This car has started its life as my TA01 Lancia Delta Hf Integrale resto-mod project. Using a custom made TA02's chassis strechted to reach TA01 wheelbase and a twin gear diff set up I was planning to (quick) build a robust car, easy to maintain, with a classic and generous powerplant and with a body that carries the italian tradition for great looking cars.
Quickly I switched to a carbon fiber chassis found on the bay because I can't resist to the appeal of a fiber chassis.
I've lost some months in the search of a body that match my expectations but unfortunately finding well made bodies to use in alternative to Tamiyas is close to impossible so, while considering the idea to keep the Lancia Delta body, this project reach a kind of empasse. Considering that my time at the work bench is ever less (Venice isn't much friendly with people that love cars or little cars) and that I spend a lot of time in front of my computer, to take a breath from work and daily life, surfing the Web looking for infos about the golden era of our hobby when I could learn something only on paper (there aren't clubs in my birthplace and no other guys with much passion for little cars) I've discoverend something about a car I've never heard before: the Yokomo Hot Dog 4, an hybrid based on their YR4 touring chassis implemented with YZ10 buggy DNA, so the inspiration cames!
So I’ve started to consider if it was the case to turn it into something else: I miss my Yokomo and I love to drive TA01 chassis so I’ve started to look for the parts to translate this concept of hybrid in its Tamiya equivalent.
To be honest in several moments I’ve considered to quit before starting but here is it!
Some inspiring concepts are the same of the starting idea: availability of parts involved in the build (with less modifications as possible) and it has to look as a car that could have been built in the 90s.
It's a kind of concept car, not necessarily a race car (as the Hot Dog), not necessarily a kind of dowgraded or rebooted Top Force.
The name choosen is DELTA RAY in tribute to my Lancia Delta HF Integrale (some of its small parts are still in this build) and because it’s closer to a Manta Ray than to a Top Force.
