The reaction of a recent guest to my garage’s contents was extreme: as if the opening door revealed not a car, but something wild and untamed. Inside sat a Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evo – a vehicle whose physical form belies its emotional weight. And while that guest’s excitement is palpable, my decision to sell it after 24 years feels like a surrender.
For decades, the Integrale represented the pinnacle of rally-bred engineering. The Evo version, in particular, was a beast of a machine: aggressively styled, meticulously crafted, and brutally effective on both dirt and asphalt. I coveted one since the car’s dominance in Group A rallying during the late 80s and early 90s. My target was an Evo 1, the final Integrale built to FIA homologation standards.
In 2001, prices had fallen from the original £25,000 to just over five figures on the Italian market. An impulsive test drive in a striking Giallo Ferrari model along Lake Como sealed my fate. Within months, I drove it from Dover to Edinburgh, where it became my daily driver.
That commute wasn’t just transportation; it was a privilege. Scotland’s lightly trafficked roads, especially in the Borders, felt like a continuation of the RAC Rally stages that defined the Integrale’s legacy.
The car also inadvertently influenced my career. I wrote about it in an Autocar competition, though the editor’s feedback never arrived. Later, driven to pursue automotive journalism, I spent years working in London while the Integrale remained parked in Scotland.
Selling it feels like letting go of a piece of history, but the time has come to pass the torch. The Integrale deserves a driver who will fully appreciate its unique blend of power, heritage, and raw driving experience.
