Restoreable/Salvageable Stratii

[Symbiont]

Does anyone know where I might find an original Stratos (either Stradale or Competition) that is in need of repair/restoration. The only avenue I have thought to explore would be tracing down each of the 490 built and finding one fitting the criteria, either destroyed in practice on a track, but able to be rebuilt or even someone who owns one but wants to sell it (No idea why any sane human would want to).

[Randle Roberts]

I am in the process of restoring a slightly damaged Stratos now. You might think it more economical to rebuild a wrecked one but I think you would be much better off trying to buy the best one you can afford as you will probably have as much or more money in the project and that is not counting the endless hours of your time. I tend to enjoy it but then I have always been a glutton for punishment. Truly, there are only a few people competent to properly rebuild these cars and the time and expense involved is an open ended thing. The hunt for the correct parts= many hours of your time and many parts are rare, unavailable or must be fabricated all of which = money, money,money. Better to take out a loan and get a decent car to start with as you will essentially be making payments (restoration costs) anyway as you restore the car.

[tryphon]

I agree 100% with Randle.
There are quite a few cars in the market right now.

[Symbiont]

Hmm, I suspected as much. However, time and money are really the only two things I have these days, and a lot like you Randle, I tend to be a definite glutton for punishment (Witness the fact that I just restored a 1979 Chevrolet Monza 2+2 to better that original specs, put about $58,000 into a car not worth more than 6K, but you know sentimental value). One question though, Randle said that "there are only a few people competent to properly rebuild these cars", what levels of competency are required to rebuild a Stratos as compared with any other historic rebuild? And finally, as far as rare parts, I haven't had any problem thus far with any of the restorations I have done in finding rare parts, not even an accurate date stamped carb for a 69' 427 Corvette. Oh, by the way for parts that need to be fabricated, let's just say that I'm on a first name basis with my local CNC machine shop.

[tryphon]

Randle raised another very valid point: It will cost you roughly double to build a car from parts and repair an accident damaged chassis than buying one of the many on the market.
Chassis repairs can only be carried out in Italy where knowledgeable people can do it properly. There are 2 or 3 shops that specialize in such cars.
Prices have risen quite significantly recently and the average Stradale price is around 100K euros. Original group 4 cars can be had at 200K euros and upwards.
I transformed my Stradale to Group 4 (less gearbox and dash) myself using original parts. I could have gotten another Stradale for the price it cost me and I did most of the labour myself.
If you're interested you can check: http://wwww.rallycars.com/Cars/Lancia/Stratos2.html and the following pages to see what the work involved.

If I had to do it again I would have bought a Group 4 car but I wanted to use my car on legal plates so there was not much choice.
Having access to a CNC shop can only help when you know exactly what the parts should be but this information is unavailable and the only way to go is to copy existing parts which are scarse and expensive.

Bottom line: buy a runnig car at the spec your funds will allow.

[Chris J]

'Just checked that URL is actually:
http://www.rallycars.com/Cars/Lancia/Stratos3.html

Very interesting photos. though.

Tryphon,

How is the engine oil cooled on a 246? I've never seen a cooler on a Dino or Stratos?

[chris.richard]

I haven't had any problem thus far with any of the restorations I have done in finding rare parts, not even an accurate date stamped carb for a 69' 427 Corvette.

Yes, but I imagine there were more of them made than the 400 Stratos!

[tryphon]

Both the Dino and Stratos use a water to oil heat exchanger located on the left side of the engine.

[Symbiont]

Thanks guys for all your help, I'll probably end up going for a nice $112,500 model in Las Vegas as opposed to trying to find a beat up restorable car. And as for chris.richard's comment... yeah you probably are right for most of the parts, but the carb I was referring to was identical to the original right down to the day of manufacture, so figure only 3-500 of them were produced on that one day.

[tryphon]

The car you are refering to has been discussed here before. It contains many non-original items (steering wheel, wheels, seats re-uphostered, gear selector boot, door mirrors, radio antenna, on first look), has been repainted and disgraceful Ferrari stickers cover it. A stop light has also been added. Its price has also been raised although the car is unsold for more than 2 years.
The items missing are hard to find and very expensive. I would consider negociating a substantial discount on these grounds....

[Symbiont]

Believe me Tryphon, I intend to receive a very drastic discount if I purchase that Stratos in particular. I have seen that one in person, and your assessment of it is nigh perfect. Least the owner could have done is put on a Bertone decal as opposed to a gaudy Ferrari one.

[tryphon]

Just curious but may I ask where your interest in the Stratos comes from?

[Symbiont]

Well, you're probably going to laugh, but I had never heard of the Stratos until I saw it in Gran Turismo 2 for the Playstation. At first glance in the game, I liked the style of the car, and the way it seemed to handle. The makers of the game put in a little blurb about the origins of the Stratos, but it wasn't very detailed though. That lack of detail definitely whet my appetite for finding out more about this amazing car, so I started digging, and I didn't find a single piece of information about this car that failed to pique my interest even further. Then about a year or so ago, I happened to be in Las Vegas on business, and decided to check up on that one for sale. Aside from my distaste for the lack of original parts, I fell in love with the car. An absolute blast to drive, and looks to give any other car fits of jealousy. So now, I am looking for an original Stratos to make mine. Sorry for the rambling, but you did ask.

[Stephenos]

Symbiont, no one would laugh as we all have our own stories as to how we came to have this affliction. Mine came from the pages of Automobile Quarterly Magazine (http://www.autoquarterly.com/). Although to be honest, I was lost to the infernal combustion disorder from birth.

As to your interest for original cars for sale, you should search the archives of this forum. There have been numerous cars counted, critiqued, categorized, and a few even canonized over the years. I'm sure you'll find more than a couple still around.
If your up to the challenge you may want to try and contact this bloke about his gr4 resto project. Although the thread was first posted back on January 22nd, 2003, it might not have progressed much since that time. (He stopped responding to my emails, hmmmmmm I wonder why :confused: )
real one for sale (http://www.stratossupersite.com/forum/showthread.php?t=360) posted by chris.richard

[Martin K]

Randle raised another very valid point: It will cost you roughly double to build a car from parts and repair an accident damaged chassis than buying one of the many on the market.
Chassis repairs can only be carried out in Italy where knowledgeable people can do it properly. There are 2 or 3 shops that specialize in such cars.
Prices have risen quite significantly recently and the average Stradale price is around 100K euros. Original group 4 cars can be had at 200K euros and upwards.
I transformed my Stradale to Group 4 (less gearbox and dash) myself using original parts. I could have gotten another Stradale for the price it cost me and I did most of the labour myself.
If you're interested you can check: http://wwww.rallycars.com/Cars/Lancia/Stratos2.html and the following pages to see what the work involved.

If I had to do it again I would have bought a Group 4 car but I wanted to use my car on legal plates so there was not much choice.
Having access to a CNC shop can only help when you know exactly what the parts should be but this information is unavailable and the only way to go is to copy existing parts which are scarse and expensive.

Bottom line: buy a runnig car at the spec your funds will allow.

Gartrac in the UK, apart from producing World Rally Championship winng Escorts, have built at least one Stratos from scratch - for a well know TV celebrity. Ask them first about restoration prices before you run off to Italy.

Martin

[tryphon]

Gartrac in the UK, apart from producing World Rally Championship winng Escorts, have built at least one Stratos from scratch - for a well know TV celebrity. Ask them first about restoration prices before you run off to Italy.

Martin

This approach will get you a chassis and Gartrac are not the only source. You can have a new chassis made, identical to the original, elsewhere.
You will still need the rest of the car and this will prove very difficult and extremely expensive as compared to buyying a running original...

[x19er]

I don't know if Dennis Mcann still has his car or not but it is still on his website:

http://www.allferrariparts.com/cars/mccstrblu.html