Bertone/Lancia Stratos Zero - the primus from the flat-bed school

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Bertone/Lancia Stratos Zero - the primus from the flat-bed school

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Created on December 23, 2024

Text:

Wolfgang Blaube

Photos:

Wolfgang Blaube

38

Archiv Wolfgang Blaube

5

Stile Bertone

3

Hardy Mutschler / BMW Group Classic

3

Pietro Bianchi / BMW Group Classic

2

Quattroruote / Giulio Betti

2

Smilla Blaube

1

Illustration David Rodríguez Sánchez

1

FCA

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Gudrun Muschalla / BMW Group Classic

1

Georg Dellantonio

1

Pininfarina

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A wedge goes steep: 54 years ago, the 84-centimetre low-slung Lancia Stratos Zero made its debut - as the lone highlight of low-wing design and Italy's show car culture in equal measure. Our author and photographer Wolfgang Blaube seized the unique opportunity to experience the sensational one-off in the wild - and even to drive it extensively on his own. Does he have something to show and tell? Judge for yourself, dear readers...

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Copper hammer: the unique Bertone/Lancia Stratos Zero in a rare ride

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Expensive fun, but at least sustainable: the Stratos Zero project cost around 40 million lire - around 272,000 Swiss francs or 230,000 German marks at the time. As an organ donor, Nuccio Bertone's press officer Gian Beppe Panicco acquired an accident-damaged Lancia Fulvia 1.6 HF for one million lire, or just under 6900 Swiss francs or around 5800 marks

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Extraterrestrial: the Stratos Zero ennobles the gravel pit near Pfaffenhausen in the Upper Swabian district of Unterallgäu (Bavaria) into a lunar landscape. For Michael Jackson's 1988 film Moonwalker, the study was recreated remarkably authentically - based on a Fiat X 1/9, by the way, which had to die for this accolade

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Looking back in anger: in the exterior mirrors, which have the approximate shape of stingy pieces of cake, you can see almost as much as diagonally to the rear - namely a little less than nothing

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Iconic trademark for stylistic delicacies of the automotive kind: Bertone's little B with the characteristic downward bend

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The Knutschkugel as a distant relative: With a little imagination, the entrance through the front portal reveals a genetic similarity with BMW's delightful Isetta

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Futuristic from above, surprisingly down-to-earth from below: The aluminum triangle of the lamella-reinforced mid-engine hood presents itself underneath as a truss-like construction

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Mach 2: The fuselage, which is only windowed at the very front, and the side gills, which are swept like jet engine inlets, are reminiscent of a classic interceptor - only the paint color doesn't want to harmonize with it

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A rear end sees red: behind the light frame are 84 five-watt festoon lamps, the direction of travel is announced by running lights

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The inside turned inside out: dangerously close to the best tradition of rustic Le Mans warhorses, the Stratos Zero's drive system guts spill out from under the aft ship

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On a big foot: The extra-wide alloy wheels - measuring 7 × 12 inches at the front and 9 × 13 inches at the rear - are fitted with exposed Goodyear racing tires in a rather stylish manner

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The square has to be rounded: the bizarre architecture of contradictory shapes looks even more impressive from a bird's eye view

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Surprisingly earthly for motoring traditionalists: behind the human cell lives not an interstellar photon drive, but a reassuringly normal twin-camshaft four-cylinder that breathes in familiar four-strokes

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Invitingly covered: The plane in front of the windshield is reminiscent of the matt black hood of a rally car - and is in fact a ribbed, rubberized step surface for easier entry

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... and then moved in a clockwise direction by turning it by eighths - a typical example of the ingenious creativity that characterized Bertone at the time, also in technical terms

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A snappy, sensible solution: if the trailer queen Stratos Zero does need to enter public terrain, simply fit the external roof-mounted rear-view mirror - similar to that of Bertone's early Lamborghini Countach. Only here, the driver looks through the windshield. And thus convexly mirrored to the full panorama that opens up behind him

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It's the height: the Stratos Zero is just below the waistline of a comparatively chunky Porsche 911, here from 1976

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Length runs... somewhere else: the Stratos Zero measures just 84 centimetres in height, but still doesn't look as flat as the much-cited Pininfarina Modulo (93 cm) - because the latter has much slimmer proportions: it is a full 90 centimetres longer. In fact, the Stratos Zero appears less flat because it is extremely short: only 3.58 meters - no longer than a current Fiat 500

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Easy to overlook: From this perspective, it is even easier to understand that the inattentive Porsche driver can misinterpret the copper-brown something as a kind of traffic calming threshold

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Stratos' best side: the pattern of the 35 centimeter narrow reclining seats looks like it was made by Milka. With the glass front, the steering column folds up to reveal the entrance. If you pull the steering wheel towards the seat, the windshield closes

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Kugelblitz: What looks like a steering wheel bumper is further evidence of the ingenious use of various everyday utensils à la Bertone - a very ordinary billiard ball is hidden under the artificial leather scar

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Emerging from obscurity: at the touch of a button, a narrow shaft can be extended in front of the windshield, behind which the individual windshield wiper is concealed

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Pretty green area: the Stratos Zero cockpit in detail. Unfortunately only fictitiously on board (just like in the 1972 BMW Turbo Gullwing): the distance radar below the speedometer

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Moving to the outskirts: as there is simply a lack of height when looking ahead from the driver's perspective in the super-flat original Stratos, the instrument panel has been moved to the side - where it is surprisingly easy to see

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Guide through the display jungle: For inexperienced users, the Stratos Zero has a navigation aid for the multifunctional display. As a precautionary measure, it is sealed in wipe-clean foil to protect against sweat

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So inconsiderate: the driver has a perfect view to the front, but little to the side and none at all to the rear

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Conservative rocking: on-off switches familiar to the Group for the functions of the Zero space glider required by registration law. The cheekily protruding lever at the front operates the indicators (without automatic reset), the empty space behind it once housed the dimmer switch, which broke off at some point in the heat of the road battle

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Secret space miracle: the folded backrest of both front seats not only reveals the spare wheel, but above all an unexpectedly large storage and smuggling compartment measuring around 240 liters

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Triangular relationship: The tiny Fulvia four-cylinder engine crouches under the radically shaped hood, which despite its generous 1.6 liters and 115 hp provides more noise than propulsion here

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The four intake funnels without filters trumpet confidently against the silencer-free exhaust system. What the Stratos Zero sorely lacks in (admittedly highly theoretical) track operation is insulation material in the engine compartment

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Stark contrasts: the rear offers filigree world-class design as well as the raw mechanical engineering of undecorated racing equipment

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Almost as bizarre as the car itself: Stratos lettering with an apostrophe, which has a purely stylistic meaning. Originally, the study was to be called Stratolimite (boundary layer)

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Star in motion: seeing the Stratos Zero drive is a real experience... with an eternal title hero - even today, the dramatic study serves as the cover motif for probably most publications on the subject of Bertone

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Deceptive perspective: Marcello Gandini's ingenious design of lines and trapezoidal motifs running against, next to and inside each other reveal a completely different shape from every angle of the study

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One foot in the day after tomorrow: PR photo of the Stratos Zero 1970 in front of a Lockheed F-104 Starfighter - and next to a speedy lady who is obviously a little unfamiliar with the pilot's livery

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Popular sensation: In 1971, the Italian car magazine Quattroruote published a spectacular report on the Stratos Zero driving through Milan

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Space glider landing in a historic habitat: Stratos Zero course through the Cuore Milanese, photographed in 1971 for the magazine Quattroruote

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Compact enough to fit anywhere - almost right into a lady's handbag: tiny V4 of the Lancia Fulvia Coupé, here as a 90 hp 1300 with a 13 degree bank angle

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Not only an intimate connoisseur, but above all a co-designer of the Stratos Zero genesis: Gian Beppe Panicco (now 83) was Bertone's press attaché from 1968 to 2001 - and drove the radical study more often than anyone else

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On the losing road: sensational Pininfarina Modulo from 1970 (basis: Ferrari 512 S; height: 93 cm), beaten by the much more practical Stratos Zero (height: 84 cm) by a humiliating nine centimeters in the arms race for the very flattest flat car

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Between Zero and series production: prototype of the Stratos production model, which celebrated its visible autumn roll-out in October 1971

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Too expensive for production: The family pizza-like sectioned rear lights, which gave the prototype of the Stratos production model a strong character, did not make it into series production, much to the chagrin of automotive aesthetes. Instead, the presumed 492 Stratos that followed and their proud owners had to put up with standard construction vehicle-style diffusers

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A bit of a tease: Is this PR photo from 1970 supposed to make us believe that the Stratos Zero's access opening is borrowed from the legendary Lockheed F-104 interceptor known as the Starfighter?

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Logical depth of field: the Stratos Zero, which was painted silver at some point in 1971 - and behind it, the female pilot model and the starfighter are correspondingly less sharp

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Pilot project: star designer Marcello Gandini designed the Stratos Zero around an original Formula 1 seat. Clearly visible here: the luggage compartment and the ingenious swivel mechanisms of the windshield and steering column

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First draft of the Stratos Zero: photorealistic illustration of the initial pencil sketches. Remarkable: This original styling was probably not created by the grand master Marcello Gandini - but most probably by his almost unknown Bertone colleague and quasi-water-carrier Fausto Boscariol

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A look under the sheet metal: impressive hidden object-like X-ray illustration by illustrator Giulio Betti

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Star among a thousand of the rich and beautiful: the idolized Stratos Zero at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2018. Seven years earlier, in 2011, it had been auctioned off from the Bertone collection. Slim price of the restoration object at the time: 761,600 dollars

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Screeching traffic: Stratos owner Phillip Sarofim not only presented his speeding copper wedge at the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2018, but also his partner at the time - the famous pop and rock singer Avril Lavigne ("Complicated"), who is clearly completely enraptured here. Hardly surprising for classic car connoisseurs in 2024: the lady is gone, but he still has the car...

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Close relationship: Phillip Sarofim and his French-Canadian short-term girlfriend Avril Lavigne seem to appreciate the Stratos Zero as a raging cuddle corner. In the fall of 2019, their love affair ended after a good 20 months. Doesn't belong here? Oh, come on - a splash of celebrity gossip is allowed...

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Bathing in the crowd: The media-shy Phillip Sarofim is less attractive to the enthusiastic audience at Lake Como than his famous co-driver and his even more famous car. Behind him under the straw hat: Porsche tuner luminary and Stratos Zero custodian Alois Ruf, next to his ever-cheerful wife Estonia (in the polka-dot dress)

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Insisting on the right of way: Phillip Sarofim would rather escape the crowd towards the presentation stage now than right away. But he still has a little public presence ahead of him... More clearly visible here than in the last picture: Estonia Ruf in a white dotted summer dress

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Flat jokes on the assembly line: Concorso presenter Simon Kidston, otherwise hard to beat in terms of professional eloquence, gives free rein to his huge enthusiasm for the Stratos Zero - and entertains the audience brilliantly with the usual clichés that a 0.84-meter flat passenger car provokes

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... And it drives after all: at some point, the Stratos Zero, which was plagued by moody starting problems that weekend, started up after all and moved loudly under its own power - which not only inspired one photographer to take a picture of it

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Seat test of an illustrious backside: The person trying out the passenger seat here at the Concorso Sunday in the garden of Villa Erba on Lake Como is none other than Lamborghini's world-famous test driver Valentino Balboni

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Dry run helmsman: Wolfgang Blaube - the author of this article and still critically obese at the time - during his first press fit in the Zero (Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2018, here at Villa Erba). Little did he know that he would one day fit more comfortably into the dream car - and even get to drive it extensively for this story

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Summary

The Lancia Stratos Zero is probably one of the most uncompromising concept cars of all time and yet it is fully functional and largely suitable for everyday use. Really? Of course, this had to be tested and at the same time the legends surrounding the flat wedge were dusted off. This driving report tells the story of the Stratos Zero, describes driving impressions and presents the concept car in over 50 photos.

This article contains the following chapters

Profile
Earthly ingredients
Getting in and out needs to be learned
The history of development
Why not Lancia?
The competition with Pininfarina
Objective: Secret, functional and roadworthy!
Legendary
Under the barrier through
From Stratos Zero to Stratos Rallye
Back in the driver's seat
Quite sociable
Technical data

Estimated reading time: 16min

Preview (beginning of the article)

The bumps on my forehead and the back of my head have now largely subsided. As have the painful hematomas on my shins, whose healing process was accompanied by an impressive play of colors. Now I'm sitting in my office at home, writing these lines and thinking about what's left of these powerful impressions. The answer is so simple: what remains is a deep admiration for this copper-colored, endlessly fascinating, frosted door wedge - and thus the missionary task of conveying to the reading world that the legendary Stratos Zero is only about ten percent of the awesome wedge that its spectacular appearance superficially reduces it to.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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