Lancia is returning to the performance market with a new hot hatch, for the first time in decades.
Unless you’re a bona fide car nut, chances are you’ve never really heard of Lancia. There’s a good reason for that: The Italian brand hasn’t really been a household name, let alone a hotbed of innovation, in decades. Instead, the brand’s churned out a single car with the Chrysler-based Ypsilon, which has seen little fanfare since it first launched in 2011. Things are different now, though, as the fourth-generation Ypsilon debuted earlier this year and has now even spawned a rally version: the Ypsilon HF.
Those who already know Lancia’s history will recognize the HF moniker from the Delta hatchback. The Delta HF Integrale absolutely dominated the World Rally Championship, taking home 46 overall victories and winning the constructor’s championship six times in a row between 1987 and 1992. In other words, this car (along with the Stratos, the 037 and the Delta S4) cemented Lancia’s reputation as the most successful marque in rallying history. (To the Italian company’s ten WRC titles, Citroën has eight, Toyota has seven and Peugeot has five as of the end of the 2023 season.)
This latest Lancia Ypsilon HF is based on the “Common Modular Platform” shared with the Peugeot 208 and several other hatchbacks under Stellantis’ European brands. Unlike past turbocharged models, though, this car is completely electric. Thanks to a single front-mounted motor, the Ypsilon HF manages 237 horsepower, up from 154 in the standard three-cylinder car. If that number sounds a bit familiar, it’s because this is the same powertrain used in both the Alfa Romeo Junior and the overseas Fiat 600e. While Lancia claims a solid 5.8-second 0-60 time, range from the 54.0-kWh battery may be substantially lower than the standard electric Ypsilon’s 250-mile estimate.
What about the actual rally car?
In addition to the sportily styled Ypsilon HF, the automaker also revealed its actual rally car, called the Ypsilon Rally 4 HF. Now, this car is not an electric model, and will instead rock the standard car’s 1.2-liter three-cylinder engine. Here, though, it manages 209 horsepower (almost as much as the EV). All that power spins its way through the front wheels via a 5-speed sequential transmission.
As the layout, the power output and the name would suggest if you’re a WRC buff, Lancia’s new rally-prepped Ypsilon will compete in Group Rally4. Racing in this segment requires the vehicles be two-wheel drive with certain engine sizes, power-to-weight specifications and production requirements (i.e. automakers must produce or “homologate” at least 2,500 units for the public to buy).
Sadly, none of those road-going Lancia Ypsilon HF cars I mentioned above will most likely never come to North America. Nevertheless, it’s still exciting to see Stellantis trying to breathe some life back into a storied brand, and we’ll see what comes of their promise to revive the Gamma sedan and Delta hatchback in the coming years.