The new Lancia Stratos is being prepared for November 30

Anyone who didn’t feel something special in the pit of their stomach the first time the first photos of this particular project to revive the Lancia Stratos were shown must not care about cars at all. This new interpretation (a free one, by the way) of the Stratos is a long way from that Lancia Stratos of Group 4, but much closer to what drives the spirit of the sports car world: good looks, a good engine, and the ability to tackle corners as easily as it does straights.

But the images and videos we have shown you over the last month do not yet reflect the final look or technical specifications the car will have. Only on November 30 will we be able to see the finished model, presented on the Paul Ricard circuit. Until then, it seems that nothing seen so far is final, not even the sound of the engine’s exhaust.

Do you think shortening an Ferrari F-430 and the short wheelbase is sacrilege? The dimensions are probably a bit tight for the power the Stratos will have, from the F-430 GT2 engine. But on the plus side, the chassis design has nothing to do with that of Ferrari; it is a completely new project built on what was done at Maranello, although the aluminium used in Ferrari has been replaced with carbon fibre, and the roll cage is not an add-on but integrated into the car.

And no, it doesn’t have much to do with the earlier Stratos, the one that won rally races. Even so, I think it will be one of the launches of the year, more than 30 years after the Stratos gave way to its successors in competition. Amid so many electric, hybrid and other cars, old names never die. They always come back. And they do so in style, much better than the original.