Italy is seen by many to be the natural home of the high performance car as the names Lamborghini and Ferrari suggest. However, lower down the prestige positions that these household names represent are other high performance cars that will satisfy the demands of the motorists who does not have the elasticated wallets needed to stretch to the cost of these high value marquees. One of these lower priced performance car manufacturers is Lancia. As with all Italian automobile manufacturers, Lancia has always been keen to show that it can produce high performance cars and never was this claim more appropriately confirmed than when the company brought out the Delta Integrale.Although the Integrale was a version of the Delta hatchback family saloon and the HF 4WD drive version, it is here that the similarities finish. Under the hood it was a completely different animal. Launched in late 1987, the Integrale had a modified exterior, which was designed to reflect its sporting pedigree, this being enhanced with wider wheels and tyres. If you lifted the hood, to the uninitiated the engine would look similar to the production care model, which was not surprising considering Lancia had retained the 1995cc turbo intercooled engine. However, in performance terms there was no comparison. This engine produced 185 bhp and was capable of a maximum speed of just over 130 mph.Not satisfied with these results, in 1989 Lancia increased the power of the Integrale still further. The drive and road-holding of the car at high speeds was also modified to take into account the extra power generated from the new 16 valve engine. 0 to 100 kms was reduced to less than six seconds and top speed to a shade below140 mph. Two years later, with even wider wheel arches and yet more improvements to performance, the Integrale won Lancia the fifth consecutive World Rally Championship for its class.Not satisfied, Lancia set out in 1992 to make it number six, a result that it achieved with ease. As with its fifth win a year earlier, Lancia produced a limited special version of the Integrale to mark the occasion, with only 310 available for sale. Each of these was personalised with Ricaro racing seats, exterior graphics and mouldings and its own unique number on a silver place located on the transmission console.Finally, the reign of this special small Italian hatchback ended in 1994. However, the Integrale’s success has not been limited to the Rally track. In fact, probably because of this performance, its success has been reflected within the sales of its production models. In the seven short years of its existence the Delta Integrale has been sold to 44,296 consumers world wide, which is not a bad result for this fierce performance competitor. Category:Home › Home • Will higher gasoline prices mean lower sales for new cars? — part 2 • Will higher gasoline prices mean lower sales for new cars? — part 1 • Should the crew of the Sea Shepherd board whaling ships? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 13 • Grandparents: Can blogging chronicle your genealogy? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 12 • Are teachers unions the cause of public school problems today? • Which makes a better pet: A dog or a cat? — part 11
