STRATOSPHERIC

INSPIRED. IT’S THE only word that does justice to the idea of a reborn Lancia Stratos based on a Ferrari F430. Think about it. Ferrari’s mid-engined supercar built between 2004 and 2009 is in plentiful supply, is blessed with a wickedly sharp engine, and treads that fine line between modern performance, control and excitement and old-school involvement, feel and delicacy. To start with such a sound basis, shorten the wheelbase and then pour some Stratos styling fairy dust on top should result in something spectacularly agile, overwhelmingly evocative and effortlessly cool. This car might not be a pureblood, but I’m not sure I can think of a more exciting project anywhere in the world.

The story of the reborn Stratos is long, winding and really rather extraordinary. It starts in the 1990s, when a teenager named Chris Hrabalek discovered that Lancia had allowed the rights to the Stratos name to lapse. Hrabalek registered the trademark (his father was a Stratos owner and enthusiast) and around ten years later, by then a design student at the Royal