Tag Archives: S4

Twincharged – Lancia Delta S4

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By 1985 it had become apparent that with the successes being racked up by the latest four wheel drive Audi Sport Quattro and Peugeot 205 Turbo 16 Lancia would have to abandon it’s supercharged 2 wheel drive Lancia 037 and join the four wheel drive rallying band wagon if it wanted to remain competitive in World Championship Rallying.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Over the course of 1985/86 Lancia built 200 Lancia Delta S4 Stradales with CroMo tube frame chassis, covered with epoxy and fiberglass 2 door body panels, vaguely reminiscent of the Lancia Delta 4 door hatch back but hinged in the roof for easy access to the rear.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Like the Peugeot Turbo 16 the engine was mounted transversely behind the passenger seat but it was not only supercharged as per Lancia 037 but also turbocharged to improve overall power, while the S4’s four wheel drive system was developed with Hewland.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

Power out put for the motor at 5 bar boost was said to be 1000hp but in Staradale, road spec, 250 hp was deemed sufficient while in Corsa, competition spec between 500hp and 600hp was more likely.

Lancia Delta S4, Goodwood Festival of Speed

The competition version of the S4 made it’s debut on the RAC Rally in November 1985 and Henri Toivonen with Neil Wilson navigating came home first ahead of team mates Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

The following season the S4 scored four victories; Monte Carlo for Henri Toivonen and Sergio Cresto, Acropolis for Miki Biasion and Tiziano Siviero with Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki winning the Sanreno and Olympus Rallys.

Lancia Delta S4, Goodwood Festival of Speed

Markku and Lancia might have been crowned World Rally Champions, but that was before the governing body the FIA found that the organisers of the San Remo Rally had been wrong to disqualify the Peugeot team from a commanding lead of the rally for using skirts to aid the handling of their cars and so the FIA had little option but to annul the San Remo results which handed the world titles to Juha Kankkunen and Peugeot.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

However the season was clouded and the course of rallying was changed after first three spectators were killed and another 30 were injured when a Group B Ford RS200 plunged into a crowd in Portugal and later Henri and Sergio lost their lives after their S4 plunged into a ravine and burst into flames in Corsica.

Lancia Delta S4, Race Retro, Stoneleigh

In the aftermath of these events Group B was cancelled from the end of 1986 and Audi withdrew from the Ford curtailed it’s Rally RS200 programme while Audi immediately withdrew from international rallying completely.

Lancia Delta S4, Alén, Kivimäki, RAC Rally, Wollaton Park, Nottingham

The photo above show’s Markku and Ilkka on the opening Wollaton Park stage of the 1985 RAC Rally while the remaining photographs show S4 Replica’s at Race Retro and Goodwood Festival of Speed built I believe by Rally Legend Replica’s in Blackburn.

Thanks for joining me on this “Twincharging” edition of “Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres” I hope you will join me for Mercedes Monday tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Unlisted – Bristol Blemheim S4

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Every once in a while I stumble across a car that stands out from all the others of the marque for no discernible reason that I can accurately pin point. The Bristol Blenheim S4 pictured below at the Bristol Owners Club Concours d’Elegance last year, is one such vehicle that ever since I have seen it I immediately associate with the Bristol marque in much the same way as I associate big red buses with London.

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

Bearing a superficial resemblance to earlier Blenheim models this S4 has subtle alterations to every single panel, each shaped in aluminium with an english wheel, save those at the front and rear which are made from kevlar.

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

Power comes courtesy of a 5.9 litre / 360 cui dual fuel Chrysler derived V8 good enough to propel this nearly 4000 lb vehicle from rest to 60 mph in around 6 seconds, considerably less time than it took me to write this sentence !

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

Yet for all of it’s impressive size and performance it would be so easy to simply not notice the car at all, it simply refuses to scream it’s presence in the way an Italian car with similar capabilities would almost certainly do, and that is perhaps why I love Bristol Cars so much they are understated yet more than a match for most.

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

The interior of the S4 is significantly tidied up over previous Blenheim models with a walnut dash and Connolly leather seats.

Bristol Blenheim S4, Greenwich C d'E

The S4 is the only Blenheim to feature rear proprietary lights from Audi, giving the rear end a fresh look. Amazingly the S4 is no where to be found in Bristol Cars Sales literature, it is a one off ordered and built to the customers exacting specifications in 2009, this S4 represents a zenith on the arc of development for the Blenheim which traces it’s ancestry back to the 603 model first built in 1976. A unique car regrettably with a terminal place in the production history of Bristol Cars.

Thanks for joining me on this ‘Unlisted’ edition of ‘Gettin’ a li’l psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !

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Classic Expo – Race Retro, Stoneleigh, Coventry 1/2

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A couple of weeks ago Tim Murray, Secretary of the Pegasus Motor Club, kindly invited me to join the club for a trip to Race Retro held at the Stoneleigh Park Exhibition and Conference Centre near Coventry, UK.

Here is an oversight of some of the details I saw in a hand full of the 500 plus photo’s I took, I’d filled up my phone with images just getting from the Centre’s car park to the Exhibition Hall !

Amongst the many celebrations at Race Retro was a celebration of the achievements of the Italian tuning house Abarth.

On the Minibus on the way up to Stoneleigh I found myself sitting next to the legendary classic slingshot drag racer Chris Hartnell whose infectious enthusiasm was all I needed to commit myself to going to a Drag event this season !

This is the view from Adz Prices ‘Go Hard or Go Home‘ known, I believe, as an Altered, the car features a Topolino body and a 360 Mopar with Weland Tunnel Ram. Drag lingo is something I am going to have learn fast. I hope to come back to this vehicle with a full blog in the near future.

It’s the 50th Anniversary since the launch of the iconic E-Type Jaguar. I’ll be back with a few E-Type blogs to celebrate in the fullness of time.

Amongst the many Jaguars and Jaguar replica’s on display was this fabulous XJR15 a model I had not seen in the flesh before.

There was an awesome display of rallying Lancia’s including this Group B Delta S4 which was the highest evolution of rally cars ever devised, this particular all wheel drive car had a mid mounted engine that was both turbocharged AND supercharged. It was my good fortune to see this very vehicle in action when it came second in the 1985 RAC Rally on it’s debut driven by Markku Alén and Ilkka Kivimäki behind team mates Henri Toivonen and Neil Wilson. Another vehicle that will be the subject of a future blog.

With thanks to Tim Murray and the Pegasus Motor Club without home this blog would not have been possible.

Hope you have enjoyed the first half of my report on the Race Retro Exhibition and that you’ll join me again tomorrow for part two. Don’t forget to come back now !

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