While concept cars often preview future production models, there are plenty created simply as a design exercise. Among the most outlandish and wild concepts from the 1970s was the Lancia Stratos HF Zero.
Lancia took off the covers to the one-off at the 1970 Turin Auto Show. It was designed by Bertone and actually built around the chassis of a crashed Lancia Fulvia FF1600 rally car. The bodywork is made from lightweight fiberglass and has an aeronautical-inspired design that means more than 50 years after its unveiling, it still looks fresh.
Seeing a one-off concept like this in the flesh is quite a rare sight so those in attendance at The ICE event in St. Moritz, Switzerland last week were very blessed that the car’s current owner decided to bring it out of hibernation. Not only was the car on display but it was also driven around the ice track, albeit very gingerly.
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Details about the car’s full ownership history aren’t known but it is understood to have undergone a comprehensive restoration in 2000 and in 2011, and that it was sold by RM Sotheby’s for $915,000. Given how unique the car is, that sounds like quite a bargain and we’re sure that if the car was sold now, it would fetch a lot more than that.
Located beneath the triangular engine cover of the Stratos HF Zero is a mid-mounted Lancia V4 engine from the Fulvia HF1600 rally car. The tiny engine may only displace 1.6 liters and produce 113 hp, but it sounds surprisingly good.