Singer-style Lancia Delta goes on sale

Italian restomod specialist Automobil Amos has given a new lease on life to the iconic Lancia Delta.

Made famous by brave Group B rally car drivers for both the right and wrong reasons, the resurrected classic is based on a 1989 Delta Integrale 16v five-door hatch with a new hand-beaten body shell, revised engine and tailored interior that sees over 1000 components replaced.

Shaving the doors down from five to three the Delta Futurista features new aluminium bodywork over the roof and wider sides as well as a carbon-fibre hatch, bonnet, engine cover, rear spoiler and front and rear bumpers. The combination reduces the body weight by almost 90kg to 1250kg.

The original 2.0-litre 16-valve turbocharged four-cylinder petrol engine resides up front powering all four wheels, but a new intercooler, intake runners and exhaust help see power increase from the original 157kW output to 246kW.

The engine is mated to a strengthened five-speed manual transmission and rebuilt rear limited-slip differential. The brakes have also grown larger and the suspension revised for improved performance.

Inside the pews have been replaced with brown suede trimmed Recaro bucket seats that match a unique steering wheel featuring custom buttons. Lower down, the console is finished in carbon-fibre but the untouched original dash cluster is a tribute to the car’s roots.

The bespoke workshop owned by Italian racing driver Eugenio Amos follows in the footsteps Manifattura Automobili Torino that recently revealed the MAT Stratos, a new age spin on that other iconic, death-trap rally car built by Lancia during the 1970s and ‘80s.

But salivating Sega Rally fans and gravel loving diehards could be out of luck as the Lancia Futurista is priced at $485,000 and only 20 will be built from original Integrale base cars – Amos says he won’t touch the revered Evoluzione model in his endeavour to 'make Lancia great again'.

Outside of Italy coachbuilders have rebuilding and selling classic for similar prices, like Porsche tuner Singer. In fact, word has it that Singer owner Rob Dickinson was one of the first to put his name down for a ‘new’ Futurista.