The history of the LANCIA STRATO'S began a number of years before the car became a reality. In 1969, the Italian car industry was having some problems. These problems culminated in the FIAT Corporation being involved in a partial takeover of the Ferrari Marque and a total takeover of LANCIA. These mergers are a major part of the atmosphere that made a vehicle such as the Strato's a possibility.

In 1970, the BERTONE company displayed a "concept " car named Strato's at the Turin Motor Show. The car was a low wedge shaped vehicle that utilised a Fulvia motor and gearbox midmounted. Access to the car was through the windscreen. Within this beautiful but highly impractical car, the people at Lancia saw the potential for a special build of 500 cars ( as required under Group 4 of the rules governing motor sport ) to use as a Rally winner. The Lancia Strato's was to become known as the first homologation special.

The requirement for 500 cars proved to be a problem for the company. On one hand there were not enough to warrant the massive tooling costs required to build a production car, and on the other hand, far too many for hand building. Thus, all of the chassis and fibreglass bodywork was created outside the factory at the Bertone workshops. A full scale mockup named the "Strato's HF" was displayed at the 1971 Turin Motor Show on the Bertone stand.