Few motorsport sagas combine raw mechanical beauty and grey-area ingenuity quite like the golden era of Group A rally. Now listed on gotothegrid, a legendary 1990 Lancia Delta HF Integrale Martini Racing bearing license plate TO51892N is stepping into the spotlight with a backstory that feels less like an untamed spy thriller.
Built by Abarth specifically for the grueling 1990 Safari Rally, official documentation lists this machine as a rapid assistance “chase car”. Driven by Dario Cerrato alongside mechanic Giacomo Luchi, it was packed with spare parts and tasked with traversing the exact same bone-jarring terrain as official team cars driven by Miki Biasion and Juha Kankkunen.
At least, that was the official story. The unofficial saga, whispered in rally paddocks for decades, suggests this humble support vehicle pulled off one of the greatest stealth operations in WRC history.
During the event, Finnish legend Juha Kankkunen suffered a catastrophic failure on his main #5 car. Legend has it that deep in the African bush, Abarth’s resourceful mechanics performed a secret identity transplant, swapping license plates, chassis identifiers, and components from the broken vehicle onto TO51892N. Kankkunen mysteriously rejoined the race in this swapped shell and clinched an unbelievable second-place finish.
While Lancia never officially confirmed this midnight identity theft, the physical evidence speaks louder than corporate PR: the car still sports Kankkunen’s custom-fitted racing seat and a hood stamped with the chassis number and license plate of his original rally machine.
Beyond the bush-craft intrigue, the Delta boasts undisputed star power. It appears in the iconic short film Lancia Works Magic, which documented its assembly from a bare shell to high-speed testing at the La Mandria circuit by driver Pinto and engineer Roberti.
Certified by FCA Heritage and Lancia Classiche, it remains frozen in time with authentic Safari equipment, including a triple Halda Trip-Master and an original 1990 Kenyan insurance sticker issued by Vic Preston. Donated to Telethon and held by a single owner since 1994, preserved intact in a private Lancia collection since 2004, this pristine Integrale may return to the public eye, eligible for prestigious historic events like Rallylegend, the Eifel Rallye Festival, ASI Targa Oro, and the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
