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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Does anyone have a feel for how well the new Ypsilon is doing in Italy? The very elderly previous generation was the #3 selling passenger vehicle in the country (and #1 in its size class) in the final year of production, but the only figures I’ve seen for this new one were from early in the year, which showed the nameplate down like 27% in January.
I haven’t read Lewin’s (surely fine) article yet, but just wanted to post to say that I approve of that Lancia’s livery. What a cute elephant! Reminds me of the Anawalt (building supply/tools) logo, or of the one from Zojirushi (rice cookers, etc…). A smiling/running elephant just makes me smile too. 🙂
Built with that fine Stellantis quality that you’ve come to expect and love.
Love any purpose built “affordable” customer race car, especially rally!
Yes please!
You had me at rally.
A rally car has to look good covered it dust and dust, like how the Peugeot 106 Rallye looked great dirty. This, with the so many glossy black panels, feels like trail running with your brand new, white Vaporfly’s. But good to see Lancia making exciting cars again and great to see the elephant. I’m probably the only who wonders why both Italian companies Lancia and Cagiva have elephants in their logo.. only a coincidence?
A step in the right direction for bringing Lancia back to peoper life
I love stage rally, it’s by far my favorite motorsport. Too bad it’s gotten so obscure. And I’d love a Lancia, but if I bought a Lancia, I’d want a different Lancia. A Fulvia perhaps.
2025 is a weird year
Sweet ride but if I’m spending that on a modded Lancia I’m going with the new Stratos kit you can buy. Is supposed to be better than the original with mostly new Stratos parts made from the original factory machines.
Isn’t this saying If I’m spending $45k on this, I’d rather spend $500k on the new Stratos?? That’s a pretty big delta, but maybe your buying power is on a different level than mine.
No there is a company in the UK called Lister Bell making a replica of the Stratos called the STR that 3a close copy of the Stratos prices to have one built are around $55k.
Ah! I didn’t know of that one.
is the hefelump decals included?
No but they’ll throw in some Woozles for a couple hundred.
While I don’t love the front end styling, I like everything else. About fifteen years ago I had a coworker who was a semi-pro rally driver. I remember him coming in grumpy one Monday, caused by a mid-stage rollover during a race that past weekend that tweaked the car enough that the organizers informed him they would never certify the chassis again. It was discussing the money and effort to buy a new chassis and swap everything that I realized how cheap it is to build a rally car for a single race, but how expensive it is to build a competitive car to race more than once. That Lancia would be an absolute steal back then even at today’s prices.
Absolutely love it, not gonna say Lancia’s back but damn if this isn’t a great step in the right direction. Love the elephant graphic on the side too!
Canada had the Nissan Micra Cup car for 20k their money. Too bad Nissan didn’t sell the Micra down here 🙁
I mean, that’s all well and good, but did they have to make it look like that? Modern Lancia design makes me deeply sad.
Such a downgrade from previous classics. Also, I really dislike this trend of replacing logos with text. At least most cars limit that to the rear.
It has a face only a mother could love