Lancia is one of the most storied and romanticized automotive brands in the history of all things 4-wheel. It was responsible for building motoring icons like the 037, Stratos, Fulvia, and Delta Intragrale.
Unfortunately, the brand wasn’t able to sustain its success and for years has been reduced to a brand sold only in Italy with one model, the small and uninspiring Ypsilon. Enter a small automotive maker named Kimera, where they reimagined what a modern desirable Lancia should be.
Kimera Evo3 reimagines a modern Lancia 037
There is a little-known secret/rumor that the dominant Lancia 037 was being remade as an all-wheel drive beast to finally take on the Audi Quattro for World Rally dominance. Sadly it never came to be and was eventually transformed into the Delta S4.
Kimera sees this as an opportunity to take over where the brand stopped all those years ago, the Evo038 is an updated model of the reimagined Evo037. The newer model now has all-wheel drive and gains 100 more hp thanks to an enlarged turbocharger and other updates, total output is said to be around 600 hp. Shifting is done via a 6-speed manual transmission with short ratios.
The remarkable team who built the Evo 038 has done wonders with the weight, considering it only weighs about as much as a Mazda Miata MX5 RF, despite adding on a full AWD system. Following Lancia tradition and lore, there is a hotter Intragrale version that has an electrohydraulic differential which can be controlled on the inside by allowing the driver to choose how much oomph goes to the wheels. The suspension has been reworked and now has electronically controlled shock absorbers along with a lift system.
All of this nostalgia and modern underpinnings will surely cost any potential customer a pretty penny, even if you could buy one there will only be of course 38 models. What is inspiring to see is that there are bespoke small outfits that are willing to revive important models throughout the history of the car, and the Evo38 is the latest example.
