2. Lancia 037 Stradale
Long before the advent of all-wheel drive in rallying, Lancia bet on a rear-drivetrain challenger: the 037. Launched in early 1982 to homologate its works racer, the 037 Stradale was built in Zagato’s Milanese workshops. Beneath the fiberglass body lay a tubular steel frame carrying a mid-mounted supercharged 2.0 L four-cylinder engine making roughly 205 hp in road guise. Weighing under 2,100 lb, that yielded lively acceleration and razor-sharp agility.
More crucially, the 037’s racing variant took Lancia to the 1983 World Rally Championship, handing Audi its only season defeat. Only 200 Stradale models were made, each equipped with Recaro seats, magnesium wheels, and a stripped-out cockpit. As rally’s final rear-wheel-drive victor before AWD’s dominance, the 037 Stradale embodies the last hurrah of a vanishing era.