How many red Lancia Delta Martinis were there?

A genuine debate has intrigued the rally community and historic rally enthusiasts for years.

When we think of the 1989 Sanremo Rally, the first image that comes to mind is the famous Lancia Delta with its red-based Martini "checkered" livery, with Miki Biasion triumphant at the finish line and the new World Champion of the discipline.

Although not immediately, the Lancia Delta with that distinctive Martini design achieved enormous success over time; even in model car racing, it is certainly the most replicated livery of all time. Given such acclaim, it seems incredible that the Lancia Delta only raced with that livery and the red base color in one official race, the 1989 Sanremo Rally.

In reality, everyone knows that in addition to the two racing cars (one driven by Biasion, the other by Auriol), Lancia produced other Lancia Delta cars with the same distinctive red-based Martini livery, and this is precisely the point on which some enthusiasts and industry experts are focusing their efforts.

The question experts are trying to answer is: how many red-based Lancia Delta cars with Martini livery were produced by Lancia at the time? And what happened to them?

Some have begun to hypothesize the existence of four cars, others five or six.

An excellent contribution to this research was made by Guido Bortolani, a well-known expert in the field, who outlined the existence of at least seven red Lancias, nicknamed "the seven sisters." For some time, this became the most widely accepted and complete theory.

We at Pubblimais also became passionate about the debate and tried to sort out our Company archives, which at the time contain the graphic designs for at least four official red Lancia Delta cars. We thus sought to see if we could contribute to unraveling the final mysteries surrounding these cars.

PS. If you have any news or important observations to offer on this topic, please don't hesitate to contact us—real research never ends!

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