Fine things: Lancia Stratos

1970's Super Car Classic

It all began in 1970, at the Turin exhibition stand of the automobile designer, Bertone. The Stratos HF (High Fidelity) may have followed the 1970s super car 'wedge' aesthetic yet in my mind it is a stylistic masterpiece, mainly due to its distinctive crescent-shaped-wrap-around windscreen. Manufactured by Lancia and designed by Marcello Gandini, the car was the stuff of dreams for a car mad 10 year old in 1977.

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s the car gained legendary status as one of the most spectacular and successful rally cars of the period. In fact it was the world’s first purposely designed rally car, with a tiny cabin (drivers worn a Stratos rather than drove it), lightweight (790kg) and with an incredibly short wheel-base that enabled it to change direction with a flick of the steering wheel.

The Top Trump playing card that started the obsession.

Fine things: BMW 3.0 CSL

1970's Super Car Classic

Another super car from my top five cars of all time, the Bavarian beauty, aka the 'Batmobile'. Introduced in May 1972, the E9 3.0CSL was a homologation special built to make the car eligible for racing in the European Touring Car Championships. The "L" in the designation meant "leicht" (light), unlike in other BMW designations, where it meant "lang" (long). The lightness was achieved by using thinner steel to build the unit body, deleting the trim and soundproofing, using aluminium alloy doors, bonnets, and boot lids, and using Perspex side windows. The five hundred 3.0CSLs exported to the UK were not quite as light as the others, as the importer had insisted on retaining the soundproofing, electric windows, and stock E9 bumpers on these cars.

The full aero package that the racing CSLs carried earn the car the 'Batmobile' nickname - due to it's resemblance to Bat Man's own super car. 

An interesting development emerged along with the 3.0CSL; the BMW 'Art Car' Project. This concept was introduced by the French racecar driver and auctioneer Herve Poulain, who wanted to invite an artist to create a canvas on an automobile. It was in 1975, when Poulain commissioned American artist and friend Alexander Calder to paint the first in the series.

Fine things: Maserati Khamsin

1970's Super Car Classic

One of a series of 70's super car classics that I dreamt about when I was a kid growing up with a car obsession courtesy of numerous sets of Top Trumps cards and 'The Observer's Book of Automobiles', was the truly stunning Maserati Khamsin.

Named after a hot, violent wind in the Egyptian desert the Khamsin was introduced as a Bertone prototype in 1972 at the Turin Auto Show. In 1973 it was put on display at the Paris Motor Show where it was badged as a Maserati. Production of the vehicle started in 1974. The car had a front mounted 4.9 litre V8 engine delivering 320 hp, however this was pushed as far back as possible to create space for a spare wheel. Also, how futuristic is that rear view too! Production of the Khamsin ended in 1982, with only 430 vehicles produced of which 155 were sold in the United States.

The Maserati Khamsin remains to this day easily in my Top 5 cars I'd love to own.

20th Edition of The Observer's Book of Automobiles. Dated 1976–77, p.120