Lancia has confirmed that the legendary HF badge will return next year for an electric hot hatch based on the new Ypsilon.
The Italian brand said the Ypsilon HF will produce 237bhp, suggesting it will use the same front-mounted engine as sister brand Abarth’s 600e.
The Ypsilon HF also gets a lower, wider suspension and sprints from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds, according to Lancia.
That is notably faster than the last Lancia with HF badge, the second generation Delta HPE HF, which sprinted to 100 km/h in 7.5 seconds. However, it is slightly behind the legendary Delta HF Integrale Evo 2, which completed the same sprint in 5.7 seconds.
The new HF badge is a mix of the 1960s original – with the elephant mascot painted in the same red shade as on the 1966 Fulvia Coupé HF – and that used through the 1990s, with italic ‘HF’ script .
The branding first appeared at the 1960 Geneva Motor Show as a symbol for a group of loyal Lancia owners – the ‘Hi-Fi club’ – who had purchased at least six new cars from the Italian brand.
Three years later he was acquired by the HF Lancia Racing Team and went on to represent the brand’s many successes in the World Rally Championship.
Lancia CEO Luca Napolitano has now confirmed that the manufacturer is “working on” plans to return to rallying. A comeback in any capacity would almost certainly depend on the development of an electric rally formula, as the new Ypsilon is offered exclusively as an EV and the WRC recently announced a return to non-electrified powertrains. However, the FIA (world motorsport’s governing body) has said an electric class will open “at the first opportunity”.
Napolitano said: “After presenting the new Lancia Ypsilon, the first car of the brand new era, today we take another step forward on the path to the Renaissance, to highlight the brand’s most brutal and radical soul and its dedication to focus on performance models.”