Owning a Lancia Stratos Stradale has to be quite an experience. It was only built because Lancia had to make street versions of its Stratos rally car to homologate it for the World Rally Championship (WRC).

With that in mind, it should surprise no one that, in terms of quality and build, the road-going Stratos fares poor even when compared to a kit car. That’s because it was only an appendix to the rally Stratos, a car built with only one purpose in mind: to win WRC titles. And indeed it did – in 1974, 1975 and 1976.

Only 492 units of the Stratos Stradale were ever built, with the car being powered by the same Ferrari Dino 2.4-liter V6 engine as the rally version, although in a lower state of tune. It had 190hp, enough to allow a sprint from 0 to 60 mph (96 km/h) in under 5 seconds and a top speed of 144 mph (232 km/h).

Artist Philip Toledano is one of the very few people that own and run a Lancia Stratos Stradale, a car he bought because he was attracted by its Bertone wedge design and uncompromising” nature. Find out what he means by that by watching the Petrolicious video below.

By Dan Mihalascu

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