When we drove the New Lancia Stratos earlier this year, the money man behind it, Michael Stoschek, told us “the tools are good enough for 25 more units. For about €600,000 apiece, Pininfarina probably could built it. I won’t become a car manufacturer. I am just keeping the copyright.” Since then, over 40 prospective buyers have raised their hands, but they’ve all just been thrown a nasty curveball that could leave the New Stratos in teh lurch.
The single example currently in existence started life as a Ferrari 430 Scuderia. Stoschek and Austrian designer Chris Hrabalek handed the car over to Pininfarina, who then did the cutting, pasting, and carbon-fiber shaping necessary to create the smaller, lighter Stratos. Naturally then, it was expected that Pininfarina would repeat the process on whatever 360 Modena, F430, or 458 Italia Stoschek’s new friends hand over for conversion. However, the Italian coachbuilder has decided, according to a press release on www.new-stratos.com, “that they will only carry out construction of a limited run with the express permission of Ferrari.” Concern turns to sorrow in the next sentence: “Despite Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo’s excellent assessment of the New Stratos after his test drive at Fiorano, Ferrari does not consent to construction of the planned limited run by either Pininfarina or any other Ferrari-dependent suppliers.” What’s the Italian word for buzzkill?
Maybe di Montezemolo is cranky because of a personal struggle with liking a Lancia more than one of his own prancing ponies, but a better guess is that he can’t get behind the idea of reducing the Ferrari population by the dozens, regardless of the final product. Since Stoschek—and not Pininfarina—owns the copyright to the car, production hopes aren’t totally dead, but they aren’t at their highest, either. Seeing the cars built will require a coachbuilder who isn’t afraid of a permanent disassociation with Ferrari and while “appropriate contacts are being made at this time,” pissing off the Scuderia is a lot to ask of anyone in the business of assembling European sports cars.
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