Lancia Rally 037

X1/8

The origins of the Lancia Rally 037 go back to the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Fiat was evaluating proposals from two carrozzieri for new mid-engined car models. Bertone's successful proposal was for a small car based loosely on their Autobianchi A112 Runabout, which went into production as the Fiat X1/9. Pininfarina's proposal, called the X1/8, was for a mid-sized coupé with a V6 engine. The X1/8 is the original progenitor of the Lancia Rally.

By January 1971, two X1/8 prototypes had been completed. At the time, Fiat had two V6 engines in their inventory: the 65° DOHC Ferrari Dino V6 designed by Vittorio Jano that Fiat was producing for Ferrari and which they had already used in their own Fiat Dino and would later install in the Lancia Stratos, and the 60° SOHC V6 designed by Aurelio Lampredi for the Fiat 130 sedan and coupé.

X1/20

In 1972, Fiat revisited the X1/8 project, changing the name to X1/20 to reflect the displacement of the 2.0-litre Lampredi-designed Fiat Twin Cam engine that replaced the V6. At least twenty X1/20 prototypes were built before the car debuted at the 1975 Geneva International Motor Show as the Lancia Beta Montecarlo.

Abarth SE 030

One year prior to the Montecarlo's debut, a track-prepared car based on an early X1/20 prototype appeared. Built by Abarth, it was called the Fiat Abarth 030.

At Fiat's request, Pininfarina supplied two steel X1/20 shells to Abarth. Abarth stripped the old body, and replaced it with one with shorter overhangs and a bonnet that was considerably lower in front, leaving the rectangular headlamps in front wings now much higher than the bonnet. Below the headlamps on each side were two additional spotlamps. The car's track was greatly widened, necessitating the addition of wide fender flares. Behind the driver, a large intake snorkel rose above the roof.

Abarth opted to use the 3.2-litre V6 from the Fiat 130. The base engine received a new crankshaft, connecting rods and camshafts, as well as big-valve cylinder heads and three Weber 48 IDF downdraught carburettors. The engine was fitted with a dry-sump.

The standard bore of 102 mm was kept, but Abarth increased the stroke to 71 mm, resulting in a displacement of 3481 cc. Power was raised to 285 bhp (213 kW) at 6000 rpm.

Abarth mounted the engine behind the driver and passenger, and mated it with a five-speed ZF 5DS-25 gearbox with limited-slip differential. Several references says that the engine was mounted longitudinally, while one says it was mounted transversely.

One of the two SE 030s was entered in the 1974 Giro d'Italia automobilistico. Driven by the team of Giorgio Pianta [it] and Christine Beckers, it managed a creditable second place behind a Lancia Stratos. The other chassis remained a development mule.

Group 5 Montecarlo Turbo

In 1978 Lancia introduced their Group 5 Montecarlo Turbo for the FIA's Group 5 class that ran from 1976 to 1982.

The Montecarlo Turbo is a silhouette racing car whose appearance evokes that of the production Beta Montecarlo, but with extensive changes to the chassis, powertrain, and bodywork.

Italian racing car manufacturer Dallara was retained to develop the chassis of the car, which only kept the central passenger cell of the Montecarlo, while new subframes of steel tube were added front and rear using jigs created by Dallara. Suspension at each wheel used a McPherson strut. New bodywork was developed by Pininfarina. In compliance with the Group 5 rules, the roof and door skins were retained from the Montecarlo body, although the roof panel was now aluminium.

The engine, still mounted transversely in the chassis, is a version of Fiat's Twin Cam developed by Abarth, with a new multivalve cylinder head and displacement reduced to be able to compete in different classes. Forced induction was provided by the same model of KKK turbocharger that Porsche had used in their 3.0-litre 934. The magnesium gearbox held a gearset made by Colotti.

The FIA classified Group 5 cars as either over or under 2-litres, and set minimum vehicle weights based on displacement. Three engines sizes are reported for the Montecarlo Turbo: 1,425.9 cc (87.01 cu in), 1,429.4 cc (87.23 cu in) and 1,773 cc (108.20 cu in). Applying the 1.4× equivalency factor for forced induction, the effective displacements of these engines are 1,996.3 cc (121.82 cu in), 2,001.2 cc (122.12 cu in) and 2,482.2 cc (151.47 cu in).

The Group 5 Montecarlo Turbo won the 2-litre class in 1979, and took the World Championships for Makes in 1980 and 1981. Montecarlos Turbos finished 1-2 at the Giro d'Italia automobilistico in 1980.

Beta Montecarlo Giro d'Italia

Some sources mention another car called the Beta Montecarlo Giro d'Italia, which they report competed in the named race, and was powered by an engine with a Volumex supercharger.

At the 1979 Giro, the driving team of Markku Alén, Ricardo Patrese, Walter Röhrl, and Gilles Villeneuve raced a modified Group 5 Turbo with shortened bodywork that some have speculated was a transition between the Group 5 and Group B Lancias, but this car's 1425 cc Group 5 engine was boosted by a KKK turbocharger.

At the following year's Giro, the team of Michele Alboreto, Attilio Bettega, and Arnaldo Bernacchini raced a 2-litre car registered as a Lancia Beta Montecarlo Volumex.

Return to rallying

Lancia had won the WRC manufacturers titles in 1972 with the Fulvia, and in 1974, 1975, and 1976 with the Stratos. In 1977, 1978, and 1980 parent company Fiat won with the Fiat 131 Abarth.

The FIA announced changes to the rally classes that would go into effect for the 1982 season. The changes, detailed in FIA Appendix J, replaced the former numeric group classifications with three alphabetic classes: Groups A, B, and N. A significant change was the reduction in the number of cars that had to be built to qualify for homologation from 400 to 200.

The first prototype 037 appeared in 1980. The car was targeted at the new Group B class, and was designed to comply with the new Appendix J rules.

People

Key persons involved in the development of the Lancia Rally included:

• Cesare Fiorio, a founder and head of Lancia HF Squadra Corse and originator of the project.
• Aurelio Lampredi - Fiat group engine designer.
• Enrico Fumia - Pininfarina designer.
• Sergio Limone - Abarth's chief project engineer for the 037.
• Pier Paolo Messori Abarth's technical director and Limone's successor.
• Claudio Lombardi - Lancia design and development engineer.

Prototype

Prototype SE 037-001 was completed on 23 September 1980.

Abarth, by then a part of the Fiat conglomerate, did most of the design work, and the car eventually became known by its Abarth project number of 037.

Construction was done by Dallara, who still had the jigs for the Group 5 car. Bodywork was provided by CBC of Turin. The body shape is unmistakably Montecarlo, but the outer two headlamps are mounted slightly lower than the inner two, and the bonnet line is different. Instead of using Montecarlo taillamps, SE 037-001 used assemblies from the Ferrari 308 GTB/GTS.

Extensive testing of the car's aerodynamics was done in Pininfarina's wind tunnel, including some runs with a tire strapped to the roof.

Debut

The Lancia Rally was officially unveiled at the 1982 Turin Auto show. That same year, Martini Racing, a division of Italian beverage company Martini & Rossi, became the official sponsor of Lancia's rally team, which began using the company's colour scheme on the cars. Running from 1982 to 1992, this turned into one of the most enduring and successful sponsorships in auto racing history.

Production of the 037 ran from 1982 to 1984.

Powertrain

The 037 is powered by a Tipo 232 AR4 straight-four engine designed by Lampredi. Based on the engine used in the Fiat Abarth 131 Rally cars, in the 037 it is fitted with a Volumex Roots-type supercharger. Lampredi chose a supercharger over a turbocharger to eliminate turbo lag and improve throttle response.

The cast iron block is a long-stroke Fiat Twin Cam assembly with the same bore and stroke as the 8-valve Twin Cam in the Volumex-equipped versions of the Lancia Beta and Lancia Trevi, and the aluminium 16-valve head was carried over from the 131 Abarth, but with the 131's twin carburetors replaced by a single large Weber carburetor in early models, and by Bosch/Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection in later ones.

The 037 features a 5-speed manual ZF gearbox and an Abarth-ZF locking differential.

Body and chassis

The 037 shared no body panels with the Montecarlo, and those on the race car were made from polyester resin with fire retardant, reinforced with glass fibre, Kevlar, or carbon fibre, using progressively lighter and stronger materials over the course of the car's production life.

The chassis of the Lancia Rally was derived from that of the Lancia Montecarlo road car. The central structural cell comprising the driver and passenger space was carried over, while all new tubular steel subframes were added; one in the front to carry the suspension, radiator, and steering, and one in the rear to carry the engine, transmission, and suspension.

The donor chassis used was from the Montecarlo Spider, whose open top allowed the use of a "double-bubble" roof for increased head clearance for the helmeted driver and navigator.

Like the Montecarlo, the 037 is mid-engined but, unlike its Montecarlo forebear, in the rally car the engine is mounted longitudinally. This allowed greater freedom in the design of the suspension while moving engine weight forward.

Running gear

While often described as a double wishbone suspension, at both the front and rear the lower suspension element is made up of multiple links.

In the front, the suspension consists of an upper wishbone, lower lateral arm and compliance link, and coil-over-damper. In the rear, the car is suspended on an upper wishbone, lower reversed tubular wishbone and compliance link, coil spring, with dual dampers flanking the coil spring to deal with the heat produced running the rally stages.

Stradale

The early road-going Stradale model was built to qualify for homologation.

Estimates of the number of first-run cars, including Stradales and prototypes, varies from 207 to 222 produced.

The engine in the Stradale received the smaller Volumex Abarth Tipo R10 supercharger, and was carburetted. Engine output is 205 hp (151 kW) at 7,000 rpm and 166 lb⋅ft (225 N⋅m) of torque at 5000 rpm. This engine was capable of pushing the car to over 220 km/h (137 mph) and to 60 mph (97 km/h) from a standstill in 7.0 seconds.

Evoluzione 1 and Evoluzione 2

The Group B rules allowed for the development of "Evolution" ("Evoluzione" in Italian) models. Manufacturers could qualify for homologation with an initial batch of 200 cars, and then make major changes to the original that could be homologated by building an additional 20 examples. The Lancia team homologated two evolutions of the original Lancia Rally — the Evo 1 and Evo 2, and built 20 examples of each in compliance with the new Group B rules.

The Evo 1s received new Brembo brake calipers, reinforced wheel hubs and suspension arms, and lighter crankshaft and flywheel. While the Stradale used the same taillamp assemblies as the Montecarlo, in the Evos these were replaced by simple round lamps and lenses.

Evo cars received a larger Volumex Abarth Tipo R18 supercharger. Early Evo 1s were carburetted, while later Evo 1s and all Evo 2 cars had Bosch/Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection.

Power output of the first Evo 1s was quoted at 265 hp (195 kW) but was increased to 280 hp (206 kW).

In the Evoluzione 2, displacement was increased to 2111 cubic centimetres, bringing its effective displacement to 2955 cubic centimetres after applying the 1.4x compensation factor for engines with forced induction, keeping it under the class limit of 3000 cubic centimetres.

In addition to the larger R18 supercharger, maximum boost pressure in the Evo 2 was raised to 1 bar (15 psi), and water injection was added to cool the intake charge. These changes combined to raise power to 325 hp (239 kW).

World Rally Championship for Manufacturers - results

Season	Team	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Pos	Points
1982	Martini Racing		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	BRA	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR		9	25
		Markku Alén					9	NF			NF	NF		4
		Attilio Bettega					NF
		Adartico Vudafieri						NF					NF
		Fabrizio Tabaton										NF
1983	Martini Racing		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR		1	118
		Walter Röhrl	1		3		2	1	1			2
		Markku Alén	2		4		1	2		5	3	1
		Jean-Claude Andruet	8				NF
		Attilio Bettega					4	5	3			3
		Adartico Vudafieri			5					NF
		Francisco Mayorga								NF
		Pentti Airikkala									5
1984	Martini Racing		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR		2	108
		Markku Alén	8		2	4	1	3	2		2	NF
		Attilio Bettega	5		3		7	4				2
		Jean-Claude Andruet	NF
		Henri Toivonen			NF			NF			3
1985	Martini Racing		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	ITA	CIV	GBR		3	70
		Henri Toivonen	6								4	3
		Markku Alén				NF	NF				3	4
		Attilio Bettega				NF	NF
1986	Martini Lancia		MON	SWE	POR	KEN	FRA	GRE	NZL	ARG	FIN	CIV	ITA	GBR	USA	2	122
		Markku Alén				3
		Miki Biasion				NF
		Greg Criticos				9
		Johnny Hellier				10
		Vic Preston Jr				NF

Notes:

World Rally Championship - rally wins

No.	Event	Season	Driver	Co-driver
1	51éme Rallye Automobile de Monte Carlo	1983	Walter Röhrl	Christian Geistdörfer
2	27éme Tour de Corse	1983	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki
3	30th Acropolis Rally	1983	Walter Röhrl	Christian Geistdörfer
4	13th Sanyo Rally of New Zealand	1983	Walter Röhrl	Christian Geistdörfer
5	25º Rallye Sanremo	1983	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki
6	28éme Tour de Corse	1984	Markku Alén	Ilkka Kivimäki