The unusual Lancia that's taking to the hills

Turning a rare Lancia Prisma Integrale into a competition car for speed events has been a remarkable journey for Otto Blank. Six years, an average of 10 hours per week and numerous engineering challenges have converted an obscure road car into a well thought out and unique hillclimb machine, which made its competitive debut this spring.

The basic Prisma was launched in 1982 and was a popular addition to the Lancia stable. But the Italian company’s motorsport focus at the time, apart from its world sportscar effort, was deeply rooted in the 037 rally car, which was superseded by the outrageous Group B Delta S4.

The Group A era of the Delta started in 1987 after Group B was outlawed, and Lancia enjoyed huge success with first the Delta HF and then the Integrale. Between 1987 and 1992, Lancia won the drivers’ championship four times with Juha Kankkunen and Miki Biasion, plus six consecutive manufacturers’ crowns.

By 1986, the second-series Prisma featured a four-wheel-drive option with the same twin-cam, eight-valve engine as the Delta, and disc brakes all round. In June 1987 the Prisma four-wheel-drive version was updated and rebadged the Prisma Integrale.

In truth, the 4WD Prisma was aimed at those who wanted extra grip in poor weather and over rough ground rather than any sporting ambition. The Delta was doing nicely as the sporty option. While the Delta had a complex Torsen rear differential, the Prisma had a simpler one with a diff lock controlled by a switch on the dashboard, which was useful in low-grip conditions. It was not about performance motoring until Blank got involved.

About 25 years ago he built a motorbike-engined MK Indy for hillclimbing and later ran a Formula Renault single-seater on the hills before taking a break from the sport in 2009. “I’ve always been into cars,” says Telford-based Blank. “When I was 14 we moved to Canada for a year or two. Canadian education offers two routes. You can go to college or you can learn practical stuff. I was never really interested in going to college and they had a course called autoshop – you just learn about engines and stuff like that.

“Six or seven years ago I wanted to buy a Delta, but they were getting to be big money and I saw this on eBay. It had been in a barn for 15 years and I got it at a good price.” From the online photos, he identified it as a Prisma Integrale. “Apart from the rear diff, it has exactly the same mechanicals as the Delta Integrale, but it was not sold in the UK,” explains Blank. “The turbo was a later bolt-on.

The Prisma bares many similarities to it's much better known Delta cousin

Photo by: Paul Lawrence

“It’s a 1987 car and this one came to the UK in 1989. I bought it six years ago. Back in 2000, apparently, it went through an auction at Hereford for just £300. In fact, I think there are only three Prisma Integrales in the UK and the other two are probably converted from Deltas. So this one is very, very rare.”

It was reasonably solid and Blank bought it knowing that it would need a lot of work. A friend suggested getting it acid dipped: “That was a bit of a risk! But I was surprised at how little it had been eaten. It took six years to do it all. COVID helped, because we had a lot of downtime. It gave the big push it needed to get the welding done and the cage fitted. I’ve rebuilt the engine.

“I also decided that there were a few items that were going to be unreliable so we got rid of all of the wiring and I rebuilt the wiring loom. I took the belt-driven power steering off it and fitted a Vauxhall Astra electric power steering pump. I got rid of the water pump as well and fitted a BMW electric water pump. The thinking was to try and take as much off the engine drive as possible, to free up some horsepower.

“I tried to build in a little bit of reliability. I took the air diff off the back and got a Delta Evo diff fitted. Obviously, it didn’t have any of the arches on it that it’s got now.”

“If you’re going to do something like this, you’ve got to be prepared to take on a challenge and go through the pain. But it’s given me massive amounts of pleasure as well!” Otto Blank

The Prisma’s competition debut was at Loton Park over the first weekend of April. However, this did not go smoothly. The cambelt snapped on the road the previous Wednesday, and that meant getting the head off to inspect the damage, which was far less than it might have been. “It was not too bad at all: we were very, very lucky,” reckons Blank.

On that first weekend a couple of cautious practice runs were completed before a gearbox oil leak developed, so it was back to the workshop to take the gearbox out. Two bearings were replaced and it was all back together in time for the mid-May Loton Park hillclimb. This time it ran impeccably.

“I’m keen to do more hillclimbing,” adds Blank. “At the moment, we’re just testing with a low rev limit as the engine hasn’t done many miles, and there’s lots more potential to come.”

It’s likely that Blank’s car is the only Prisma Integrale currently being used in competition. “If you’re going to do something like this,” he smiles, “you’ve got to be prepared to take on a challenge and go through the pain. But it’s given me massive amounts of pleasure as well!”

Blank relishes the fact his machine is one-of-a-kind when it comes to UK competition cars

Photo by: Paul Lawrence