Lancia Stratos by Pininfarina

Michael Stoschek's Wild Child: the New Lancia Stratos

The Lancia Stratos is a racing legend and auto icon, winning the World Rally Championship from 1974 to 1976 and still making auto enthusiasts go all reverential when it comes up in conversation. Four years ago a wealthy German businessman named Michael Stoschek decided he wanted a new one, so he called Pininfarina and had them design it. Presumably, he then wrote a check with more zeroes than a Japanese WWII aircraft carrier. That is why today we have that malevolent ebony wedge he is standing next to, the new Lancia Stratos.

The design was begun by Jason Castriota, designer of the Ferrari 599, then turned over to Luca Borgogno when Castriota left Pininfarina for Stile Bertone. The carbon fiber bodywork sits on the shortened chassis of a Ferrari F430. But having lost all that weight in the conversion from aluminum to carbon fiber yet still using the F430's 483 horsepower engine, the Stratos should be monumentally fast.

There are 24 other wealthy folks out there who might get to find out whether that's the case. Although Stoschek paid for the car's development, Fiat is considering a limited run of 25 as a way to showcase the Lancia brand especially before it returns to America. Those who wish to be among that 25, assuming it happens, should know how to properly arrange these words: is, object, cost, no.

Gallery: New Lancia Stratos