The Lancia Stratos is set to make its triumphant return in an extremely limited production run of a brand new car.

Those of you old enough to remember might recall a ludicrous Italian supercar from the mid-‘70s that briefly caught the world’s attention. It was unique, as many Italian supercars are, but for reasons that were different from most other cars. It was tiny, the wheels were incredibly close together, and it had very little space for even a single passenger. It practically required the driver to caress the leg of the passenger just to change the Stratos’ gears.

And the Stratos wasn’t just great for making your companion uncomfortable by switching to 3rd. The short wheelbase and massive 2.4-L Ferrari engine also made it a fast, nimble car that would go on to win the World Rally Championships three years in a row in the mid-‘70s.

Stratos
via autoblog

Since then, Lancia languished under the control of Fiat, and later under Fiat Chrysler, to the point where the company sells only one car (based on a Fiat) that is only sold in Italy.

Now, Lancia wants one more shot at the big time by bringing back the car that put the company on the map. Only they won’t be the ones making it.

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The new Stratos is being made by Manifattura Automobili Torino (MAT) and will be based on the old Stratos, but will mostly be based off a 2010 concept car built for German billionaire Michael Stoschek. Much like the original, that car was heavily based off a Ferrari—the F430, and also shared that car’s 4.3-L V8 naturally aspirated engine.

Back in 2010, there were plans to bring the concept to production, but due to a complicated bit of automotive politics Ferrari put the kibosh on that idea and told MAT they can’t use any Ferrari parts

Stratos
via autoblog

It took them eight years, but MAT got a new chassis, a new engine, and then made the rest of the car to as closely resemble the 2010 concept as possible. It’ll have all the same features that made the original Stratos great: an insanely short wheelbase, an enormous diving windshield, a removable hood and trunk, and very little space for passengers. It’ll even come with air conditioning.

"I am delighted that other passionate car enthusiasts will be able to experience how the successor to the most fascinating rally car of the 1970s still sets the bar for design and performance," Stoschek said.

No word on pricing or how many will be built, but expect the answers to be “a lot” and “a few” respectively.

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