The Lancia Delta is a small family car built in three generations, the first from 1979 to 1994. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, it filled the four-metre class that Lancia had left empty since the Fulvia saloon ended in 1973, and was voted European Car of the Year for 1980. Its four-wheel-drive HF Integrale versions dominated the World Rally Championship, and 44,296 Integrales were built out of 478,645 first-generation cars.
Lancia Delta at a glance
| Maker | Lancia, Turin |
|---|---|
| First generation | 1979–1994, type 831 |
| Designer | Giorgetto Giugiaro, Italdesign |
| Body | five-door hatchback |
| Engines | 1.3, 1.5 and 1.6 litre four-cylinders, later turbocharged |
| Drive | front-wheel drive, four-wheel drive on HF and Integrale |
| Gearbox | four-speed, five-speed and automatic options |
| Suspension | fully independent, MacPherson struts |
| Awards | European Car of the Year 1980 |
| Rally record | six constructors’ titles in a row, 1987–1992 |
| Integrales built | 44,296 |
| First-generation cars built | 478,645 |
History of the Lancia Delta
From project Y5 to production
The Delta began as project Y5: an upmarket front-wheel-drive small family car below the Beta, in a size class Lancia had not covered since the Fulvia saloon was dropped in 1973. Its platform came from the Fiat Ritmo but used different suspension and more welding points for a stiffer body. Giugiaro’s Italdesign drew a clean, square two-box shape. The Fiat single-overhead-cam engines were revised by Lancia engineers with Weber twin-choke carburettors, new manifolds, exhausts and electronic ignition for 85 PS, ten more than in the Ritmo.
Debut and equipment
The Delta appeared at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 1979, with a base 1,301 cc 75 PS model on a four-speed gearbox, a five-speed 1,301 and a 1,498 cc 85 PS car. It came with fully independent suspension, rack and pinion steering, a height-adjustable steering wheel and an optional split-folding rear seat, while heating and ventilation were developed with help from Saab, who also had a hand in the rustproofing and the bootlid that reached down to the bumper. Sales began in October 1979: 43,000 were sold in 1980 and production passed 100,000 by the end of 1981. An automatic appeared in 1982 alongside the LX trim with Zegna cloth and Giugiaro alloy wheels, and the GT 1600 of 105 PS brought the first sporting version.
Rallying and the Integrale
The Group A rules required road-going versions of the rally cars, and Lancia built the Delta HF 4WD and then the HF Integrale. Modified versions won 46 World Championship rallies and took the constructors’ title six times in a row from 1987 to 1992, with drivers’ titles for Juha Kankkunen in 1987 and 1991 and Miki Biasion in 1988 and 1989. The Delta S4 of 1985, though it carried the same name and a similar shape, was an entirely different Group B racing car, run by the works team from the end of 1985 until the end of 1986. In 1992 Zagato built the Hyena, a limited coupé using the running gear of the Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione; 25 were made out of an intended 75.
Later generations
The second generation of 1993 was closely related to the Fiat Tipo and the Lancia Dedra and could not repeat the first car’s commercial success; the third, of 2008, was built on the Fiat Bravo platform and moved the name towards luxury, being sold in Britain and Ireland as the Chrysler Delta from 2011. Across all three generations the Delta is the second best-selling model in Lancia’s history.
Design and features
- Giugiaro styling: a clean two-box shape with three-piece bumpers that Lancia claimed as an industry first.
- Rally pedigree: Group A homologation cars with four-wheel drive and turbocharging.
- Practical hatchback: split-folding rear seat and a bootlid reaching down to the bumper.
- Saab cooperation: ventilation, rustproofing and the tailgate were developed with Saab, which also sold the car as the Saab-Lancia 600.
Lancia Delta versions
- 1.3 and 1.5: the original 1979 range, 75 and 85 PS.
- GT 1600: 105 PS twin-cam, first sporting Delta.
- HF 4WD: four-wheel-drive turbocharged model.
- HF Integrale: the rally homologation special, 44,296 built.
- Delta S4: separate Group B racing car of 1985.
- Lancia Hyena: Zagato coupé on Integrale mechanicals, 25 built.
The Delta replaced the Lancia Fulvia in the range and shared its platform thinking with the Lancia Beta and Lancia Dedra, while the group B Lancia 037 was its rally predecessor. More cars are in the Lancia collection.
Sources
- Lancia Delta, English Wikipedia: development, models, rally record, production
- Lancia Delta, Italian Wikipedia: generations, rally career, Hyena and S4
