Lancia Rally 037 successor

[rally037]

While the design of the car is progressing in my head, I thought perhaps a post on the family tree of the 037 would provide a useful reference for the project. Nothing really new here, with all the information available on the net, but just summarised in one place.

1960’s end: Fiat considers a new two seater sports car as a replacement for their aging ones, commissions Bertone and Pininfarina to come up with ideas.

1970: Pininfarina builds first prototype of their answer to Fiat’s call, project X1/8 displaying that lovely canopy profile, proposed engine (3L V6) larger than in Bertone’s own X1/9.


1972: Pininfarina’s project code altered to X1/20, another prototype built, intention is to use smaller (2L I4) than the X1/8 engine


1974: Abarth builds a competition version of the X1/8/20, codenamed SE030 with longitudinally mounted naturally aspirated 3L V6 engine


1975: Fiat chooses to place a Lancia badge on X1/20 and present it at the Geneva Motor Show as Beta Montecarlo, engine is transversely mounted naturally aspirated 2L I4


1979: The Lancia Corse camp of the merged Fiat competition department, with Dallara's help on the engineering side, develops and presents the Group 5 Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo, engine is transversely mounted turbo charged 1.425L I4


1979: Short tail version of the Group 5 Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo


1980: Abarth project SE036, once again mainly driven by the Lancia Corse group of people, intended for the newly proposed Group B but never built as deemed too complex for the time available, tubular spaceframe rally car with a suggested Ferrari V8 engine

1980: Work starts at Abarth on a simpler alternative to the SE036, codenamed SE037 using the central section from the Beta Montecarlo Group 5 car, but with longitudinally mounted mechanically supercharged 2L I4

1982: Abarth SE037 is presented to the public, Fiat brands it Lancia, named Rally, first proper Group B car


1983: Lancia Rally 037 wins the world rally championship manufacturers title
Image taken at the end of the 1983 Monte Carlo Rally


What strikes me most is that so many different companies have contributed to the development of a project that ultimately led to the Lancia Rally 037 and at the same time the variety of engines fitted on the same base platform, in effect it means that any engine can be fitted to a potential MkII version and claim made to be historically justified .