Kimera Automobili Is Keeping Lancia’s Soul Alive

Among the sprawling displays and soundtracked theatrics of this year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed, you expect to be impressed. You expect big wings, bigger horsepower, and concept cars you’re told are the future. But the car that stopped me in my tracks wasn’t part of a choreographed brand moment. It wasn’t roped off behind a team of PR handlers or elevated on a platform. It was just there — squat, purposeful, unpretentious. And yet, it had a presence most of the seven-figure machines around it couldn’t begin to match.

Written by Archie Hill for The Apex by Custodian.

A Familiar Shape

The Kimera EVO37 was first shown at Goodwood back in 2021. It made the rounds online, scored the expected headlines, and earned a nod from the die-hards for its faithfulness to the original Lancia 037. But this year, seeing it again, parked unassumingly, not behind ropes or on a main stage, left a much deeper impression.

Since that 2021 debut, it has found its way into the garages of a select few collectors who understand its significance. At first glance, it may seem like another high-end restomod; a curated slice of nostalgia engineered for the ultra-wealthy. There’s certainly an element of truth to that, but Kimera isn’t just building retro-styled cars. It’s building a kind of alternate present, one where Lancia didn’t lose its way, where motorsport DNA still defines product development, and where analogue driving feel hasn’t been entirely eclipsed by digital control systems.

This year, they brought not just the EVO37, but also its twin-motor, AWD sibling — the EVO38. Together, they formed a kind of rolling hypothesis: what would Lancia look like if it had continued pushing forward from its Group B heyday?

“It is an incredible story that looks to the past and asks: What if we imagined that Lancia never stopped building amazing cars?” - Luca Betti, Founder, ex Rally Driver

What Makes Them Different

For those perhaps unaware, the EVO37 is based on the original 037’s silhouette, but rebuilt with modern materials, a 550bhp turbocharged four-cylinder (developed with original Lancia engineer Claudio Lombardi), and reworked suspension, brakes, and chassis dynamics. It’s fast, focused, and loud in all the right ways — but crucially, it’s also deeply mechanical. Manual gearbox. Rear-wheel drive. Unassisted steering.

The EVO38, introduced more recently, follows the same philosophy — a thoroughly reworked version of their 2.15L four-cylinder turbocharged and supercharged engine, now coupled with an all-wheel drive system. And the K39, still officially a concept, hints at Kimera’s willingness to evolve even further, with sharper edges and a clear visual link to the Delta S4 Stradale.

A Broader Movement

There’s a reason we’ve seen a surge in interest around restomods with real motorsport lineage, whether it’s Singer’s 911s, Tuthill’s 911K, or Automobili Amos’s Delta Futurista. A growing subset of enthusiasts and collectors are looking for cars that combine mechanical involvement with modern reliability and build quality, something even many new supercars struggle to balance.

Lancia Lives On

Technically, Lancia still exists. In fact, the brand has just launched a new Ypsilon, the first in a series of electric rebirths under Stellantis. But the Ypsilon, competent though it may be, is a city car. A brand revival by committee. While it may prove to be commercially necessary, the contrast between what Lancia has become and what Kimera is doing could not be starker.

It’s in the Kimera where Lancia’s soul has been quietly smouldering, in the hands of those who remember what it once stood for, and who care enough to rebuild it from scratch.