Remember the Kimera EVO37? Of course you do. In an age of more and more drool-inducing restomod projects of some of our favourite rally icons of years gone by, this is one of the absolute best – especially given it scaled the Hillclimb at Goodwood House mere hours after its full debut at the 2021 Festival of Speed.
Well how can you make a special, limited run, hyper-exclusive, hyper-bespoke restomod rally monster even more special? You cloak it in a livery paying homage to the team that brought Lancia its most successful stint in rallying.
This is the EVO37 Martini 7 edition, paying homage to seven World Rally Championship titles won by Lancia during its Martini Racing era. Six of those titles were won during the Group A era with the Delta Integrale, but a sole Group B-era constructors title was won in 1983 by the 037, driven by a rotating cast of some of the era’s biggest stars.
Of course, some changes are quite obvious to the naked eye. The all-white body is decorated with Martini’s red, turquoise and navy stripe branding, as well as a large Martini Racing branding on the rear wing. ‘World Rally Champion’ motifs are found on the doors and the front splitter, in tribute to the special edition Martini 5 and 6 Delta Integrales launched by Lancia in the early '90s, celebrating its final WRC titles.
The wheels have been designed to evoke the multi-spoke wheels worn by the Group A Delta Integrale, while the Martini 7 EVO37 also comes with a quadruple lamp pod worn on the nose. Inside, the Alcantara interior scheme apes Martini colours, while the dashboard is finished in naked carbon-fibre.
Crucially, the Martini 7 edition also comes with a bit more performance. Kimera has managed to reduce the weight of the car ever so slightly, while the heavily turbocharged 2.1-litre four-cylinder engine now produces an extra 50PS (37kW) – a total of 550PS (405kW) going to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox.
Just 37 Kimera EVO37s are planned. With such bespoke treatment for each one, what do you think we’ll see next?
Lancia
Kimera
037
Rally