRICE NOW