Welcome to the second episode of Beyond The Details, hosted by Tim McNair of Grand Prix Concours. In this series, we’ll be following McNair as he travels America performing concours-level preparation to some of the rarest, most expensive and exclusive vehicles… in the world.
In the first episode, McNair demonstrated a new technique, dry-ice cleaning, and the car getting all the pampering was a McLaren F1. The film is well worth a watch. Now it’s the turns of a Lancia Stratos. It’s the first time McNair has seen this particular Stratos, and at the time of filming he is viewing it in all its unfiltered glory for the first time as the cameras roll. “I don’t know what I’m getting into,” says McNair, “which is kind of fun, I guess; sort of walking up to the edge of a cliff and standing there.” He rightly describes the arched windscreen as “probably the greatest windshield known to man.”
The origins of the Stratos’ daring design date back to 1970, and a certain outlandish concept car called the Stratos Zero, which was revealed by Bertone at that year’s 1970 Turin Motor Show. By the time the next year’s show had come around, Bertone had evolved the concept into a more practical – well, in relative terms to the Zero – machine and Cesare Fiorio, who lead Lancia’s motorsport division, saw an opportunity to move on from the Fulvia coupé. By 1972, a development chassis was undergoing extensive testing in readiness for the Tour de Corse Tarmac rally.
In this episode, McNair takes us around this iconic rally car which is clearly well used on all manner of surfaces – hooray – and reveals the secrets of detailing a prized object like this which would undoubtedly be a daunting task to all but the most experienced detailer.
He cleans up under the front ‘bonnet’, as well as under the rear clamshell in the engine compartment, then takes us into the interior where we get to have our first look at one of the most unique windshields ever produced, followed by polishing it to make it look as if it just left the factory back in the 70s.
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