When it came to Damien Chakko's Integrale, I knew what to expect. It was a near-standard car with very nice wheels. I showed a small profile photo of the car to the twitching, seething mass of farting staffers and someone said; 'Naaah, it's just an Integrale with wheels.'

'Yeah,' I said, 'but it's a fucking INTEGRALE.'

This was met with a short pause as Numbnuts Inc weighed up the word INTEGRALE and everything it meant to them.

'We haven't featured one for a while' And that was that. The deal was closed. Clean, simple, and quick. No other Integrale had popped up that month, so Damien's beloved machine had made it into Max. Within 72 hours, Fly was shooting it.

I can think of no other car that could cut straight through the magazine's hideous selection system so easily in near-standard form - well, there is one, but we'll get to that later. The ease of Damien's progress to Max Power stardom is a powerful measure of the respect we hold for the Lancia Delta Integrale Evolution. It's a God.

Damien can't think of another car for under £20K that commands so much street cred in standard form. He has a point. With four-wheel drive and a turbocharged 220bhp, the Integrale is incredibly quick off the line and grippy as heck in the wet, probably the quickest point-to-point car anywhere.

Even Escort Cossie drivers give it a nod because they're aware of the car's potential. Damien's chatted to a few Cossie drivers since he's owned the Lancia and all have expressed enthusiasm for the Monza Red Italian job, to the point where some have even admitted wanting one. Respect indeed.

These pages are a copy from it's original soarce on MaxPower

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