Lancia Delta HF integrale Evo II (x2)
What could possibly be better than getting to spend your working days under the iconic vented bonnet of a true motoring legend like the Lancia Delta HF integrale Evoluzione II?
Well how about having two of the rallying legends in the workshop? Well, we were very fortunate to experience that during the first couple of months of 2021. And, you know what? Even though we do get to experience a varied range of fantastic Italian cars here in Norwich’s Little Italy there is still something uniquely exciting about a ‘grale. Other than serious exotica like an F40 or 288GTO, I can’t think of many other cars that have the impact of this five-door family hatch on steroids.
The first example arrived needing a new clutch. No mean feat in this cramped bay, it actually requires the engine to be fully removed so, once you’re at this stage, it would be remiss not to also change the timing belts and ancillaries. The car was a truly stunning example and it was a pleasure to work on (the reupholstered highback Evo II seats were truly a thing of beauty!). Getting into the nooks and crannies, we also noticed that the front bumper was damaged (those grill sections are notoriously fragile) so had this repaired before sending it back to its very lucky owner.
The second one (a matching Monza Red Evo II in similarly fantastic condition) coincidentally required its rear bumper replacing. A while back FCA Heritage actually started remanufacturing brand new bumpers for all versions of the integrale, so this isn’t actually as big an issue as you’d guess (and it’s great to see them showing some love and support for their historic models).
While it was here having this fitted and painted, we also took the opportunity to give it a new MoT and replace a worn handbrake cable and, of course, ogle at it as much as possible!
And as an interesting little aside, if anyone knows the story behind the Bertone insignia secretly stamped under the front bumpers on these late-date Evo II models, give us a shout on our socials! It’s a pretty sad tale tied up with the death of the Chiavasso plant that we may well go over in full on a blog one day…