At the Frankfurt Motor Show, Fenomenon presents its interpretation of the 1970's Lancia Stratos. Already displayed at the Geneva Motor Show, this time the Stratos made in UK features the original Alitalia racing colours, since the Italian airline gave the authorization to use their logos.

The London based design studio engaged Prodrive, a British motorsport and automotive technology specialist, to bring its creation to production reality.

Prodrive is currently undertaking a feasibility study to examine all the engineering aspects of the project. Further announcements will be made not before early 2006.

Since from the first sketches the designers at Fenomenon wanted the original Alitalia racing logos for their creation...
The Fenomenon Stratos at the Frankfurt Motor Show

The Design - Reinterpreting the Stratos

Lancia Stratos Prototype (1970)

The Lancia Stratos is still one of the most fascinating sportcar from the 1970's.

The first prototype was created in 1970 by Marcello Gandini, who was employed at Bertone, and was a very futuristic concept.

On this base the italian coachbuilder developed for Lancia the production model, that was built in 492 units and won three World Rally Championship titles, from 1974 to 1976.

Its racing successes, together with its unique style, make the Stratos a perfect theme for a modern reinterpretation.

The original Stratos (below) and two modern
reinterpretations: Stola's S81 and the
Fenomenon's concept

Fenomenon isn't the first design studio that faces this challenge: in 2000, Stola, the Italian engineering company, presented a prototype called Stola S81, designed by Marcello Gandini, the author of the original model.

By comparing the Fenomenon and the Stola concepts, many similarities can be found: the over-sized wheel arches, the small overhangs, the side windows shape.

Anyway while Gandini put the accent on the compactness of the volumes and the wedge-like design, underlined by the shape of the side window and the lower air intake, creating a car with smooth surfaces, Fenomenon emphasizes the muscolarity of the original Lancia, by further developing such elements like the crisp shoulder line, the sharp-edges and the headlights that are well-defined and mounted like gems on the body.

So, apart from the basic idea, the Stratos by Fenomenon is totally different from the Stola S81 prototype.

The most unique feature is the central pillar that splits the windscreen: it provides the hinge mounting for the doors and, according to Fenomenon, is less obtrusive to forward visibility than the conventional "A" pillars used in modern cars.

(Source: Fenomenon)