Mystery Car 141: Sports car's door is its windshield

As we were wandering through the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles last week for the memorial gathering for auto legend Carroll Shelby, a little orange boomerang of a car caught our eye.

We knew it would make a worthy Mystery Car. But for veteran auto detective 4popoid, it was easy pickings. He correctly identified Mystery Car 141 out on Drive On's Forum as a 1970 Lancia Stratos HF Zero -- and it only took him a half-hour. As reader Vessel, puts it, "It's 4Pop's world - we're all just living in it..."

The Stratos was a Bertone-designed Italian plaything, a forerunner to the angular design that would come to define all hyper-performance cars of the era, according to the Petersen. It was powered by a 1.6-liter Lancia Fulvia V-4 engine.

Our favorite feature: The car is too low for conventional doors so the only way to get in is through the windshield, which is hinged at the top. You step on the floor, then sit down. And you thought that idea died with the BMW Isetta!