This Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evo II is being offered for sale directly from the private collection of Rowan Atkinson, a racing driver, car collector, and occasional actor known for his roles in Mr Bean, Blackadder, and Johnny English.
The Integrale Evo II is arguably the most collectible of the homologation rally cars in the Lancia Delta family, a series that would become the most successful in World Rally Championship history, winning six Constructors’ Championships in a row between 1987 to 1992 and taking 46 wins in total.
Fast Facts – The Lancia Delta HF Integrale
- The Lancia Delta was released in 1979 as a four-door hatchback with styling by Giorgetto Giugiaro at Italdesign. The car proved immediately popular with both reviewers and buyers, and it was voted 1980 European Car of the Year.
- Special versions of the Lancia Delta were developed starting with the Delta HF, followed by the Delta HF Turbo, the all-wheel drive Delta HF 4WD, and the Delta HF Integrale which was released over four versions.
- The FIA Group A rally cars based on the Lancia Delta would go on to become the most successful in WRC history – winning six Constructors’ Championships in a row, 46 individual wins, and four Driver’s Championships with two each for Juha Kankkunen and Miki Biasion.
- The Lancia HF Integrale Evo II you see here currently belongs to world-renowned petrolhead and actor Rowan Atkinson, he’s offering it for sale through Silverstone Auctions on the 25th of February and it has a price guide of £65,000 – £75,000 or approximately $80,500 – $92,900 USD.
The Lancia Delta HF Integrale
The Lancia HF Integrale was first released in 1988, it was closely based on the earlier Delta HF 4WD but it incorporated a slew of improvements to help keep the car competitive in Group A rally against the likes of the hard charging new Toyota Celica GT-Four.
The wide wheel arches and aggressive styling of the HF Integrale Evo II are notably different to the much more simple styling of the Lancia Delta when it was first released back in the late 1970s.
Lancia had been using the “HF” (for “High Fidelity”) moniker on their high-performance cars since 1966 with a red elephant logo which had been chosen because “once an elephant starts running, nobody can stop it” – according to Gianni Lancia.
The all-wheel drive system used in the Lancia HF Integrale included a front mounted 2.0 liter inline-four cylinder turbocharged engine which powered the front and rear differentials through a central unit that consisted of a Ferguson viscous coupling.
When compared to the previous Delta HF 4WD, the newer HF Integrale had a larger Garrett T3 turbocharger, a revised electronic injection-ignition system, uprated brakes and suspension, wider wheel arches and wider wheels and tires, and a slew of smaller improvements.
This first version was followed a year later in 1989 by the further uprated Delta HF Integrale 16v, now with a 16 valve inline four in place of the earlier 8 valve engine, and a number of other improvements under the skin to keep the car competitive.
The 2.0 liter turbocharged engine produces 212 bhp at 5,750 rpm and 232 lb ft of torque at 2,500 rpm, power is sent to all four wheels and the car is capable of a 0 – 62 mph time of 5.7 seconds on to a top speed of 135 mph.
In 1991 at the Frankfurt Motor Show the Lancia Delta HF Integrale “Evoluzione” was released, it would be the first of two evolution models, now commonly referred to as the Evo I and Evo II.
Both of these Evo models would introduce their own range of upgrades, managing to keep the Delta competitive well into the early 1990s – a remarkable feat given that the model was first introduced in the late 1970s.
The Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evo II Shown Here
The car you see here is a desirable Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evo II, the much sought after final design iteration of the most successful WRC rally car ever made. The Evo II first appeared in 1993 with a newly upgraded iteration of the 2.0 liter 16 valve turbocharged inline-four cylinder DOHC engine.
Above Video: This is the famous appearance Rowan Atkinson made on Top Gear in the “Reasonably Priced Car” challenge.
Power was increased to 212 bhp at 5,750 rpm and 232 lb ft of torque at 2,500 rpm, the most of any of the road-going HF Delta variants. It remains the high watermark of the homologation Deltas and good examples now change hands for significant sums.
As mentioned in the introduction, this particular HF Integrale Evo II currently belongs to beloved actor and enthusiastic classic car racing driver Rowan Atkinson – it’s being sold out of his private collection.
The car is due to cross the auction block with Silverstone Auctions on the 25th of February, it has a price guide of £65,000 – £75,000 or approximately $80,500 – $92,900 USD, and you can visit the listing here if you’d like to read more or register to bid.
Images courtesy of Silverstone Auctions
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
