The Lancia Stratos was along with the Ford Escort, the car to beat in World Rallying during the 1970s. However one of the few rallies it failed to win in it's career was the African Safari rally. 1977 was no exception, but it did manage 3rd place in the hands of that years champion driver, Italian Sandro Munari.
Visually the "Africanised" Stratos looks quite different from the other 1977 Stratos in my collection, the Monte Carlo rally winner. Differences include prominent external front and rear roll bars, thinner, higher profiled tires with a different style of rim, and a spare tire carried on the roof. Like all Kyosho Stratos models, it is well made with good engine detail (along with a sand filter type air intake on top of the 2.4 litre V6) a competition interior and nice features such as headlights which actually pop-up. One of the most distinctive looking rally cars in my collection, the Safari Stratos gets 8/10 marks.
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