201,086.96 euros is the price that was paid for one Lancia Hyena Zagato from 1993, ultrarara, sold in the Race Retro Classic & Competition Car Sale 2020 auction and organized by Silverstone Auctions. The model, green in color and left-hand drive, turned out to be one of the most popular of the various lots, with an achieved value very similar to another car like the 1986 Ford Rs200 – sold at 217,000 euros. In the recent past, others have been sold, and today you cannot go down under one hundred thousand euros: it is a Lancia that makes you dream, rare, true and above all, with a soul.
Hyena Zagato only built 24 or 25 (there is mystery about this data). 2.0 engine, four-cylinder in-line, 16 valves, 250 horsepower, Garrett turbocharger, five-speed manual gearbox, 4-wheel drive: these are the specifications for a car 120 kilos lighter than the Delta Integrale, thanks to the body panels in aluminum and the elimination of many details deemed superfluous. Zagato’s design made this car one of a kind, which obtained the Lancia brand without, however, having had a real ‘green light’ to get to mass production.
The Zagato bodywork derived the project from the Delta HF Integrale, on the impulse of Paul Koot, importer and distributor of cars in the Netherlands. In 1990 Koot proposed to Lancia to produce a small limited series coupe based on the Delta, obtaining a refusal. A proposal that was then collected by Zagato and consequently by his Style Center and by Marco Pedracini. The small sports car should have been a product with a larger circulation, even in 500 models. However, relations between Fiat and Zagato cooled down quickly, forcing the coachbuilder to assemble only 25 of the 75 pieces planned..
Despite the Lancia grille, the Hyena Zagato was built in a completely different style from that of the Delta, with much less ‘square’ lines, a hood vent, sloping rear window, short wheelbase, MacPherson-style independent front and rear suspension, dashboard elements in carbon, lack of the rear sofa and a double-humped roof very characteristic. These elements led to prices beyond reach for the Italian market, but generous buyers were found abroad (even if less than expected): for this reason it is difficult to have one available, at the same time a few kilometers away and kept almost close to the original characteristics. .
The model in the cover photo and in the gallery, for example, was recorded in 1992 the same year as the presentation at Brussels Motor Show, but the production is dated 1993: this imbalance of dates was created, probably, in order to avoid the introduction of the catalytic converter even for vehicles under 2000cc inclusive (1 January 1993, in fact). She could have become an heir to the Delta Integrale, but her history has led her to another destiny, no less valuable.
(this article was originally published in February 2020; updated with new information)
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