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A good ole 3-pedal setup is what the driver has to work with. A big pad protects the driver’s leg from banging against anything sharp and hard while the car is flying around.
A metal shifter base! As many modern cars use plastic, it’s nice to see a metal one. It looks like the shifter is connected to a shift-rod too instead of a cable. I bet the shift feel is really good on this car. On the floor boards of each side of the car appears to be Kevlar. I’m guessing it’s in case any rocks or debris punched through the bottom sheet metal of the car.
By modern standards, the cage is very minimal. The drivers back in the day were nuts!
In stage rally racing, the driver and navigator have to fix the cars themselves when out on the stages and between. So the spare wheel and tire along with a lug nut wrench are stowed in the rear seat area. I find it amusing the car retains the questionable taste multi-color interior door panels complete with the window rollup handle.
It’s amazing to see how relatively simple an 80’s rally car was as it was an era before really powerful computers. It’s really not beyond what someone can build in their garage.
And in complete contrast to the Lancia is the McLaren P1. Good luck trying to replicate the extremely complex hybrid system, moveable aero, interconnected front-rear suspension, and programming all the computing power to make it work at maximum effectiveness. We’ll have some close-ups in a few weeks (well, as much as can be seen while taking pictures of a million dollar plus car sitting in a parking lot surrounded by a bazillion people).
