Lost images from the interwebz [stratos pr0n] SFW

"ToyDeathbot" (ToyDeathbot)
10/31/2013 at 05:28 • Filed to: stratos

These pictures vanished into thin air when InsideLine merged into Edmunds.com. Basically, it was about a Lancia Stratos which lived (hopefully still lives) in the Meilenwerk Storage Facility/Museum and some journalist took it out for a joyride.

EDIT: thanks to Krieger, I managed to find the article as well! However, I only managed to pull out 12 of the 31 photos in the gallery :(

Back in the 1970s, a lime-green Lancia Stratos Stradale was a familiar sight in Berlin, howling down the wide, grand boulevards and flashing over the bridges of the River Spree. An Italian called Armando ran a successful pizzeria in Schoenberg and had saved all of his profits to buy an example of Lancia's wicked, Ferrari-powered sports car.

"It was one of the first sold," says Mauro Capuozzo, who runs a specialist Italian car business in the Meilenwerk district in Berlin. "He loved driving the Stratos and even delivered pizzas in it. He'd store them in a box in the exhaust-heated storage area to keep them warm."

To see a Stratos in action anywhere — street or special stage — is a rare treat, yet the Lancia surely must have looked like an alien spacecraft back then as it split through the taxis and railway trams of Germany's then-divided cultural capitol. Armando even fitted the Stratos with snow chains during the winter because it was his only car.

Tragically, the Stratos was involved in an accident at the corner of Potsdamer Strasse and Buelowstrasse. With no side impact protection, Armando didn't stand a chance and died in the crash.

Yet Armando's popular restaurant is still thriving, and — strangely enough — so is the Lancia Stratos. We're here in Berlin to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the car's introduction at the Turin auto show at the wheel of a Stratos owned by the man who has brought the car forward into the 21st century.

Back in Berlin
The Lancia Stratos still looks defiantly contemporary in this city, which has revived and once again looks like the adventurous cultural crossroads it once was, complete with bold architecture by Sir Norman Foster, Helmut Jahn and Axel Schultes.

Stratos collector Chris Hrabalek lives in Berlin and has located his four examples of the historic Lancia in the same place where Capuozzo does business, an amazing building converted from an old storage shed for railway tram cars. Hrabalek has been instrumental in the revival of interest in the Stratos, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , trying to revive production with a modern concept car on the same theme and playing a role in the creation of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .

The Stratos is more aggressive than a Ferrari Dino. Only the driver really enjoys the experience.

We've planned a midnight run for Hrabalek's 1975 Lancia Stratos around Berlin's spectacular landmarks, with diversions via its longest tunnels. Finally, the rare '75 Stradale street car is ready. We twist into the tiny cabin and the feather-light door slams shut.

The Berlin Run
The fuel pump whines away to prime the triple Weber two-barrel carburetors and then the 190-horsepower Ferrari Dino V6 wakes with a splutter and clears its throat with a gruff rasp. The instrument dials, dashboard rocker switches and air vents are a mixture of pieces from production Fiats and Lancias, just as with all Italian exotic cars of the 1970s. The Ferrero steering wheel allows a clear view of the instrument cluster, while the pedals are slightly offset to the middle as with all midengine cars of the era.

Like the 65-degree, 2,418cc Ferrari V6, the five-speed gearbox also comes from the Ferrari 246GT Dino. As you might imagine with a transverse engine behind you, the complicated shift linkage is stiff, balky and imprecise. First gear is on a dogleg nearest the driver, and the change across the gate and up into 2nd is reluctant until the oil is warm. The hopeless handbrake, heavy clutch, stiff cable-type throttle, recalcitrant shift action and lifeless feel of the Girling disc brakes make the car a mess in the late afternoon traffic.

The small cockpit has limited ventilation and all the glass turns it into a solar oven on slow cook. Released by a large screw-lock knob, the lightweight Plexiglas side windows slide crudely down into the door. "It isn't waterproof and leaks in the rain," says Hrabalek.

The Evening Comes
As evening draws in and the roads clear, the Stratos is transformed. The V6 becomes more strident, while the shift action sharpens with more revs, especially if you double-clutch while downshifting. We might be baking in the cockpit, yet the 190-hp V6 stays cool and pulls cleanly as we gun it between the traffic lights to keep the car clear of inquisitive commuters.

Hrabalek knows the best tunnel in Berlin — a long underpass from the stunning Hauptbahnhof railway station that cuts south below the Tiergarten, which is the green heart of this very ecology-minded city. As the car arcs down a thoroughfare lit by yellow sodium lights, we hold 3rd gear up to 7,000 rpm and the engine tone changes to a vibrant howl.

The Stratos will do 143 mph, but Hrabalek says the short, wide package with a high center of gravity is a nightmare at high speed on the autobahn: "It feels unstable and has a scary amount of lift. You can see why Fiat engineer Carlo Facetti and development driver Michael Parkes fitted skirts and a rear wing for racing."

Racing Through the City
In the early hours of the morning, the rain finally stops and we get a chance to discover the car's true character. The twistier roads around the Kulturforum are deserted, though still slippery. A clear run with green traffic lights all the way reveals the tricky, twitchy nature of this car, with its short 85.8-inch wheelbase and a high center of gravity from its transverse V6.

The stiff suspension keeps the squat body flat and enhances the feeling of control. Though the unassisted brakes feel wooden, the manual rack-and-pinion steering is precise and beautifully light, since just 37 percent of the car's 2,161 pounds (dry) rests on the nose.

There's little kickback from the old Pirelli tires as the Stratos storms around the smooth park roads. The close-ratio gearbox works with the Stradale's 190-hp engine to get the car to 60 mph in 6.8 seconds, Hrabalek says.

As you'd expect with a short-wheelbase midengine car, the best cornering technique is to get your braking and downshifting done in a straight line, then concentrate on the apex. The chassis wants to understeer on a trailing throttle, but the Stratos' famed agility and quick response are obvious under power. Even in the wet the car hunkers down and darts through the corners, its traction maximized by 63 percent of the weight over the driving wheels.

The Stratos demands full concentration and feels as if it would snap with any abrupt action, yet there are few more dramatic places to explore Berlin at night within this low-slung cockpit. The view through the wraparound, visor-style windscreen is panoramic, and a dramatic skyline opens up in every wide avenue.

Stratos From the Past
Any drive in this particular Lancia Stratos must be considered a privilege, since chassis 829ARO 001572 has covered just over 5,000 kilometers since 1975. "Green was a tough color to sell and dealers offered a discount when it was new," explains Hrabalek. "Most were repainted red or modified for motorsport. Finding a road car so untouched is rare."

The cars varied in quality. After Carrozzeria Bertone finished the body, production was typically completed by a variety of subcontractors. Cracked fiberglass was often concealed by racing-theme decals, and the cars were so badly finished on occasions that car dealers often refused to accept them from the factory. "There's probably just five cars that still have original suede-upholstered seats that aren't ripped or redone," Hrabalek says. "My car is untouched so I try not to use it too much."

In recent years, Stratos values have paralleled those of contemporary cars such as the Porsche 911 RS 2.7. Hrabalek says, "The lightweight Porsche and the Stratos are close in spirit because they appeal to the pure connoisseur. To many, the fully developed Ferrari Dino is more attractive, since it's comfortable, easy to get into, plus it has the options of air-conditioning and electric windows. The Stratos is more aggressive. You are cramped inside and the windscreen acts like a magnifying glass in the sun. Only the driver really enjoys the experience."

A Modern Perspective
This Lancia's purity of purpose is what appeals to young fans today, a raw vision of a midengine package's promise of racing performance. It's no wonder that an enthusiast recently commissioned a Pininfarina-built version of the !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , a project in which Hrabalek played a role.

This autumn, owners of the Lancia Stratos will gather in Italy for a 40th birthday party. There won't be too many cars, as only 492 examples of the Stratos were made since it was just a homologation special for the Fiat-sponsored rally car, and was twice the price of a Ferrari Dino besides.

It should be quite an event, and surely the spirit of Armando, the Stratos-equipped pizza deliveryman of nighttime Berlin will be with them.

Enjoy these desktop-ish sized wallpapers!

(judging by the fact that I've been searching for these images for the past year or so might prove that the Stratos is toydeathbotbait hehe)