Cool Stratos - and even cooler Pajero!

 

Thanks Aggie... appreciate the love... The Pajero is so much fun... on or off road! Although the right-hand drive makes drive thru's interesting...

 

WOW, awesome! And you’re definitely in the right place with that Busso-powered Stratos. I’ve always wanted a Lister Bell from the first time I saw one.
You get all of the joy of an original for a fraction of the price, and don’t have to be so nervous to drive
it as it was intended. Very cool. And very jealous 😆

Beautiful Renault and Pajero too! Are they yours as well?

 

WOW, awesome! And you’re definitely in the right place with that Busso-powered Stratos. I’ve always wanted a Lister Bell from the first time I saw one.
You get all of the joy of an original for a fraction of the price, and don’t have to be so nervous to drive
it as it was intended. Very cool. And very jealous 😆

Beautiful Renault and Pajero too! Are they yours as well?

Man, you hit the nail right on the head! I also wanted an Alfa powered Lister Bell STR (Stratos) from the moment I saw one about 15 years ago. You are spot on as to why a LB is a way better option then the real thing. You can actually enjoy it without feeling as if you are driving around a precious heirloom. Is stress free Stratos ownership a thing? Aparently. Plus, the LB product is WAY better engineered and thought out then the real thing. The OG cars were pretty much screwed together by Lancia inbetween cigarette breaks and interactions Italian ladies. Quality control was not something on the minds of the Lancia "aritsans". I once sat in a real Stratos in between it having it's interior uphoslstry redone and man, it was basically a kit car. Seemingly assembled with used gum and hope. I was at Goodwood Revival back in 2019 and there was a Lister Bell STR just sitting in the car park (pic attached)... it was mesmerizing.

Yes, I own that Renault R5 Turbo 2, the Pajero Evolution and a few other cars. One that might be of interest to those on the European contienant would be my 88' Toyota MR2 Supercharged (a car only Japan and the U.S. got) as well as a 2023 Toyota GR Corolla Circuit. I am so envious of those of you in countries that can obtain a GR Yaris. In my world, that is the single greatest car currently available... at any price. Homologated rally cars made by major manufaturers is not a thing anymore so for Toyota to go and hand build these cars in the same factory that built the Lexus LFA... we will never see this again. And because the United States market won't get the GR Yaris, I willingly jumped through every hoop imaginable to gain possesion of the sister car... the GR Corolla. (Not to say a Fiat 500 Abarth isn't a sweeet car. My bud has a modern one and I can hear him from a mile away... those things are loud!)

You can check out my R5 Turbo 2 here: French Fury - Nicole Johnson Detour

 

Welcome aboard ABP, fantastic cars there & they all look like loads of fun

We've got a few Alfa powered specials here, so you are not alone in this wilderness

https://www.alfabb.com/threads/lancia-scorpion-busso-v6-swap.733196/#replies

https://www.alfabb.com/threads/lancia-stratos-tarmac-rally-car-build.697006/#post-8551346

https://www.alfabb.com/threads/alfa-powered-mosler-consulier-gtp-project.720795/?post_id=8775791#post-8775791

Regards from another bike peddler and Renault owner

Ciao
Greig

 

Thanks Greig for the welcome and thanks for sending me down the "Alfa powered specials" rabbit hole. Those build topics were great. Love smartly swapped project cars like these. So many great cars are let down by their factory drivetrains (ahem... Beta/Montecarlo/Scorpion...) that could be solved with the simple addition of BUSSO POWER! I can't even describe what driving a Stratos replica with 24V Busso power is like at full chat but I promise you, the original 2.4L Ferrari powerplant would have nothing on it. The agility of that crazy short wheelbase, 335mm wide rear tires (the car is just 1 inch narrower then a Bugatti Chiron!) and a 43" overall height makes for one of the only cars I have ever driven that intimidates the blank out of me. I'm sure, going forward, I will be reading about timing belt intervals, cooling performance upgrades and secrets of the Busso. I look forward to it!

 

@ABikePeddler - Very nice collection, super jealous! You should add a Mazda 323 GTX

 

So funny you mention the 323GTX. My buddy Kevin and I have been obsessed with them for years. When you think about it, they were really ahead of their time... I think they were introduced in late 1987, a full 2 years before Mitsubishi introduced the Diamond Star triplets. An AWD turbo hatch with a manual trans in 1988 was just next level! Just a super cool car and oh so rare now, especially in anything approaching good condition. I mean when was the last time you saw a 323GTX in the wild, never mind one in good nick? Hens teeth. Love it. Do you happen to have one?

 

Just stumbled on this...very cool! @ABikePeddler , where did you happen to find such a creation?

 

Not sure if you are asking what a Lister Bell STR is or literally where I found it.

Here is what it is:

I had been on the search for a Lister Bell STR Stratos for years but seeing as most were located in the EU, they were not legal for import due to our 25 year rule. Thanksgiving Day 2023 rolls around and one suddenly shows up stateside on one of the online auction websites and the chase was on! The car was originally built by a General Motors engineer/designer in his off hours, often at GM. The quality of the build feels O.E.M., equal to a factory automotive standard. (The **** thing is better built then half my cars!) And while I am violently opposed to white cars, beggars can't be choosers. I am now in the middle of correcting the white paint (gelcoat) mistake with a historically appropriate livery.

 

Alitalia decals loading..... 😍

 

Alitalia decals loading..... 😍

View attachment 1867197

Marlboro Livery loading...

 

Ah, Garricks' car. I remember seeing that over the years at a local enthusiast's summer party. I wondered if it would show up on the BB sometime. Great guy, good car. Was sorry to see it leave the area.

Since you're here...You are hereby obligated to post a video accelerating through the gears - MOLTO VELOCE!!
Sincerely, everyone.

 

Garrick is a great guy and he built a wonderful car! The Stratos is one of those cars that I don't think you ever really "own" it. You can only care take. I am just going to do what I do with all my cars... maintain and improve until the next owner takes over someday. This summer I am planning on shooting a rather involved video that will cover more than just accelerating up through the gears (even though, I recognize, that is all the true petrolhead really wants...). Having the intake just over the drivers left shoulder is pure Busso magic. A Busso powered Stratos is as good as it gets!

 

did I take that pic? 😊

He dropped by that day, I got a treat and took it out for a spin…. Very cool car, impressive build. Congrats on your ride

 

Sheesh! The things dreams are made of…

 

A LB Stratos replica is getting put together at my mechanic’s shop, lime green, owner decided to do a 12V 3.0. The exhaust is artwork.

 

My buddy is a GREAT automotive photographer. Here are some images we shot this past week...

 

My buddy is a GREAT automotive photographer. Here are some images we shot this past week...




View attachment 1876107

grrrrrrr.....

 

Such an interesting car.

Makes you wonder where all the styling went over the years. Italians know how to make a car look like art but also perform like a beast!

 

There is plenty of great styling today especially when you consider the constraints facing the designers. Arguably, they have such a harder time of it today than the styling houses of the past that I am almost more impressed with today's work arounds than the unrestrained wild, wild west of the past. With that said, Marcello Gandini's magnificence cannot be denied. The Lancia Stratos is one of the greatest automotive shapes ever created. So great that it is often not thought of as a car but rather just simply "The Stratos". I took it to a local Euro car meet last night and kids were lined up to take rides in it. Very pleasing to open up their automotive landscape to cars they may not normally get exposed to. They were very respectful and very grateful... which I chalk up to the icon that is "The Stratos". Many of them exited the car just giddy with joy as they eventually left the car meet in cars that are much MUCH faster. But with the Stratos it is not about the speed... it is about the shape. What I find interesting about the Stratos is Gandini created a car with the most curved windshield in automotive history right after creating a car with a near dead flat windshield... the Lamborghini Countach. He was just brilliant beyond measure....

 

I think the Stratos was a real "spaceship"! It has a fantastic line from every point of view and its successes make it iconic!! But what vehicles were built (when it was possible..) in the past?

 

Hey previous caretaker here. We need more pictures! The shot of the bad weather front 3/4 is terrific. I can’t wait to see the livery all done up.

 

You're more than a caretaker. You are cars father! So glad you chimed in here as you built a really wonderful (terrifying ha ha) car and I'm enjoying it immensely (when it's not scaring the hell out of me)! I have yet to push the thing past 7/10th's.

For anyone that see's this post, the builder of this car (detmich) went out of his way to find many NOS or nearly new parts including door hardware and even the 3.0 Liter 24V Busso. He took a number of years to do it right. There really is nothing I would change about the car and how it was constructed. Add to that, the manufacturer of the kit (LB Specialty Cars) are a very supportive group for owners. Excellent communication and always willing to help.

This past week we started on the Marlboro livery. Due to some previously scheduled jobs at the shop, they weren't able to complete the red vinyl overlay in one day. It's no problem as I'm not in a hurry and I have other period correct decals to source to complete the look I am going for.

I choose vinyl overlay instead of paint as it's less permanent and if I grow tired of it, it is easily removed. For those of you wondering why I choose Marlboro livery over Alitalia it came down to how commonplace and predictable the Alitalia livery would be. (...If you can call an Alitalia Stratos "commonplace".) I grew up LOVING the Alitalia Stratos livery and yet, when it came time to choose, I realized the Marboro livery was slightly less predictable and also was the very first sponsor on the early days of the Lancia Stratos race team. It's also a bit punk rock. Hey, smoke 'em if you got 'em!

Here are some pics from yesterday's vinyl install...

 

I sold my 91 164V to a guy who "only wanted it" for the engine and transaxle for his Stratos project. 2006-7 in PA.

 

There was at least one kit floating around in pa around that time, not sure what happened to it tho.

 

Those vents are fun to put stickers on

 

The body isn’t painted and still in gel coated white is what Garrick told me. Remarkable how nice it is without paint.

The exterior color is like the very early 76 S1 lotus esprits gel coated finished in 3 colors , white, blue and red that appears deeper than paint. Lotus used the surplus resin left over from the SST concord hence the 3 colors and u can buff out small scratches without discoloration or thinning

 

Correct. The current finish is gel coat.

While I'm not a fan of white cars, it does come in handy when applying a livery. (I do not believe Lancia ever made a white stradale variant of the Stratos.)

 

Well the first alloy body stratos was Pearl white as recall , then they painted fluorescent orange shortly afterwards for the Torino or Geneva show. It also got converted to a pre-homologated gr5 car I’m Marlboro. A young lad who acquired a collection of stratos’s restored back to fluorescent orange


but I believe you are correct, the stradale’s never came in white.

these pics where photograph in front of bertone’s front office if memory serves, im forgetting a lot of things in detail 😊