The Lancia Delta Integrale is the best Italian hot hatchback. It was made as a Group A racing homologation special. All-wheel drive and a turbocharged engine ensure the car stays in control and moves quickly. This limited version was made in only 310 copies. Come on! How many World Rally Championships has each group won? Why not? Who is Mitsubishi? Audi? Nope. Lancia, an Italian car company that has always done more than it should, has given a surprising answer. The boxy, muscular, turbocharged, all-wheel-drive Lancia Delta Integrale best shows this rally-bred mindset. Bring A Trailer, a Hearst Autos magazine similar to Car and Driver is holding a sale for a limited-edition Delta Integrale made to celebrate Lancia’s sixth World Rally Championship. It’s a Martini 6 Evoluzione, version 272 of 310, with a beautiful Martini race livery over white paint and a beautiful blue interior with red accents. Giorgetto Giugiaro, known for creating cars like the Volkswagen Golf and the DeLorean DMC-12, began the Delta in 1979. When Group B rallying was stopped because of safety worries, Lancia made a road car that met the requirements for Group A rallying. The Delta Group B didn’t look anything like the road car. The first Delta Integrale came out in 1988, and its engine was set up like current WRC rally cars. This 1992 model came with all-wheel drive and a Torsen limited-slip rear end. The Evoluzione model has a 2.0-liter twin-cam turbocharged four-cylinder engine with 207 horsepower and 220 lb-ft of torque. A five-speed manual gearbox is included. You might be thinking of an “Italian WRX,” and you would be right. This pressurized shoebox is pure rally-car fun. It has 15-inch Speedline wheels and a movable rear spoiler that sticks straight up like the tail of a fox terrier. A Delta Integrale is as valid daily as the Toyota GR Corolla, the closest modern equivalent. It’s a practical four-door hatchback that you can drive quickly home from the grocery store. Oh no, I broke all the eggs all over again. People want to get their hands on the popular Delta Integrales in the Martini version. When this was written, the price was getting close to $100,000. On September 26, the sale will be over.
