1990 Lancia Delta HF Integrale – Auction Car of the Week

There are a few cars that require no introduction. Those bona fide legends that everybody, whether an auto enthusiast or not, has heard of. The Lancia Delta HF Integrale is one such car and although it may not need an introduction we’re going to give it one anyway, because we want to, frankly. We could talk about the HF Integrale all day long such is our (and a hell of a lot of other people’s) affinity for the thing, but then this is a far cry from the original Delta that came out in ’79. It may well have been designed by the legend that is Giorgetto Giugiaro but when all’s said and done that car was a pretty standard five-door hatchback. It wasn’t until the bright glare of the motorsport spotlight was aimed at the Delta that it was catapulted well and truly into iconic territory.

At the other end of the scale to that original family runabout is the S4 Stradale version. The HF isn’t the full-on, box of frogs car that this particular incarnation is either, with the S4 being reserved for the truly unhinged. The HF was a more refined but still blisteringly fast and hugely engaging car that retained a lot of what made the rally-going Integrales such a force to be reckoned with. We’ve spoken about homologation specials abundantly in the past, and we will continue to do so, but suffice to say you should all be aware of the rules by now when it comes to producing road-going versions of race cars and the Delta Integrale HF was finessed with that same brush.

As we briefly touched upon earlier, the HF Integrale had come a long way since the original Delta with its factory 1.3 and 1.5-litre four-cylinder engines. A very long way. The first HF – which stands for High Fidelity and has been used to denote spicy Lancias since the ’60s – hit the streets in ’86 and was fitted with a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-pot. Next came the interim Delta HF turbo and Delta HF 4WD variants before giving way to the first HF Integrale as the top of the pile Delta. Denoted as the “8v” it was fitted with a 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engine with, you guessed it, eight valves. It also retained the all-wheel drive setup of the previous model which, combined with that fruity, 182bhp motor meant a 0-60 time of around 6.5seconds and a top speed of 135mph.

That wasn’t enough for Lancia, however, and so they developed a 16-valve version, again for rallying and with peak power upped to almost 200bhp, the 16v Delta HF Integrale shaved almost a second off of the car’s 0-60 time whilst simultaneously increasing its top speed to just shy of 140mph. Making its competition debut at the San Remo Rally in 1989, seven months after being unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show, the Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v took home the win, continuing the success of the previous HFs. But enough about the car’s prodigious motorsport career, that’s for a separate feature. Let’s instead talk about the road-going version we have for sale via our auctions platform.

This particular 1990 16v model, resplendent in its beautiful Rosso Monza paint, is largely original and in unmodified condition which make it a highly desirable example of an already incredibly sought-after car. This isn’t a pristine, concours Integrale. Yes, it’s in great shape throughout, with no significant corrosion but it has been used and driven, as the 125K kms on the clock will attest, and that’s a good thing. It’s just been serviced too, and along with a €4,000 bill in its recent past you can be confident to slip behind that perfectly designed three-spoke steering wheel and actually enjoy the thing. There are some marks here and there, as well as some areas of wear to the interior but it displays these blemishes with pride. It is derived from a rally car after all and a rally car without any wounds, or badges of honour as we like to call them, just doesn’t seem right.

The Lancia Delta HF Integrale remains a proper legend and an incredibly fun car to drive so why on earth would you want to keep it ensconced in a garage? That would truly be a sacrilegious thing to do so get this one bought and get it driven. We guarantee you won’t regret it.