As occasionally we do here at The Lego Car Blog, today’s post is a lament of Lancia.

One of the most innovative, technically advanced, and motorsport-winning car companies in history, Lancia have created some of the all-time great automobiles. Yet today they make only this. Which is probably worse than if they made nothing at all.

We’re heading back to the 1970s then, when Lancia made a whole range of wonderful (if poorly rust protected) cars, and this; the incredible Stratos HF.

Designed by Bertone (who pitched it to Lancia by just turning up and driving it underneath the security barrier), the Stratos was a mid-engined sports car designed for rallying. And rally it did, winning the World Championship three years in a row from ’74 to ’76. And unlike every other Lancia it couldn’t rust, being made from fibreglass.

Equally glorious (and rust-proof) is this spectacular replica of the Alitalia-liveried Stratos rally car, recreated brilliantly by Biczzz of Flickr. Beautifully-built bodywork, superbly accurate decals, and a replica Ferrari V6 ‘Dino’ engine underneath a removable rear clamshell make this a fine homage to Lancia’s glory years, and there more to see – including a lime green road-car version – at Biczzz’s ‘Lancia Stratos’ album.

Click the link above to go rallying in the mid-’70s, when Lancia were on top of the world.