Italian coach builder Zagato has a long history of turning out the dramatic, the bizarre and the plain ugly. After the madcap Alfa SZ coupe, many commentators wondered when the tiny Italian design house would go to next. Typically, Zagato managed the unexpected Dutchman Paul Koot, who owned a restoration business, commissioned 75 Lancia Delta Integrale based coupes, which would cost $75,000, when they were launched in 1993. The result was tagged the Hyena, and was easily Zagato’s best contemporary work. he small, tight, muscular body lacked any extraneous fittings, the bumper less body work helped give the car great overall tension. In fact, a sketch shown by Zagato had the outline of pouncing hyena contained within the car’s shape. The bespoke interior was made entirely of carbon fiber, and helped make the Hyena a much lighter car than the Integrale on which it was based, helping to boost the performance. Comparison with a mad dog seemed to be borne out by road test reports on the Hyena. The four wheel drive chassis and turbocharged engine were made even more effective by a car that had phenomenal direction changing abilities, partly because it didn’t roll at all, and massive amounts of grip.
The Hyena’s precise steering and powerful brakes were also praised. It was also said to be more refined than the Delta, and the Hyena’s ride, while not exactly soft, was described as remarkably pliant considering that this was designed as an out and out performance machine.
