Chassis 208, a 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Group B monster crafted by Abarth, is officially up for grabs. Adorned in the instantly recognizable green, white, and orange Totip livery, this is an authentic piece of rallying sanity-defiance that actually survived the terrifying peak of the Group B era.
Before it put on its iconic Jolly Club racing colors, chassis 208 served as an unsparing guinea pig for the factory Lancia Martini Racing team. Built to full Evolution specs, the car’s early career consisted of going mercilessly thrashed during pre-season testing for the 1986 World Rally Championship.
Rally legend Miki Biasion originally piloted the prototype through the icy roads of Valle d’Aosta to dial in Pirelli snow tires for the Monte Carlo Rally. Shortly after, Finnish flying doctor Markku Alén strapped himself in to subject the chassis to punishing high-speed gravel and snow testing in Finland.
Once the factory engineers were sure that the chassis wouldn’t immediately disintegrate under twin-charged pressure, the Delta S4 was handed over to privateer powerhouse Jolly Club. Dressed in its iconic Totip warpaint, chassis 208 made its competitive debut at the March 1986 Rally 1000 Miglia. Driven by Dario Cerrato and navigator Giuseppe Cerri, the car dominated, securing an outright victory ahead of another Delta. It followed up that stellar performance with a podium finish at the European Rally Championship’s Rally Costa Smeralda, taking third overall right behind Henri Toivonen’s factory S4 and Andrea Zanussi’s Peugeot 205 T16.
Restoring some sanity to its life after competition, the car went to its first private owner in 1988, who cherished it for nearly three decades before it joined the late John Campion’s famed collection and subsequently migrated to a British collector.
Today, meticulously maintained and fully documented, chassis 208 represents the holy grail for collectors with deep pockets and courage to match. While Girardo & Co keeps the asking price under the dreaded “Price Upon Request” moniker, one thing is certain: buying six modern hot hatches won’t get you anywhere near the glorious, terrifying soul of this Totip-liveried legend.
