Lancia Will Sell You A Turn-Key Rally Car For Less Than The Price Of A Mustang GT

Those who know, know that stage rally is one of the coolest forms of motorsports. Driver and co-driver working in harmony to fly through the woods, or the desert, or the snow. Faith in pace notes and faith in car control combine to make it one serious team sport, which is part of the reason why it’s a bit inaccessible for those who want to turn the key and go. Thankfully, Lancia is here to help.

This is the Ypsilon HF Racing, and not only is it a rally car you can actually buy, it’s also a relatively cheap one. As it sits, fully equipped, this thing carries a price tag of €38,990. Convert that out to greenbacks and we’re looking at a $45,500 brand new turn-key rally car. You can’t even get a new Ford Mustang GT for $45,500, which begs the question: How’s Lancia done it?

Well, it probably helps that not only is the Ypsilon HF Racing essentially just a prepared version of the standard hatchback, it’s not a massively powerful one. Under the hood, you’ll find a 1.2-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine pumping out 145 horsepower and 177 lb.-ft. of torque. While you won’t be winning many drag races with those figures, that output’s in the same ballpark as an early 1.8T-powered Mk4 Golf GTI, and nobody accused that thing of being glacial back in the day. Better yet, many amateur rally classes have horsepower and displacement caps, and this should fall beneath most of them, meaning you won’t be tinkering with restrictor plates.

What’s more, everything downstream of the engine has been enhanced. The six-speed manual gearbox features shorter ratios than the road car, there’s a mechanical limited slip differential on tap to get the power down, a mechanical handbrake to kick the rear end out for hairpins, and a set of decently sized brakes. The Ypsilon HF Racing even comes with proper rally suspension so you don’t rattle your fillings out.

So far, so good, but powertrain parts are normally what make a race car expensive. That all comes down to safety equipment because boy, do the bills ever run wild here if you’re building a car yourself. A proper roll cage will run you several grand, homologated seats and a fire system add a few more, and then you have your hood pins, your kill switches, all the labor to strip the interior, and a million other little things you’d probably forget to think of. On the Lancia Ypsilon HF Racing, they’re all here. The same FIA-homologated roll cage as the more expensive Rally4 car, FIA-homologated seats and a homologated fire system, the hood pins, the isolator switches, everything. Just bring a co-driver, a pit crew, spares, tools, a breakdown kit, and a reconnaissance car for taking pace notes in.

While Lancia sees the Ypsilon HF Rally as being primarily a training car, it definitely has some competition potential, especially as its Peugeot 208 Racing sibling is homologated for FR6 rallying in France. Think of it almost like the gravel-running equivalent of an MX-5 Global Cup car or GR86 Cup car, but for even less dough. Sure, it would probably be cheaper in North America to buy a used, pre-built, logbook-equipped car, but for those with a bit of money to blow, love for rally, and a desire to get up and running easily, this sure looks like a great option. If you want one, reach out to Stellantis Motorsport, as deliveries are starting this autumn.

Top graphic image: Lancia

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