New Lancia Stratos Spotted - Could It Make a Return?

The original Lancia Stratos is an iconic vehicle. The car was ahead of its time, debuting a highly-unique design that still commands attention to this day.

It is a testament to designer Marcello Gandini that it still looks fresh and modern. Now Fiat Group is currently doing very well globally, in the midst of working to leverage the possibilities of its partnership with Chrysler.

That has led to a lot of questions about the future of Lancia and where Fiat wants to take the brand. It is likely that Chrysler and Lancia will be cooperating in the future. Lancia is likely to be positioned as an upmarket luxury brand. Could a Stratos halo supercar be in the works?

Looking like this, boy do we hope so! Two photographs of an updated take on the Stratos surfaced on website Italiaspeed. The car was supposedly caught at an official Fiat testing facility in Balocco, Italy.

We're going to be cautious about this making it to official production, as such a project seems unlikely, but the possibility has us excited. The car's design remains remarkably true to the original, and it looks just as stunning as ever.

Could a new Stratos be a fantastic way to reintroduce a new push for Lancia in global markets? It is a viable option, as Alfa Romeo did something much similar with the 8C Competizione. It is a long shot, but we think it would be a fantastic way to reintroduce a new Lancia - it would certainly command our attention.

Interestingly, the report says the project is being funded by an "European industrialist." It isn't certain what that means exactly, like possibly being some kind of one-off car or not, but we definitely hope not. Regardless, stay tuned. Hopefully we'll hear more about this soon!