25th-Jun-21, 08:21 AM
Teamslot TM-12906 Lancia Delta HF 4WD #6 - Winner Monte Carlo Rally 1987 - Miki Biasion & Tiziano Siviero. RRP £57.95. Available very soon.
A frustrating and time-consuming move to new premises has delayed Teamslot's production for 2021. Thankfully, those problems seem to be in the past and it's full steam ahead with an exciting new range (see 2021 Teamslot thread here). The first car out of the new workshop is the winning car from the 1987 Monte Carlo Rally - the debut of the legendary Group A Lancia Delta dynasty...
Manufacturers had scrambled to choose and prepare Group A production cars for the start of 1987, just seven months after Group B was brutally scrapped. Lancia had an off-the-shelf option which seemed to fit the bill perfectly - lightweight, four wheel drive and turbocharged. The Delta HF 4WD was a huge step down from the Group B Delta S4 and its rivals. As Rallycourse editor Mike Greasley wrote of the 1987 season "the sight of a 240bhp car struggling up a steep hill was not something to set the adrenaline flowing". However, the drivers quickly learned to wring every last ounce of performance out of these cars and the action was often spectacular - with stage times soon falling into the same ballpark as the 500bhp Group B supercars.
The Group A era began with Lancia domination at Monte Carlo - and plenty of shenanigans. The Delta HF was protested and the result somewhat soured by Lancia imposing team orders and especially by reigning world champion Juha Kankkunen's less than graceful reaction. The Lancia press conference at the Beach Plaza Hotel was a disaster, rather than a celebration of a sensational debut for their new car. Here's the BBC report of the event...
For Biasion, team orders were part and parcel of being a Lancia driver. This was his second season with the works Martini Lancia team and he lined up with two of the best Finnish drivers of their generation - Kankkunen and Markku Alén. Unusual for an Italian rally driver, Biasion was a great all-rounder - as good on loose surfaces and on tarmac - and had a focus and modesty that made him world champion material. Despite the controversy of his Monte win, Biaision was unlucky to not to finish the 1987 season as champion. Instead, Kankkunen successfully defended his crown. The Finn would leave Lancia for Toyota at the end of the season, his relationship with team boss Cesare Fiorio having been damaged by the fiasco at the Monte Carlo Rally. Biasion would win back-to-back championships in 1988 and 89 with the Delta HF Integrale - the HF 4WD's successor.
The Teamslot model is the fourth racing livery on the Delta HF, with two more individual cars and a triple pack announced for this year. It is a beautiful model - this one slightly different from the Catalunya, RAC and San Remo versions as it doesn't have the roof flaps. It is fitted with an auxillary light module and the extended sump guard is brown rather than blue. The internal decoration is breathtaking - it is most definitely a 1:32 scale Miki Biasion driving the car.
Under the bodyshell, there's the standard 22k rpm long can motor fitted in a pod. Four-wheel-drive is via belt and the rear axle is driven by a 9:27 gear ratio. Front wheels are plastic and rears are aluminium. The wheelbase of the Delta HF 4WD is 79mm and the rear track 50mm. The car weighs in at 90g. There is no traction magnet and no working lights.
The 1987 Monte Carlo Rally winning Lancia Delta HF 4WD is expected in the next week or two and can be pre-ordered at all the usual UK Teamslot retailers - including Pendle Slot Racing, Top Slots 'n' Trains, Weevils Slot Cars, MCslots, and Time Tunnel Models.
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