Chantilly Arts & Élégance Richard Mille 2024

Stellantis Heritage is taking part in Chantilly Arts & Élégance Richard Mille 2024, one of the world’s leading events focusing on automotive beauty, due to take place this year from September 12 to 15 in the gardens of the Château de Chantilly.

Stellantis Heritage is featuring at the seventh Chantilly Arts & Élégance Richard Mille event. Held from September 12 to 15, it is hosting over 800 vintage cars, prototypes and production models, for an audience of enthusiasts from all over the world.

Alongside the latest additions to the current line-ups from Alfa Romeo (33 Stradale and Junior) and Lancia (New Ypsilon and Pu+Ra HPE), two of the brightest jewels shine through from the Stellantis historical collection: the 1971 Alfa Romeo 33 Spider Cuneo and the 1973 Lancia Stratos road car.

With its magnificent bodywork to a design by Franco Scaglione, the 1967 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale was based directly on the Sport racing car. The model soon went on to attract other designers, at a time when ‘dream cars’ with futuristic lines were featuring at international motor shows. After Bertone’s Carabo, Pininfarina’s P33 Roadster and 33/2 Coupé Speciale, and the Italdesign Iguana, Pininfarina interpreted the Alfa chassis for the last time in 1971, when he unveiled in Brussels the 33 Spider that would later be named “Cuneo.” This prototype used the chassis that had already given rise to the P33 Roadster, the bodywork of which was dismantled and replaced by a perfect wedge shape with taut and angular lines. The few round edges left on the mudguard hinted at the width of the tires, while the only truly curved part was the windshield which – like a low and streamlined shell but wrapping around like the visor of a helmet – rose slightly from the taut lines of the sides. The engine was unparalleled, a 1995-cc V8 capable of delivering 230 hp, controlled by a 6-speed gearbox. This one-off forms part of the collection at the Alfa Romeo Historical Museum in Arese.

We remain in the field of true rarities for Lancia too. Indeed, one of the brand's historic icons is presented: a 1973 Lancia Stratos, a ‘unique’ model that has always belonged to the brand given its use as a ‘laboratory’ car, although its road version featured distinctly sporty specifications suitable for racing.  Its DNA is therefore a “brutal and efficient” racing car's, created to win and to break the mold, a contributing factor to making Lancia the most successful brand in rallying history.

Produced by a collaboration between the hand of Marcello Gandini for Bertone and the intuition of Cesare Fiorio who led the Lancia HF racing team at the time, the Stratos HF (High Fidelity) – later fitted with the Ferrari V6 Dino engine – was a short two-seater coupé with a steel body and subframes, fiberglass bodywork, rear mid-engine and rear-wheel drive to improve traction. Taking this outstanding basis as a starting point, Lancia's engineers created a car with a very strong sporting connotation in 1973: the cabin was designed as a steel safety cell, to which two chassis with square steel tubes were welded to support the powertrain and rear MacPherson suspension with anti-roll bar, suitable for tires of various sizes and easily adjustable to different heights. Like the bodywork, the doors were made from a single piece of fiberglass, so they could be opened quickly, and removed if necessary. The mechanical components were therefore highly accessible, an essential factor during servicing at rallies. The line was also completely redesigned by Gandini and, while maintaining an extreme wedge design, shared none of its panels with the original prototype. As a result, the Lancia Stratos Stradale became the first car specifically designed for rallying and then to be mass-produced, albeit in limited numbers. The iconic round taillights – a source of inspiration for the New Lancia Ypsilon's – together with the aerodynamic wing and the eclectic combination of primary colors in the interior made the Lancia Stratos a futuristic design model that remains contemporary to this day.