HF. Two letters that immediately thrill the hearts of enthusiasts who remember with emotion the vibrant Italian compact of the 80s and 90s, multiple world champion in WRC rallying. Since then, water has flowed under the bridges and Lancia survived year after year, selling exclusively aging, tasteless Ypsilon city cars on its domestic market.
Then Stellantis arrived, trying to breathe new life into the manufacturer with a new Ypsilon, a close cousin of the Peugeot 208 and Opel Corsa, in the electric era. But this is not enough to revive a brand, Lancia will dig into its history to reveal to us a supercharged and equally electric Ypsilon HF.
There will be sports
21 years have passed since the last Delta HF rolled off the assembly lines, and now the badge resurfaces on a city car that will take on the Alpine A290 (sporty derivative of the future R5 E-Tech) and Mini head-on John Cooper Works Electric.
However, unlike its illustrious ancestor, the Ypsilon HF is a simple front-wheel drive and not an all-wheel drive. The front wheels are powered by the same 240 hp electromotor found in the Abarth 600e. A nice gain compared to the 156 hp of the base Ypsilon.
As a result, this HF version can go from 0 to 100 km/h in just 5.8 seconds, outperforming the least powerful model by two seconds. To accommodate this power to the ground and give the model better driving dynamics, the ride height has been lowered via a modified suspension, while the tracks have been widened.
The interior is adorned with clearly visible shiny blue upholstery. © Lancia
What would a sports model be without a revised aesthetic? Here we find a redesigned front fascia that gives it a more aggressive appearance.
The new black grille panel features a modern reinterpretation of Lancia’s famous HF logo and red elephant. Moreover, this same logo is also found on the flared wheel arches, as well as in the passenger compartment, where the Ypsilon HF has received new bucket seats with integrated headrests, trimmed with shiny blue upholstery.
The future of Lancia HF
The history of the HF logo begins in 1960, when passionate Lancia owners founded the Lancia Hi-Fi club (Hi-Fi means high fidelity). The initials HF were later used for some of the company’s sports cars before being adopted by the HF Squadra Corse racing team when it was established in 1963. The HF name was carried by the most famous rally cars and Lancia’s most successful: the Fulvia Coupé, the Stratos, the Delta 4WD and the Delta Integrale.
The legendary HF badge and its red elephant, synonymous with sport, will appear on other models in the future. © Lancia
The name is reborn, but the models which will display it will undoubtedly never have the aura of the models mentioned above. The Lancia Ypsilon HF will go on sale from May 2025, followed by the Gamma HF. The latter will be a 4.70 meter fastback sedan which will arrive in 2026 while the new Delta, described as “a sculpted and muscular car“, is expected for 2028. These two models will be based on the new STLA platforms (Medium and Large) from the Stellantis group, which could allow up to 700 km of autonomy.