No sooner had the exciting, but increasingly dangerous, Group B rallying category been killed off in May 1986, than rally teams needed to develop new Group A cars. To be competitive, the cars would need four-wheel-drive, and engines producing at least 300bhp to bring them up to the notional limits imposed by the sport's governing body. Luckily for Lancia, the new 2-litre Delta HF4WD had just been launched, and formed an ideal basis for development. This book tells how the HF 4WD evolved over the years - first into the Integrale with its original 8-valve engine, then the Integrale 16V, and ultimately into the Integrale 16V Evo 1 (or 'Deltona', as it was affectionately known). This compact, five-door Lancia dominated world-class rallying for six years, winning innumerable events, World Championships for Drivers, and World Championships for Manufacturers. Alongside the cars, driving heroes such as Markku Alan, Didier Auriol, Miki Biasion, Juha Kankkunen and Carlos Sainz also became legendary in this period. The Integrale was both the most successful rally ever produced by Lancia, and the last, for when the car came to the end of its career in 1993, the company finally and irrevocably withdrew from the sport.
About the author: Graham Robson possesses a worldwide reputation as a motoring historian, and has been close to the sport of rallying for many years, as a competitor, team manager, organiser, reporter, commentator and observer; in more than forty years he has never lost touch with the sport. Not only has Graham competed in many British and European events, he's also reported on marathons in South America, and acted as a travelling controller in the legendary London-Mexico World Cup Rally. As a recognised authority on many aspects of classic cars and motoring of that period, he is the most prolific of all authors, with more than 130 published books to his credit. Over the years Graham has owned, driven, described and competed in many of the cars featured in the Rally Giants Series, and his insight to their merits is unmatched.
