Lot of the Day: A Factory-Converted 1983 Lancia 037 Evo II Is at $377,777 on BaT, and a 1986 Abarth Invoice Will Set Its Price

The most expensive car ending today is a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ Roadster. The most interesting is a 1983 Lancia 037 that spent seven seasons on Spanish rally stages, then went back to the factory in 1986 to be rebuilt as an Evo II. This Lancia 037 Evo II auction on Bring a Trailer stood at $377,777 after 29 bids on Wednesday morning, with the close set for 1:35 p.m. Eastern on October 14.

Just two months ago, Gooding Christie’s catalogued the same chassis at its Pebble Beach sale with a $900,000 to $1.2 million estimate. That gap is the whole story. After all, the car has not changed since August. Instead, what bidders must decide is how much a factory conversion is worth compared with a car that was built as a works Evo II from the start.

The lot at a glance

Specifications, and why the Evo II matters

Lancia built the 037 to replace the Fiat 131 for the new Group B rules, which required 200 road cars for homologation. The car used the central cell of the Beta Montecarlo, the same mid-engined platform behind the Montecarlo in Jeremy Clarkson’s Grand Tour sale. Lancia then bolted steel tube frames to each end. Meanwhile, Pininfarina styled the composite body. In 1983 the rally car won Lancia the World Rally Championship manufacturers’ title. It was the last rear-wheel-drive car to do so.

In other words, the road car was the price of entry. The Evo II was the answer to Audi’s turbocharged four-wheel-drive cars. Lancia raised displacement from 1,995cc to 2,111cc and revised the supercharger, intake, and exhaust. RM Sotheby’s has described the Evo II package as good for more than 300 horsepower. Lancia also deleted the rear bumper in favor of large mudflaps, so debris could not pack in behind the bodywork. The bumperless tail is the quickest way to spot one.

Chassis 145 carries the full kit in its current form:

• 2,111cc Fiat-Abarth DOHC inline-four with a Volumex Roots-type supercharger, water injection, Bosch Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection, and dry-sump lubrication
• ZF five-speed manual transaxle with a 40 percent locking differential
• Double wishbones front and rear, with twin Bilstein gas dampers at each rear wheel
• Abarth-Brembo calipers on ventilated, slotted discs, plus a hydraulic handbrake
• Speedline wheels, 15 inches front and 16 inches rear, on 235/45 and 315/40 Pirelli tires
• Roll cage, Sparco seats, OMP harnesses, fire suppression, and a Halda rally computer

Provenance: one family, one livery, two invoices

José Bernardo Cardín, a gentleman driver from the family behind the Asturian cider maker El Gaitero, ordered the car in April 1983. Abarth then delivered it that October. The listing describes it as a Stradale with a Corsa-specification engine and a competition dashboard and seats. The seller notes that the October 1983 Abarth invoice reads “Vettura tipo Evoluzione Corsa,” even though it also says Stradale. In other words, Abarth supplied it as a competition car from day one.

Cardín raced it in the Spanish Rally Championship in El Gaitero colors. In 1984 he was second at the Rallye de Gijón and seventh at the Rally Príncipe de Asturias, a European Championship round. In the summer of 1986 he sent the car back to Lancia’s rally service department for the Evo II update. A July 1986 Fiat-Abarth invoice records the work. He then won the 1986 Rallye San Agustín and kept competing through 1989.

Afterward, the car sat for years, then returned to Spanish historic rallies from 2014 to 2021. Cardín sold it that year to its current American owner, so it has had just two owners in 43 years. Two owners in 43 years counts for a lot. It is the same factor that frames the 26-year-owned Ferrari 330 GT 2+2 we covered on Monday.

Condition

This is a rally car. Judge it like one. It wears an El Gaitero livery that echoes its period colors, with the bagpiper logo, red and green stripes, and El Gaitero mudflaps. The cabin is all business, with a cage, harnesses, drilled pedals, heat shielding, and a Veglia Borletti tachometer that reads to 10,000 rpm. However, there is no odometer, so mileage is unknown. The current owner changed the fluids in 2026.

The seller’s driving video drew praise in the comments, and it shows a car that runs hard rather than one that sits on a stand. Even so, buyers should note three paperwork details. For example, New Hampshire titles the car as a 1982 model, which Gooding also flagged. The listing does not mention an FIA Historic Technical Passport. Finally, the listing presents the documents as copies. None of these is a red flag on its own, but each is worth a question before the close.

Comparable sales

Clean 037 comps are rare, and they split into three groups. Specifically, there are Stradale road cars, road cars upgraded to Evo II spec, and works rally cars. Chassis 145 sits between the last two.

Two things stand out. First, Stradale prices peaked in 2019 and have eased since. The same low-mileage car fell from €770,000 to $654,000 in four years. Second, the best structural comp is chassis 029. Like this car, it was a road car brought up to Evo II spec, but its owner did the work rather than the factory. Ultimately, it sold for $500,000. Meanwhile, at the top, a works Evo 1 with a Walter Röhrl win cleared £1 million. Chassis 145’s current bid sits below the 029 result. Yet its Pebble Beach estimate sat just under the works car. In short, the market is pricing it as an upgraded road car. The consignor has priced it as something closer to a factory rally car.

The factor most likely to set the final price

It’s the July 1986 Fiat-Abarth invoice. That document is what separates chassis 145 from chassis 029. Lancia’s own rally service department upgraded one car, which then won a rally. By contrast, a private owner upgraded the other, and it sold for $500,000. If bidders read the invoice as proof of a factory Evo II with a period race record, the car belongs much closer to the works-car tier. If they read it as a well-documented upgrade of a customer car, $500,000 to $600,000 is the realistic ceiling.

The October 1983 invoice helps the bull case. If Abarth really supplied the car as an “Evoluzione Corsa,” it was a competition car from new, not a road car converted later. This is the same lesson as a 300 SL Gullwing data card: the factory paper decides whether a claim is a fact or a story. Still, a works Evo II with a World Championship history sits a tier above. Chassis 145 raced at national level, with one European Championship start. Expect bidders to pay a premium for the factory conversion, but not a works-car price.

Beyond the paperwork, the reserve is the other unknown. After a $900,000 low estimate in August, the seller may hold out for a number well above today’s bid. If the reserve is set near the Gooding figure, a no-sale is the most likely result. If it has been reset to the market, the last hour should push the bid past the $500,000 set by chassis 029.

What bidders should do before the close

• Read both Abarth invoices in the gallery, and ask the seller whether originals or certified copies come with the car.
• Ask whether the car holds, or could obtain, an FIA Historic Technical Passport for event entry.
• Confirm the engine and chassis numbers match the 1986 invoice, and ask for service records from the 2014 to 2021 historic rallies.
• Ask about the 1982 New Hampshire title and how it squares with the 1983 factory paperwork.
• Set your ceiling against chassis 029 at $500,000 and the works Evo 1 at £1,045,625, not against the Pebble Beach estimate.

Where does it land by 1:35 p.m. ET: under chassis 029’s $500,000, or does the Abarth invoice drag it past?

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• This Lotus Never Finished Le Mans. That’s Exactly Why It Matters
• The Collector’s Dilemma: Should You Drive Your Investment Car or Keep It Parked?

Sources

• Bring a Trailer: 1983 Lancia 037 Evolution II listing
• Gooding Christie’s: 1983 Lancia Rally 037 Evolution II, Pebble Beach 2026, Lot 46
• RM Sotheby’s Miami 2022: 1982 Lancia Rally 037 Stradale “Evolution II”
• RM Sotheby’s London 2022: 1982 Lancia Rally 037 Evolution 1 Group B Works
• RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2023: 1982 Lancia Rally 037 Stradale
• Zwischengas: RM Sotheby’s Essen 2019 results
• Hagerty: 1982 Lancia 037 past sale, chassis 106
• The Classic Valuer: Gooding Christie’s 2025 Lancia Rally 037 Stradale

Bid and timing figures reflect the Bring a Trailer listing as of 9:20 a.m. Eastern on October 14, 2026. Photos are representative Lancia 037 examples, not the car offered.