Lancia Delta HF Integrale


A Rally-Derived Superstar

Text : Charis Whitcombe

Photos : Auto Italia Magazine

Courtesy of : Classic Driver

Lancia dominated the World Rally Championship from 1987 to 1992, as its 4wd Group A rally cars won six consecutive titles and put other manufacturers to shame. More than a decade later, Integrales still claim cult status among dedicated owners who value the pure joy of driving.

Surprisingly, Lancia’s first 4wd road car was produced way back in 1982, when a prototype 4wd Delta Turbo was displayed at the Turin Motor Show. It was considered by many to be a rather unnecessary gimmick of a car, although everyone who drove the prototype raved about it. It wasn’t put into production for another four years, however, when the ultra-light and super-powerful Group B cars were banned from world rallying as a result of the many deaths they had caused. This opened the door for Lancia’s Group A Delta HF 4WD rally car and its homologation equivalent for the road.

The production version proved so popular that many more than the minimum of 5,000 were made and sold.

Soon the HF 4WD was upgraded to give increased power and better handling, plus the wider wheel arches of the Integrale. My Italian pocket dictionary defines Integrale as “complete” – but the evolution of the Integrale was far from complete, as successive years saw Lancia maintain its place at the top of the rallying tree with ever-improved incarnations of their world-beating car.