Lancia Is Reviving The HF Badge And It Could Return To Rallying

It’s been a long time since the last Lancia HF. About 21 years, in fact, when it quietly died along with the Delta HF Integrale in 1993. Finally though, the little red elephant will be making a comeback for a new performance-focused version of the Ypsilon EV.

We’re yet to see the car, though Lancia has confirmed the Ypsilon HF will come in 2025 with 237bhp and a 0-62mph time of 5.8 seconds. If that power figure sounds familiar, that’s because it’s the same as the upcoming Abarth 600e which the Ypsilon EV shares a platform with.

The Abarth 600e gives us some idea of what to expect from the Ypsilon HF

Hopefully, it too will get a proper mechanical limited-slip differential like the 600e. We’re yet to hear any further technical details on the Ypsilon (or Abarth, for that matter) so anything else is a guessing game. Keep in mind the platform is also used for the Vauxhall Corsa-e and Peugeot e-208, so perhaps VXR and PSE versions of those may no longer be a pipe dream.

Lancia has also confirmed the HF badge will be used on high-performance versions of its future models. We’re yet to get confirmation of anything following on from the Ypsilon, but rumours of the Delta returning as an EV have been on the cards for some time, so, should that happen, expect the revival of the Delta HF too.

The Ypsilon HF will arrive in 2025

Even more interestingly, we could see the HF badge return to its natural habitat. Luca Napolitano, Lancia’s chief executive officer, said: “Will we return to the Rally? We are working on it.”

If you’ve ever wondered why the Lancia HF badge is an elephant, it’s said that Gianni Lancia, the son of the company’s founder, chose it as a lucky charm in 1953 as the manufacturer first went racing. Apparently, it was picked because “once launched into a race, elephants are unstoppable”. We’re not going to test that theory for ourselves.