1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero Concept
Standing just 33 inches (84 centimeters) from the ground (lower than Pininfarina’s already provocative Modulo), the Stratos HF Zero arrived at the 1970 Turin Motor Show as perhaps the most extreme statement in a period defined by extreme statements.
Marcello Gandini conceived the Zero around a single constraint: how low could a functioning car be built? The answer required placing both occupants nearly horizontal between the front wheels, with entry achieved by pushing the steering column forward while a hydraulic mechanism simultaneously tilted the entire windscreen upward to allow access.
Full-width lighting elements spanned both ends of the car, with a row of headlights integrated into the sharply angled nose and a series of small round taillights set across the truncated tail.
Beneath the wedge-shaped bodywork lay a 1,584cc narrow-angle V-4 sourced from the Lancia Fulvia HF, producing approximately 115 horsepower through a five-speed manual gearbox. Disc brakes appeared at all four corners.
Despite sharing almost nothing visually with what came later, the Zero directly prompted Lancia’s commission to Bertone for a rally-focused sports car (a conversation that eventually produced the production Stratos HF). The prototype was restored in the early 2000s to its original bronze livery, as shown at its Turin debut.
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