Kimera is the Italian automaker keeping Lancia's legacy alive
Lancia was once one of the biggest names in Italian motoring, with some of the most famous cars in rallying bearing their name. For Luca Betti, the heritage is more personal, as his father was once a race driver behind the wheel of a Lancia. In 1980, he won the Italian Rally Championship in a Lancia Stratos. Coincidentally, racing is also how his father met his uncle and eventually Luca's mother. I guess you could say racing really is in the Betti family's blood.
Luca, too, followed in the footsteps of his family as well as Brazilian racing driver Ayrton Senna. He became a race driver in the WRC, the European Championship, and Rally Monte Carlo, gathering a few wins of his own.In the middle of his racing career, there was a moment of doubt about whether continuing to race was the right thing to do. Luca's family kept asking him to return to their business, but their relationship had never been the most loving. He decided to keep racing and painted the initials 'KMR' or 'Keeping my Road' on his helmet to inspire him to always follow his passion. This decision, along with that motto, gave birth to Kimera. The mythological chimera served as the perfect logo.
'Kimera is a deep, intimate story of me,' Luca said. 'It holds a very deep meaning to follow your dreams. I think it's the best way to live.'Given the Lancia heritage, Luca decided that Kimera would serve as a rebirth of the Italian marque's legendary rally cars, reinterpreted by modern standards. Their first creation, the Kimera EVO37, was a reimagining of the Lancia Rally 037. It wore a full carbon fiber body with a 2.1 L twincharged I4, meaning it was powered by both a turbocharger and a supercharger, mated to a 6-speed manual. It weighed just 2,310 lb and made a whopping 505 hp. Unlike the pure rally-bred Lancia it was inspired by, the EVO37 had modern amenities to make driving a little more enjoyable, including LED lights, an anti-lock braking system, and air conditioning.
View the 12 images of this gallery on the original article
The EVO38 followed a spiritual successor, being largely the same car but employing the use of all-wheel drive and churning out an additional 100 hp. Luca says the upcoming K39 will be Kimera's first production car, using the company's own chassis, engine, and VIN. The car will prove itself at Pikes Peak, where Luca aims to take back the record from electric cars. It seems that Kimera is doing well for itself so far.
'I didn't do this for business; I was driven by passion,' Luca said. 'Things always go very well when you're passionate, and I'm very happy with how Kimera is growing.'
We're equally as excited to see Kimera's future creations. It's been a while since Lancia has done anything of this caliber, so seeing another company strive to keep that legacy alive through its own creations is always a happy sight. If you're after your own slice of la dolce vita, Kimera's homepage might be a good place to start. Just let us know if you end up being the lucky owner of a K39 in the future.
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