Stop everything and stare at Kimera's Lancia 037 restomod

Yes, it’s another restomod. But this one… this one is reimagining the Lancia 037. It can’t help but stand out.

It’s the work of Kimera Automobili from Cuneo in northern Italy. Called the EVO37, it aims – shock – to combine the drama and emotion of the Group B-inspired 037 road car of the Eighties with the comfort and tech of something more modern. “The philosophy is to maintain the essence and the soul of the old car by evolving it without upsetting it,” insists Kimera. New restomod, same old recipe.

And yet it’s not. Because a bunch of people involved in the original Lancia project have also worked with Kimera, not least Miki Biasion who drove 037s in period and won two World Rally Championships behind the wheel of Delta Integrales. If you still need convincing he’s a safe pair of hands in ensuring the EVO37 drives spectacularly, Kimera quotes him as saying “the best thing a dressed man can do is drifting”.

The list of suppliers to the EVO37 is just as impressive, with Sparco, Pirelli, Brembo and Ohlins among the iconic names on its spec sheet. A spec sheet which also has a nice round 500 horsepower on it. That’s provided by an uprated 2.1-litre 4cyl turbo engine which continues to drive the rear wheels.

That engine is based around the same block as the original 037’s, but capacity has swelled and every other component has been redesigned or reverse-engineered, all under the watchful eye of a man called Claudio Lombardi – who was doing much the same job four decades ago for every Martini-striped Lancia rally car you’ll have seen spreading snow, mud and gravel in glorious archive pics. A man who went onto design Ferrari F1 powertrains in the Nineties, no less.

The central monocoque chassis beneath the EVO37 comes from the Lancia Beta Montecarlo, as it did in the 037, only strengthened and reimagined with learnings from the mid-engined Delta S4 rally car. Atop it are carbonfibre panels, replacing fibreglass but staying faithful to the original's devilish proportions. Expect a kerb weight of around 1000 kilos. Meanwhile the suspension is totally redesigned, braking power has been boosted considerably and the wheels measure 18in up front, 19in at the rear. All the better for making proper use of that 500bhp… or giving way to maturity and doing as Sig. Biasion insists.

Kimera is building 37 of them, priced at 480,000 euros apiece – or a whisker over £400,000. Which, in the grand scheme of restomods, is far from the most frightening sum of money. Especially given an original 037 can easily command twice as much. Expect each EVO37 to be painted and trimmed uniquely.

Thoughts, as ever, in the box below please. But if you need a few more moments to mull over said thoughts, here it is sitting pretty in front of Lancia’s greatest hits…