The 'New Stratos' project is right back in the limelight and since the announcement a few days ago that a production run of twenty five cars would be built this year, more information and technical detail has been presented by Manifattura Automobili Torino (MAT), the little known Turin-based company behind the dramatic rejuvination of a concept that had appeared dead and buried.
As with the first phase of this project, which was comissioned by German businessman Michael Stoschek almost exactly a decade ago, with design and development subsequently being led by Pininfarina, the production version will continue to utilise a heavily reworked Ferrari F430 chassis and powertrain.
"The transformation base price will be 550,000 euros, plus the donor vehicle," MAT said in an email. "Donor vehicles will be all pre-registered and then heavily modified and customised in accordance to the customer's personal requirements."
MAT will present the New Stratos at next month's Geneva Motor Show and first deliveries will begin almost immediately afterwards with buyers already being lined up, implying that the low volume build phase is already at an advanced stage.
"The first car will be delivered in April 2018," MAT added. "We have already been placed one order and negotiation with other customers that showed their interest to the purchase is close to the final phase."
Keeping close to history (the original Lancia Stratos featured a 2.4-litre V6 Ferrari 'Dino' power unit) the New Stratos will use Ferrari's contemporary 4308cc V8 engine from the F136 engine family but in highly modified format, with power of 540 hp at 8,200 rpm and peak torque of 519 Nm at 3,750 rpm.
Those figures trounce the standard Ferrari F430 which had 483 hp, but delivered at higher revs, and 465 Nm of torque, also at higher revs, as well as the evolutionary 430 Scuderia which saw its horsepower upped to 503 hp.
It means the new Stratos has a stunning power-to-weight ratio of 2.3 kg/hp compared to 2.96 kg/hp of the F430 and 2.5 kg/hp of the 430 Scuderia. It demonstrates one clear reason why Ferrari stopped Pininfarina and other members of its supply chain from being involved in the New Stratos programme - and thus scuppering the project until now - due to the fact that the New Stratos clearly beats its own cars in the performance - as well as dynamic - stakes.
The engine in the New Stratos is mated up to a 6-speed sequential gearbox while a stainless steel exhaust system with twin rear round exits also features.
Thanks to its all carbon fibre body and the trimmed down aluminium chassis from the F430, the New Stratos will weigh in at 1247 kg with an excellent 44/56 weight distribution.
That's also well below the weight of the F430 (1,517 kg) and its lightened successor the 430 Scuderia (1,430 kg) and its thanks to weight savings and a much shortened chassis.
The New Stratos is 4,181 mm long, impressively 330 mm shorter than the F430, while the wheelbase of 2,400 mm is 201 mm shorter than the donor car which means a significant chassis upgrade work has to be undertaken.
The front and rear tracks are 1668 mm and 1701 mm respectively while the New Stratos keeps its overhangs short at both the front (968 mm) and the rear (913 mm). Height is 1,240 mm while width comes in at 1971 mm.
The carbon brake discs are quoted at 398 mm at the front and 350 mm at the rear which would imply that the braking system is carried straight over from the 430 Scuderia at the front, which was also this size, while the rear brake discs on all F430 family models are 350 mm. Front calipers are 6-pot and rears 4-pot.
The New Stratos sits on beautifully designed new 19-inch wheels that superbly reinterpret the original car's iconic rims. At the front there are 265/30 tyres while at the rear to help plant all that power the new model has 315/30 tyres.
All that work reaps dynamic dividends as the New Stratos will accelerate from 0-100 km/h in just 3.3 seconds and to 100 km/h in 9.7 seconds while it can brake from 100 km/h to standstill in 2.2 seconds. It's a true successor, the original Stratos offered 190 hp from its 'Dino V6' engine and a 0-100 km/h time in road configuation of 6.8 seconds.
Photos: New Stratos
