One to Buy: Nero / Nero 1 of 24 1992 Lancia Hyena
/
The idea to drape arguably the best homologation special of its era with a pared down shell designed by one of Italy's most highly regarded coachbuildres should have been a recipe for a major commercial hit.
That was the idea of Lancia's Dutch distributor, Lusso Service Holland, who planned to revive a stillborn Zagato proposal and create a run of 500 Integrale Evoluzione-based Hyenas.
Unfortunately, two major factors resulted in the project failing to even hit 5% of its anticipated production target.
Firstly, Lancia in Italy refused to supply cars in component form which meant complete Integrales had to be dis-assembled in Holland, sent to Milan for bodywork and then returned to the Netherlands for completion which inevitably forced the price up.
Secondly, by the time the Hyena was ready to sell, the red hot collector car boom that spawned so many low volume specials had long since fizzled out. Instead, a long hard economic recession had set in that massively reduced demand for high end motor cars.
Against this backdrop, Lusso Service Holland managed to sell just 24 Hyenas which were completed between 1992 and ‘93.
The second of these cars, chassis 552454 (Hyena build number 002), is currently on offer at Girardo & Co.'s UK showroom in Oxford.
Uniquely configured by its first British owner with a 300bhp power upgrade, a long-range 90-litre fuel tank, cross-drilled brake discs and rear seats, this handsome black-on-black example is offered in superb condition throughout having covered just 26,200km from new in the hands of four owners.
