One to Buy: ex-works / Jolly Club 1991 Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione Gr.A
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During a seven year stretch between 1987 and 1992, Lancia secured all but two of the 14 World Rally Championship titles up for grabs. Seven consecutive Manufacturer crowns for various iterations of the Delta HF were complemented by a quintet of Driver championships; the only years anyone other than a Lancia pilot finished top of the Driver standings was in 1990 and ‘92 when Toyota’s Carlos Sainz emerged victorious.
1992 was the last year that the Martini-backed works Deltas graced the WRC, however, the renowned Integrale Evoluzione nevertheless soldiered on for one final campaign with Jolly Club and Astra Racing both receiving a degree of factory support for 1993.
That season, the top ranked Lancia driver in the championship was Carlos Sainz whose best result was second on the Acropolis. Sainz had been forced to leave Toyota owing to Castrol becoming the Japanese team’s title sponsor which represented a direct conflict with the Spaniard’s personal backer, Repsol.
Today, one of Sainz’s Integrale Evoluziones from that 1993 season is residing within the showrooms of Duncan Hamilton ROFGO in Micheldever, Hampshire.
This particular example was registered in December 1991 and started life as the first works Evoluzione gravel test car. During 1992, the Martini-striped car was driven extensively by the likes of Juha Kankkunen, Dider Auriol and Andrea Aghini.
For 1993 the car was dispatched to the Jolly Club and, in its new Repsol livery, Sainz most notably drove it to victory on home soil during June’s Formula Rallye Ciudad de Oviedo, an event which marked the last major victory for an ex-works Lancia.
More recently, during 2019 the car underwent an exacting restoration and is accordingly offered in superb ready-to-run condition complete with a comprehensive history file that includes original Italian paperwork.
