In 1991, Lancia made a special version of their Delta HF Integrale 16V to take on some of the hardest gravel rallies in the World Rally Championship.
These rallies, such as Acropolis and Argentina, were challenging, with rough rocky roads, intense heat and long stages (a timed section of the race where drivers compete to complete the course as fast as possible).
To cope, Lancia built chassis 539663 to “heavy gravel” spec, with reinforced parts and custom upgrades.
It was far from a standard road car.
It’s first race, Greece
The car’s first race was the 1991 Acropolis Rally, one of the toughest events in rallying.
Italian driver Miki Biasion was behind the wheel. He had already won the World Rally Championship twice and knew how to handle these kinds of races.
At the time, Lancia was going through some changes. Their lead engineer had just left for Ferrari and Biasion himself was thinking about moving to Ford.
Even with all that going on, he drove the car to a solid third-place finish, a great result on such a brutal rally.
It’s next race, Argentina
Later that year, the same car was sent to Argentina. This time, it was driven by Jorge Recalde, a local hero who had famously won the rally in 1988.
Argentina is another challenging gravel rally with long mountain stages.
Unfortunately, the car had power issues during the race, which held it back. Still, Recalde pushed hard and finished in fifth place in front of his home fans.
A short but interesting life
After Argentina, this car didn’t race again.
Most rally cars keep competing in other events or get upgraded, but this one returned to Lancia’s factory in Italy.
It stayed untouched.
Which is rare in rallying, as cars often get used, sold and rebuilt many times.
Looked after, but not raced again
In 1994, a collector in Greece named Aigli Apostolou bought the car.
He already owned other Lancia rally cars, but chose not to race this one. Instead, he kept it in great condition, just like it was when it last raced.
In 2016, the car was officially certified by Abarth Classiche, a group that checks and confirms the history of classic Lancia race cars. It still has original racing seats, belts and other rare parts from its rally days.
Why this car still matters
Today, this Lancia Delta chassis 539663 lives in a private collection in the UK and has only had two owners since leaving Lancia.
It’s been shown a few times at non-racing events like the Eifel Rallye Festival in Germany and Rally Revival in the UK, where fans have been able to appreciate it up close.
While it didn’t win championships or race for many years, what makes this car special is its story. It was built for tough rallying, driven by top racers and has been carefully preserved ever since
It proves a car doesn’t need a long career to be important, as this rare, original Delta, is a genuine piece of rally history worth remembering.