Lancia ECV

Lore & Background

The Lancia ECV was built to replace the Lancia Delta S4 for the 1988 World Rally Championship season. Its engine, christened TriFlux, was a 1759 cc twin-turbocharged unit built in an unusual fashion: the valves were crossed so that each side of a cylinder had an intake and an exhaust valve, allowing two separate manifolds to feed the two turbochargers. A single manifold carried the intake air, giving the engine its name from the three separate air ducts. The car originally produced over 600 horsepower, though Group S rules would have artificially limited output to 300 hp to limit speeds.

The car made extensive use of composite materials Kevlar and carbon fibre to save weight and add strength, resulting in a total weight of 930 kg. It featured a new Martini colour-scheme with red-based bodywork, replacing the S4's white; Lancia used this scheme on its competition cars in 1987.

Despite the cancellation of Group S, Lancia improved the ECV with the 1988 ECV 2. The ECV 2 used the same carbon-fibre chassis as the first ECV, the TriFlux engine, and improved aerodynamics. The designer of the ECV 2 was Carlo Gaino of his newly created design studio Synthesis Design.

Reader's Guide

The Lancia ECV represents a what-if moment in rally history: a technologically advanced Group S prototype that never competed due to the FIA's ban on Group B and Group S cars in late 1986. Its TriFlux engine, with crossed valves and twin turbochargers fed by separate manifolds, was an unusual engineering solution that produced over 600 hp, though Group S rules would have capped it at 300 hp. The car's extensive use of Kevlar and carbon fibre kept weight to 930 kg, and its Martini red-based livery marked a visual shift from the earlier Delta S4.

After the ban, Lancia developed the Group A Lancia Delta instead. The ECV 2, built in 1988, refined the original with improved aerodynamics and the same TriFlux engine, but it too never raced. The restored ECV1, rebuilt from original parts, was displayed at the Rally-Legend Event in San-Marino in October 2010 by owner Giuseppe Volta, with the TriFlux engine re-prepared with help from original designer Ing. Claudio Lombardi and modern turbo-engine expert Claudio Berri. The car remains a notable example of a prototype that pushed materials and engine design but was stopped by regulatory change.

Did You Know?

• The ECV's TriFlux engine had crossed valves, with intake and exhaust valves on each side of the cylinder.
• The car originally produced over 600 hp, but Group S rules would have limited it to 300 hp.
• The ECV 2 was designed by Carlo Gaino of Synthesis Design.