I came across this review, rather apt I think, enjoy!
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One of my favourite books in the entire world is a Hilton Holloway (of CAR Magazine fame) special called ‘The A-Z Of Landmark Cars’ which is basically a two inch thick car encyclopedia, chronicling every great car ever built. Inside, it's got lovely glossy pictures of cars parked outside castles, office complexes and looping test tracks in typical resplendent car brochure pose, but the only car that's photographed all of 2ft off the ground at what must be close to 100mph is the Lancia Delta Integrale.
Borne and bred on the rally circuit, the Integrale is, put simply, probably the greatest car of all time. Even in standard trim, the handling and the performance characteristics shame modern day reinterpretations like the Evo VII and the Subaru Impreza Turbo by marrying genuine rallying pedigree with an Italian flair for design.
Take the styling. No mainstream car since, not one, has managed to look quite as menacing as an Integrale on the move, with its slab sided nose and quad headlights making it look like, if it’s left unattended, it will happily eat several children and some puppies before wandering off to set fire to some orphanages. Put a little less violently, some cars look like they’re built for going extremely fast, the Integrale looks like it’s built to eat those cars, bearing down on lesser metal like some sort of tarmac based predator.
And if you’re an Impreza driver and you were praying those looks would’ve aged by now, forget it. Even today, the Integrale makes modern reinterpretations of its 4WD Turbo format look girly and under-dressed for the occasion. Park one within earshot of an Impreza or Evo and it’ll happily make them look like a Taxi.
But, it’s not all good. Unlike the Japanese reinterpretation of a rally car for the road, the Delta is about as reliable as you would expect an Italian car, which has been extensively tuned to within an inch of its life, to be. Ask any mechanic who’s ever had to work on one how easy they are to repair, and he’ll kindly tell you, while he rubs the scars on his hands, that if you urinated into the engine bay, nothing would drip out underneath such is the tangle of engine, turbo-charger and associated ancillaries all connected together via a spaghetti web of tubes crammed under that angled bonnet.
As a result, you’ll rarely see a Delta Integrale roll by complete with baseball cap wearing cruise muppet, despite how cheap an early Evo I is today. The Integrale is a car which takes time, dedication, and a great deal of money to keep mobile to the point that owners who use them as day to day transport take on an almost god-like status amongst us mere petrolheads.
In short, despite the typical Italian build quality, the Lancia Delta Integrale is the greatest car in the entire world, using Group-B WRC grade technology wrapped up in aggressive Italian evening wear to create a car that pushed the reset button of how fast fast is.
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Amen,
Aaron
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One of my favourite books in the entire world is a Hilton Holloway (of CAR Magazine fame) special called ‘The A-Z Of Landmark Cars’ which is basically a two inch thick car encyclopedia, chronicling every great car ever built. Inside, it's got lovely glossy pictures of cars parked outside castles, office complexes and looping test tracks in typical resplendent car brochure pose, but the only car that's photographed all of 2ft off the ground at what must be close to 100mph is the Lancia Delta Integrale.
Borne and bred on the rally circuit, the Integrale is, put simply, probably the greatest car of all time. Even in standard trim, the handling and the performance characteristics shame modern day reinterpretations like the Evo VII and the Subaru Impreza Turbo by marrying genuine rallying pedigree with an Italian flair for design.
Take the styling. No mainstream car since, not one, has managed to look quite as menacing as an Integrale on the move, with its slab sided nose and quad headlights making it look like, if it’s left unattended, it will happily eat several children and some puppies before wandering off to set fire to some orphanages. Put a little less violently, some cars look like they’re built for going extremely fast, the Integrale looks like it’s built to eat those cars, bearing down on lesser metal like some sort of tarmac based predator.
And if you’re an Impreza driver and you were praying those looks would’ve aged by now, forget it. Even today, the Integrale makes modern reinterpretations of its 4WD Turbo format look girly and under-dressed for the occasion. Park one within earshot of an Impreza or Evo and it’ll happily make them look like a Taxi.
But, it’s not all good. Unlike the Japanese reinterpretation of a rally car for the road, the Delta is about as reliable as you would expect an Italian car, which has been extensively tuned to within an inch of its life, to be. Ask any mechanic who’s ever had to work on one how easy they are to repair, and he’ll kindly tell you, while he rubs the scars on his hands, that if you urinated into the engine bay, nothing would drip out underneath such is the tangle of engine, turbo-charger and associated ancillaries all connected together via a spaghetti web of tubes crammed under that angled bonnet.
As a result, you’ll rarely see a Delta Integrale roll by complete with baseball cap wearing cruise muppet, despite how cheap an early Evo I is today. The Integrale is a car which takes time, dedication, and a great deal of money to keep mobile to the point that owners who use them as day to day transport take on an almost god-like status amongst us mere petrolheads.
In short, despite the typical Italian build quality, the Lancia Delta Integrale is the greatest car in the entire world, using Group-B WRC grade technology wrapped up in aggressive Italian evening wear to create a car that pushed the reset button of how fast fast is.
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Amen,
Aaron
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