ROBERT COUCHER
The Driver
Ivividly remember my first drive in a Lancia Delta Integrale as if it were yesterday. Rather soberingly it was, in fact, some 30 years ago. At the time I was editing Your Classic magazine, aimed at young classic car enthusiasts. So we featured affordable cars such as MGs, Minis, Triumphs and Volkswagens. ‘How to replace your trunnions at the weekend’ was always a popular sort of feature.
The classics we drove tended to be solid 1950s and 1960s fodder, with a few Ford Escorts and GTIs thrown in for good measure. Their performance was best described as ‘adequate’. The magazine was based in Teddington, south-west of
London, so our nearest fast road was the A316 leading to the M3 motorway. Ironically the first Gatso speed camera in London was located on Twickenham Bridge in 1992 but everybody knew where it was. The A316 was usually busy but, when traffic was quiet, it was rather a lot of fun because it includes a number of juicy roundabouts for a bit of sideways action. I once spotted Rowan Atkinson at a good 45º angle in a red Honda NSX in said location. No wonder today this fun-crushed tract of road is festooned with speed cameras all the way.
Having managed to get my hands on the keys of a then-new Lancia Delta Integrale (the Evo version, no less, probably from Autocar magazine, with which we shared digs), I found the gruff-looking Evo in the car park. Small, square, purposeful, it looked serious with its mechanical underpinnings only just covered by bulging bodywork. And are there any better-looking alloys than those Speedline Montecarlos? Tasteful burgundy paint, louche Alcantara interior with striped Recaro buckets, sit-up Italianate driving position, good visibility. A tool, not a showy sports car. It didn’t even notice the first roundabout, nor the second, carrying a lot more speed. The third was taken impossibly fast, disappearing at the flick of the wrists. The roadholding was so ludicrously good that it made me laugh out loud.
The whoosh, hiss and punch of the Integrale’s 2.0-litre was a heady sensation of incredible thrust, allied to insane levels of raw handling talent. The only fourwheel-drive car I’d experienced before was a Range Rover, so the level of utterly controllable grip from the Integrale’s clever 4WD system – engineered for the awesome S4 Group B car – felt like it was from another planet. This four-door saloon was fed by a Garrett T3 turbocharger, knocking out more than 200bhp, braked by a set of full-on Brembo calipers, and its Ferguson viscous coupling offered Spiderman grip. A classic Porsche wouldn’t see which way this WRC car went.
As you will read elsewhere in the magazine, the Integrale was developed as a Group A rally weapon, where it proved dominant. Yet it always looked classy, too: an Evo in deep burgundy, tasteful blue or dark green still looks elegantly fabulous and that handbag-like interior is deliciously cosseting. Little flashes of design brilliance, such as the yellow and red HF Squadra Corse elephant badge, twin headlamps, and those blisters and alloys, render the Integrale something special and ultra-desirable. Wish I had one.
Fortunately, I have had some fun with its predecessor, the Fulvia Coupé. Also a multiple rallywinner, it’s one Lancia I’d love to own once again. I grew up initially with a 1970 Fulvia HF Lusso that, with its 115bhp V4 engine and front-wheel drive, felt like a fast and very chuckable go-kart. But it was right-hand-drive and its rubbery and notchy five-speed gearbox was clearly designed to be operated from the left-hand seat. Also the power delivery was snatchy and, as Lancia had just been taken over by Fiat in 1970, cost-cutting was evident.
Much better, if not as quick, was an earlier 90bhp Fulvia Rallye 1.3S, which felt properly Lancia. The long, wand-like gearlever was connected to a mere four-speed ’box but was so much nicer to use. The little 1.3 felt strong, balanced and all-of-a-piece, so much so that I bought a lesser 86bhp 1.3 Rallye some years later. It was perfect as a city car in London and was surprisingly capable on motorways. Also, in bog-standard trim, it gave me my best Historic rally podium finish: third overall on the tough Ypres Rally many summers ago.
So, an Integrale Evo II finished in Lord Blue, or a Fulvia? An Evo would be fast and special but a choice Fulvia would be more fun, offering entry to all the best events. A road-trim, Series I Rallye 1.6HF variante 1016 Fanalone (big headlights!) with lightweight alloy panels and punching out 130bhp, finished in discreet burgundy sans matt black bonnet, extra spotlights and stickers, would be my call. I’m constantly keeping an eye on the classified ads…
‘AN INTEGRALE EVO WOULD BE FAST AND SPECIAL BUT A CHOICE FULVIA WOULD BE MORE FUN’