We didn't expect to see a super-rare Davis at Ypsilant's Orphan Car Show last weekend, but there it was, in all that maroon glory. Just look at it, it's sexy weird, there's something so right and so wrong about the shape. It makes sense and yet it doesn't, like an aerodynamic door stop with wheels. It's all aluminum construction keeps weight down and a Hercules four cylinder with a mighty 60 HP gets it going, but with only 13 examples ever produced, it's a fascinating example of a terrible idea done brilliantly well.

The 1980s were the halcyon days for World Rally Championship racing, and everybody from Ford to Rover seemed to have some high-strung homologation contender out there. Despite the competition, few rose to the challenge of the dominating Lancia Delta. By the early ‘90s, WRC fever had subsided somewhat due to rule changes by the FISA, and Lancia wound down the development of the original Delta with two final iterations- the Evoluzione I and II.

What we have here is an Evo II with only 40K showing on the clock. The seller doesn't say whether or not the car has its citizenship papers, and it's not wearing any license plates, so it may be up to you to make the car kosher with the Feds. As it's sitting in a dealership in Charlotte, let's give it the benefit of the doubt, and say you could just drive it off the lot without an immigration hearing. The good news is you'll be rocking a pretty exclusive, and entertaining ride. The bad news is you'll need to brush up on your lingua Italiana if you want to get a new . . . oh, damn-near anything.

And all this for only $26,500? Why, you'd spend that much on a Camry Hybrid. So, is the seller giving away the farm here, or is this just a Latin WRX?

You decide!

East Coast Motorsports or go here if the ad slides into the crowd.

Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a tip

Sources at NextAutos are claiming the new Madza5-sized minivan will be based on the quickly expanding Delta platform line, which also underpins the Chevy Volt, Chevy Cruze, and future Saabs. They further claim the mini-minivan will be built at GM's Hamtramck assembly facility in 2010 as a 2011 product. The Hamtramck plant, if you recall, is also where the Chevy Volt is planned for production. Hmm, Delta platform, Ham-Town Assembly, lots of open space... We're not speculating or anything, but a minivan with a Volt powertrain would cast a mighty big shadow on the as-yet uninvented eco-friendly family hauler market. [NextAutos]

It will all go down during a press conference at "Lancia Village Island" in Second Life. The village is opening up for business today and will include a showroom, party room and more. I for one will not be at the Second Life Lancia press conference, mainly because the biggest draw to any press event is free booze and I'm not about to try to fake getting drunk online. Now that's lame. [Tech Digest]

The DUNE Project premieres at the Essen Motor Show 2007

* In less than five seconds from 0 to 100 km/h - no problem for the 499 hp desert racer

The next desert silver bullet is the delta4x4 DUNE PROJECT, based on a Jeep Grand Cherokee. delta4x4 the Bavarian specialist for SUVs maximizes the powerof this striking SUV from 425 hp to 499 hp.

The high performance 4x4 reaches 100 km/h in less than 5 seconds. The harmonic interaction between the specially developed motor-management and a perfectly built sport exhaust system with performance manifold. Combined with the sport cat and modified air feed, add up to even more power gain. The stainless steel exhaust tailpipe completes the jaw-dropping unique look.

Due to the individualized front spoiler (-50 mm), a cool body lift kit (+100 mm) and the custom light wheel Elements IV with 11x23in mounted Continental Cross Contact tires in 305/40 R23, the DUNE PROJECT is allowed to stretch its legs, flex its muscles and demonstrate its athletic skills.

Beautifully intregrated into the front spoiler is the Warn winch, in the unlikey event that this will be needed its good to know you can rely on the best.

delta4x4 presents a brilliant lighting system for its desert racer. The stainless steel roof-rack system and the fender extension contain filigree PIAA main-beam headlights which guarantee absolute visibility on nighttime trips in the dunes.

The DUNE project is covered with a specially painted foil in a hip maroon matt-finish prepared to deal with and protect in extreme conditions.

This past weekend, Lancia revealed a concept car that could signal the Fiat entry-luxury brand's return to relevance, at a place where relevance is measured one still shot at a time. It's the Lancia Delta HPE concept, and its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival introduced Hollywood's disinterested glitterati to the chisled shape of Lancias to come. The midsized five-door sedan was inspired by the far less radically designed Lancia Beta HPE (wither, Gamma?) of the late 1970s and early 1980s. The company says the Delta diverts from the basic shapes of old by staking out a styling direction that nods only slightly toward previous Lancias. The concept is designed to be a luxurious long-distance runner with an emphasis on quality of life, providing copious interior room, lots of greenhouse glass and a Windows Mobile computing system that includes USB and Bluetooth connections for phones and MP3 players. Ugly or avant guarde — you make the call.

Related:
Let's Do Lancia: Company to Show Delta Concept in Italy [internal]

Fiat Auto's Lancia — makers of luxurious oddballs like the Thesis (and the previous Pope's one-off Dialogos Giubileo) — will reportedly wipe the cosmoline off a new concept at the Biennale del Cinema di Venezia next week. The image above is likely a speculative rendering of what the concept may look like, though how the final design will translate into the company's new Delta HPE model, due in 2008, is anyone's guess. At the least, the concept will introduce a design language that, for the first time in half a decade, won't be influenced by farm animals.

Is this the new Lancia Delta HPE ? [Eurocar Blog]

Related:
Lancia at Laguna: D50 Runs the Monterey Historics [internal]