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Lancia is back in business. That even includes the return of the legendary HF label. Whether the Lancia Ypsilon HF will be as iconic as its distant predecessors only time will tell. As of this morning, we at least know what it should cost in the Netherlands.

The spotted specimen

A good reason to take a look at this beautiful 1988 Lancia Delta HF Turbo, which we recently came across in a residential area in Hoorn. The car not only still looks very nice and is in completely original condition, it is also original Dutch.

The Lancia Delta HF Turbo

We’ve written about the original Lancia Delta in general before. You can find that story here. Therefore, we now focus specifically on the spotted HF Turbo version. A version that, at least from today’s point of view, is rather in the shadow of the HF Integrale.

Although we remember the original Lancia Delta primarily as a sporty car, the model began as a fairly average hatchback in 1979. A sporty version appeared for the first time in 1983: the HF, which stands for High Fidelity, or “high fidelity” or “high accuracy. The 1.6-liter gasoline engine was turbocharged and produced 96 kW (131 hp). Exterior changes did not go much beyond some additional logos.

In late 1985, the Lancia Delta HF underwent an update, renaming the model HF Turbo. Power increased to 103 kW (140 hp), but most importantly, it now made its sporting performance visually apparent.

More Lancia Delta HF models

The sporty models sold well and the Lancia Delta began to make more and more of a name for itself as a rally car. What followed was that more and more HF models also appeared for the street. In 1986, for example, the HF 4WD appeared as the superlative of the HF Turbo, which was thus no longer the top model. This was followed in 1987 by the HF Integrale, which evolved into the iconic HF Integrale Evoluzione in 1991. However, the HF Turbo remained until its final year of production, 1993.

The Lancia Delta in the Netherlands

It has been a while since we last encountered a first-generation Lancia Delta in regular traffic. The numbers don’t necessarily reflect this: there are 353 examples on Dutch registration plates. Most of them are imported. The one we spotted is one of 80 original Dutch Deltas. For the sake of completeness: if we include the later Delta generations, there are 1,699 on Dutch registration plates, mainly thanks to the last generation (2008-2014).