EVO37 MARTINI 7 – WORLD RALLY CHAMPION

Kimera Automobili celebrates the 7 World Rally Titles won by the Martini Racing Team

A special series of the EVO37 in partnership with Martini and Miki Biasion

 “Remember who we were.” These were the words of King Leonidas, leading the brave 300, who in Greece, at Thermopylae, following the law of Sparta, redeemed the world from mysticism and tyranny and accompanied it into a more radiant future than one could imagine. “Remember who we were.” The simplest order a king can give. He simply wanted to remember the enterprise of that group of extraordinary men, capable of noble and heroic deeds, who wrote modern history and changed the fate of the Western World.

In the same way, Kimera Automobili wants to remember who we were. “World Rally Champion”. That's who we were: World Rally Champions. A team, a group of men, also enlightened by passion, with, heart and intelligence, who, in an epic and heroic way, dominated the scene of the legendary Rallies of the ‘80s and ‘90s, writing the most beautiful pages of Motorsport "from the street".

It was the Lancia Martini Racing Team that, starting in 1983, colored the scenes of the World Rally Championship with the indestructible blue, light-blue and red stripes, flanking these colors with the green-white-red tricolor of an Italy which, never again as in that decade, was strong and prosperous, as it was driven by a rampant optimism and cheerfulness.

Those ones were glorious, prosperous and wonderful years. Of these years, in rallies, certainly the most incredible was the 1983, when the small group of brave Italians, just like the 300, defeated the German army of Audi thanks to the refined strategy and brilliant and astute tactical intelligence of Cesare Fiorio. That first World Title allowed the Martini Racing Team to continue living, competing and gaining courage, then managing to make its voice in the world rallies for the next 10 years. The 037 passed then the baton, firstly to the Delta S4 and then to the Delta Integrale which won another 6 World Titles.

In the early 1990s Lancia celebrated the 5th and 6th world titles won by the aforementioned integral berlinettas with two special versions of the Delta Evoluzione, respectively called "Martini 5" and "Martini 6". Two limited series editions, recognizable for the sides finely decorated with blue, light- blue and red stripes and for the proud "World Rally Champion" writing.

However, although the World Titles won by the Delta were actually 6, those of the Martini Racing Team, thanks to the first World Championship previously won by the 037, were actually 7, but no one, before now, had ever paid tribute to this glorious sporting epic of that team of great drivers, engineers, mechanics and men who, with infinite passion, fearless courage, acute intelligence and great humanity, won victories and successes like no one else in Rally.

Kimera Automobili has today taken up the legacy and values of those men and celebrated them with the EVO37, a limited series car of only 37 units that re-proposes the design and the solutions, both technical and mechanical, that perfectly summarize the cars of the Martini Racing Team.

Kimera Automobili has managed to bring the men of the past and those of the present to the same table. The unforgettable Claudio Lombardi, Sergio Limone and Vittorio Roberti have handed down their experience and their knowledge to the technicians who worked on the EVO37 and no 

one, better than the Italian two-time World Rally Champion Miki Biasion, from driver to driver, has been able to convey to Luca Betti the driving sensations and behavior of those Turinese cars that have won so many world championships.

Miki Biasion was the true link between the past and the present, the holder of that cultural, sporting and technical legacy that arrived in Kimera Automobili. To close this historical circle, Martini could not be missing: the brand from Turin which gave its name to the Martini Racing Team and which immediately and favorably embraced and baptized the idea of celebrating the 7 World Titles won in Rally.

This is how the Kimera EVO37 Martini 7 was born. A special limited edition that pays tribute to the 7 World Rally titles won by the Martini Racing Team, in continuation of the previous celebratory cars (Delta Martini 5 and 6), with those same stripes, those colors and that exciting “World Rally Champion” writing. The Kimera EVO37 Martini 7 was presented on Friday evening the 14th April at the Hotel Cala di Volpe, in Porto Cervo, in occasion of the “Historical Costa Smeralda Rally” weekend, exactly where it was presented to the world in 1983 the 037 group B for the first time in the Martini Racing livery. And at this "historical event" could not be missing "special godparents": the Kimera EVO37 Martini 7 was unveiled not only by the founder of Kimera Automonili, Luca Betti, but also by Miki Biasion, Markku Alen and his historic co-driver Kikki Kivimaki, and lastly by the unforgettable Cesare Fiorio himself. It was an emotional ceremony to see these men gathered again around this tribute car painted in Martini livery.

This car is a further evolution of an already "Autentica Evoluzione". The details are impressive. The exterior features a carbon-fiber aerodynamic package with front splitter, side skirts and "nolder" extractors on the front grilles of the front mudguard. On the side of the car there are also "naca" air intakes as well as on the sides of the rear bonnet which has a round rear window renewed by new carbon-fiber air extraction openings.

A refined reference is also found in the rear bumper which has a "quick release" system so that the lower part of the rear end of this particular EVO37 can be removed, revealing the splendid mechanics, exactly like the 037 group B Evo 2.
From here, as then, you can glimpse the breech of the gearbox but above all the exhausts, also as at the time, with an intersected double cone but with a handcrafted reinterpretation in a modern key and with a treatment in white ceramic material which, in addition to improving performance, recalls the white color of the Martini Racing bodywork, also revised in the color with a white paint enriched by a modern pearl effect.

The rims have been completely redesigned, with an unmistakable reference to those ones of the "Delta Evoluzione" era, but with an important lightening and refinement work on the spokes. In the internal compartments the typical yellow/black carbon-kevlar returns: a material that was present on all the Delta group A cars.

Finally, the interiors: the entire passenger compartment is now made in visible carbon fiber and the same blue perforated Alcantara with red stitching characterizes the seats which recall, in terms of shape, those ones of the S4, as well as the door panels and the cockpit sky. The dashboard has the same colors as the fluorescent orange rev counters of the racing cars and each button is labeled exactly as it was at the time. Two knobs appear in the central tunnel for adjusting the ABS Motorsport and the Traction Control: a very fine accessory for high driving sensitivity.

The performances have been further improved than those ones of the EVO37. The overall weight has decreased thanks to the generous use of carbon-fiber and carbon-kevlar; the gearbox has a shorter, more rally-like ratio and the engine gains another 50 horsepower, reaching 550 hp on about 1100 kilograms for a power-to-weight ratio of 1 to 2 hp/kg,

This car was built using excellent methodologies typical of the automotive industry and the best that is offered by modern technology in the motoring field: 3D scanning, reverse engineering, CAD, CAE, rapid prototyping, CNC milling, sintering, electronics and the non-plus-ultra of the technological solutions available. For these reasons Kimera Automobili has involved in the EVO37 project, in a single team, the best Turinese specialists and suppliers in the automotive field: Bonetto CV, Italtecnica, Sparco, Bellasi, Gma Group, EGS Lobart, JM, AM, Silatech, CiElle Tronics, Medici. To these ones are added the names of other Italian (and non-Italian) excellences, such as Pirelli, Alcantara, Goodwool, Pakelo, Andreani - Öhlins, Brembo and Sprint Filter.

The Kimera EVO37 Martini 7 combines the style, flavor and charm of one of the most legendary racing "Queens" of the 80s with the characteristics of a modern car in terms of technology, quality and performance. It is a tribute that wants to pay homage to the last Group B 2-wheel drive vehicle that have won the World Title, beating its all-wheel drive rivals. A legendary car that made school and which has become a cult model for motoring enthusiasts from all around the world. And that’s not all: in the EVO37 you can also find concepts of style and technique of other legendary cars. In the modern interpretation, in addition to the clear descent from the 037, there are in fact evident traits of the S4 and of the following Delta Integrale (4WD, 8v, 16v and Evoluzione).

This is Kimera Automobili's tribute to the Martini Racing Team. This is the car that synthesizes that technical, sporting and human culture that has made us proud all around the world.

“Remember who we were”. Kimera EVO37 Martini 7. World Rally Champion.