On the list of “Random things I never expected to see in Japan” was this incredibly-rare Lancia 037 Stradale sitting outside in the rain in Wakayama…

For those that aren’t aware of what an 037 is, don’t worry you’re not alone. The Lancia 037 was a mid-engine sports/rally car built in the 1980s to compete in the FIA Grouo B World Rally Championship. It is notable because it was the last RWD car to win the WRC, which it did in 1983. Because of Homologation requirements in the WRC, Lancia had to create a minimum of 200 street-able production cars to compete. From ‘82-84, a total of 207 are known to have been produced…

The owner of this one, has 2 of the 207…

Yasu and I had originally planned to go meet our friend Iwakura from High Spec for dinner. He’s one of the best ECU tuners in the Kansai area and his shop is one I’ve never shown you much of before. It’s like 10x more cluttered than Yasu’s lol. He wanted to show us his customer’s Lancia and I initially assumed it was a Delta Integrale, which I come across sometimes in Japan. Never did I expect to see an 037, which is probably worth north of $700k today—just posted outside in this quiet city by the sea…

The body comes as you see it, made of carbon Kevlar reinforced in fiberglass before being covered in red. The car weighs just 2,579 lbs powered by a High Spec-tuned 2.0L dry-sumped engine equipped with an Abarth Volumex supercharger. Forged Speedline wheels adorn each corner of the car with the fronts wearing a set of carbon Abarth aero-discs…

To say Yasu and I were surprised was an understatement. They let us look over the 037 and open everything up so I could get photos of it, rain water seeping in from every vent and opening. After a brief chat the owner hopped in and made a quick stop at his house to drop off his rare Lancia before returning in his daily…a pristine white EP3 Civic Type R. The man loves his quirky cars, I thought. Then we sat down for some Yakiniku down the road at one of their favorite local spots. We ate and chatted about random topics like Shohei Ohtani, all the while in my brain, I was still trying to process what I had just seen…

Thanks for looking!!…