Description
1984 Lancia Delta HF Turbo 1600 Group N Production saloon race car project.
Ex record breaker/ Wilhire 24-hour competitor. Barn find, two owners only! One of 20 Delta Turbo press cars all registered RKJ (A227RKJ) registered to Lancar limited the official UK Lancia importer.
This car was bought by Richard Thorne, MD of Mike Spence (Reading) LTD a Lancia main dealer in early 1985. Almost immediately Richard was approached by Lancar with the request to prepare the car for 4 lady racing drivers to attempt to break existing speed and endurance records for 1600cc cars over a 24 hour period at the banked high speed circuit at M. I. R. A in Warwickshire.
The Mike Spence team rapidly fitted a full roll cage and other safety equipment, but other than a full pre-event service and a sump full of the then new and revolutionary Shell Gemini semi-synthetic oil, the mechanics were left standard.
Both drivers and car performed faultlessly and set 10 new national and international records, a fine achievement!
Richard had always intended to compete in the Wilhire 24-hour race at Snetterton and event run for group N production saloon cars for the first time in 1985 so the car was prepared for the event.
The 1600 class was expected to be very competitive with two of the much-fancied Ford Escort RS turbos expected to romp away from the Delta. But in the sweltering heat both Escorts retires with engine failures in the first 8 hours, whilst the delta kept on lapping consistently to record a fine finish.
After the Wilhire the car led a sheltered life coming out for the occasional track day until the engineering director destroyed the engine at Castle Combe in the late eighties, since which the car has been in storage. As result the bodyshell is in remarkable rust-free condition and comes with a mechanically complete donor.
Here is a great video of the 1985 Wilhire 24-hour event with a great interview with Ian Taylor at 12:40 and a clip of the car coming into the pits at 41:45.
Snetterton - 1985 Wilhire 24-hour race
Please contact Richard for an interesting and unique opportunity to restore this piece of Lancia history and run it in historical events.
Priced at £12, 500
