• Angelilli Automobili—an Italian 3-D printing specialist—is showing off a planned V-6-powered mid-engined supercar.
  
• The Tipo 829 will offer three distinct personalities, each aimed at a specific task, from racetrack to rally.
  
• Like the company's other projects, things are still in development, with details thin on price and delivery times.

In 1971, Lancia released the glorious Stratos, a wedge-shaped sports car that just might be the best V-6-powered car of them all. Powered by a 2.4-liter V-6 borrowed from Ferrari, it was intended to be lightweight and lively, but it was also a dart thrown straight at the then-new World Rally Championship. Bullseye: the Stratos took the championship in 1973, 1974, and 1975.

Stratos is thus an iconic name in the automotive world, but internally it was known as the Tipo 829. Now, Rome-based 3-D-printing specialist Angelilli Automobili is looking to bring that same blend of tarmac and gravel performance to market with its own Tipo 829, a three-pronged attack built to suit any one of a trio of arenas.

Angelilli Automobili previously made some waves with its mid-engined take on the Porsche 911, and for its use of titanium 3-D-printed parts. The latter are like something H.R. Giger would come up with, and the company leaned into the look, calling the design of their six- and 10-piston Titanclaw brake calipers Alien Mesh. Properly wild stuff, intended for a limited-run supercar.

The company's Tipo 829 is built around a 3.2-liter V-6, tuned to produce a healthy 500 horsepower. Unlike the Stratos, which was rear-drive only, Angelilli's take will come with all-wheel drive to get the power down, and it will be available in three distinct trims.

Those trims are Terra, Strada, and Pista. The last is the track-special version, maximized for the fastest lap times. The Strada is the street car, fast but optimized for on-road performance. The Terra will be the first to market, and it's easily the most interesting.

Built as a rally-inspired mid-engined Italian exotic, the Terra has the highest ride height of all three. It's intended as a sort of neo-Stratos rival to the likes of the Porsche 911 Dakar.

Angelilli Automobili calls the Tipo 829 the third chapter of a trilogy, one developed with the late engineer Nicola Materazzi. He was the lead engineer behind the Ferrari F40 and also helped develop the Stratos into a viciously turbocharged Group 5 racing car.

The one issue is that Angelilli Automobili has yet to produce examples of its two other limited-run products, a reborn version of the Lancia Delta Integrale, and a hybridized take on the F40. Along with this take on a reborn Stratos, all three remain in the prototyping phase.

However, the original Tipo 829 Stratos remains a legend despite being built with a tubeframe chassis and fiberglass body. Angelilli's experience with 3-D printing could assist in keeping the curb weight down despite the all-wheel drive, and the 911 Dakar and Huracán Sterrato show there's a business case for rally-inspired high-performance cars.