Against ALL ODDs.

Group B Giant

In the early 1980s, rally racing was changing fast. New machines with advanced technology were arriving, and many believed the future belonged to powerful four-wheel-drive cars like the Audi Quattro. Against them stood a small Italian challenger — the Lancia 037.

Lightweight, beautiful, and driven by passion rather than brute force, the 037 looked almost outdated. It had only rear-wheel drive while its rivals used cutting-edge traction systems. On paper, it shouldn’t have stood a chance.

But rallying is not only about machines. It is about courage, skill, and determination. With drivers like Walter Röhrl and Markku Alén pushing the car to its limits, the Lancia 037 fought through the world’s toughest rallies.

In 1983, the impossible happened. Against the technological giant Audi Quattro, the Lancia 037 helped secure the World Rally Championship for Lancia — becoming the last rear-wheel-drive car ever to win the WRC manufacturers’ title.

It was a victory of ingenuity over raw power, of passion over probability.

A reminder that sometimes, even in a world driven by technology, heart and courage can still win — against all odds.

Why 037?

The Lancia 037 did something to the way I design.

Its blunt, aggressive 80s lines pushed me to be less polite with shapes. Sharper edges. Harsher cuts. More confidence in the geometry. The car doesn’t try to smooth things out — it stands there with attitude, all tension and intent.

There is something very Italian about it. Passionate, dramatic, slightly irrational, and somehow beautiful because of it. The proportions are a bit strange, the surfaces sometimes almost brutal, yet the whole thing works.

The 037 didn’t just stay a favorite car.

It slipped into my head and heart.

Like a small drop of 80s cocaine into my design martini cocktail — suddenly the lines get sharper, the stance gets meaner, and everything feels a little more dangerous.