Lancia Motor Club

Potentially for sale, to someone keen enough to take it on!
I recently got this pinin farina bodied 2.5 Flaminia from the family where my integrale came from, sadly as a result of the owner dieing and the house and garage needing clearing.

A quick summary of the car.
It was purchased by Tony in the late 70s and used as a family car for a time before being parked in the attached garage in 1980 to attend to the bodywork issues, rear arches and door skin bottoms mostly as can be seen by the primered areas.
Unfortunately it never made it back out again as like us all, life got busy and other cars (Lancia for the most part) took over daily duties.
The car is therefore 100% complete with just the few removed parts in the boot.
Over the years the engine was reported to have been regularly started but now is locked up for whatever reason, possibly the ill health for the last few years prevented Tony getting out to the car.
The good news though is that the garage being attached to the house kept it dry and warm, sunlight through the windows but more helpfully the central heating pipes ran up the wall inside the garage so it was never damp, not only has that helped the car not deteriorate further rust wise but it stopped damp and mold inside being a problem, there is no sign of any damp damage inside the car as the interior is in great condition, aside from the foam needing redoing in the seats!
The logbook and service book plus the old mots' show 3 owners and the mileage shown on the speedo of 54,000 miles to be genuine. I've no reason to doubt it.

Bodywork wise the outer sills appear to have been attempted to be changed, the profile is different either side for starters. The floors look original and in good shape, the front panel behind the bumper will need welding where the subframe attached. The rear chassis rails will need some welding around the rear spring hanger mounts. Rear cross member itself too I'd say. The seam that sits behind the rear bumper sides is also in need of work, the rear bumper itself is pretty much wafer thin so useless.
The lower front wings around the headlamp bowl are rusted and look to have been filled before, best to assume some fabrication will be needed!
That's about it of the underside, obviously there may well be more but I can't see anything major. The door bottoms, front and rear arches need sorting as I mentioned earlier.

So there you have it.
An opportunity to get a genuine low miles/owners RHD car with a nice registration number.

The person to buy it will be someone that loves it as it will turn into a labour of love as they always seem to! But potentially a very nice car in the making. Price is reasonable really, not looking for a fortune, just the right person to take it on as I refuse to break it up for spares!

If there's little interest I'll just keep it sheeted over for a while and have a look at getting the engine running in the Spring, the brakes all look decent so shouldn't take a huge effort more after that to get a running, driving car.

Some pics as found.

Rear..

Engine bay in great condition

Nice interior

Back at my unit

Any questions, please do ask.

Hi Kevin, Although I'm not in the market for a Flaminia project, it might be useful for prospective purchasers if you could tell us which model pf coupe it is. It appears to have a triple carb set up, so is it type 2.5 3B 823.03 with engine type 823.02? If it is, it is certainly a worthwhile project as they have a useful increase in power over the single carb version and only 37 were made in RHD.
Also does it have a log book, as the reg number does not show up on the DVLA search.
Really I think a man of your skills should be restoring it yourself 🤔

Hi, I'll check the engine number, new to the finer details on Flaminia but it's the 2.5 engine on the logbook and has a sort of triple carb. Not 3 separate carbs but a large Solex version that has 3 throats, which I guess is the 3B version?

It won't have any information online re the registration number as the car has been off the road since 1980, years before the digital age and was probably never on sorn.
I do have the original 60s tax disc pamphlet where (I'm told) you used to go into the tax office to get it yearly stamped.
I do also have the 80s style paper logbook still in Tony name. I haven't yet transfered it into my name in an effort to keep the owners  out down. It's a simple enough thing to do.

Yes, I could just sheet it over for a year or two, my Flavia is at the front of the queue once I get the other projects finished off, just offering it out in case anyone is desperate for something to do!

There's a 2.5 3B left hooker for restoration on eBay at the moment.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334681315331?hash=item4dec8f9803:g:AhYAAOSwHINjrBnw&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAoA0JCepedaHTfc7TwlcWjjFLptMkLXc0hzsaqa4%2BmdiYbzhgQ2OZer%2B8w3SO0R53J5XLZoe7sHuXtQHKyO7MiPsRjfiLx3%2F8FDWtVk5p6FZ0UNk1H5K6WzOXDF%2F5M8C2QhskRGNMFVIW7vopjuVin2q%2BVxQfFgk98erC07VnGUv3F0qvdqHz2DEM1OWQJgzCEUt3AGQcqoqJ5QrvcF2mvjw%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR9zhlYerYQ

No connection to the seller.
Guy

Both very much worthy projects!

You can probably get the original registration back as I did on my Flaminia with the club's help. I also have one good (possibly NOS) rear light which I bought in error for the Berlina so if you do keep it I c an do you a good deal on that.

Frank

I think the the presence of a buff logbook eased my application for original registration number. Also visiting my local DVLA office just as they were trying to shut the office permanently seemed to give the staff hitherto unknown speed. No charge either. So quite the opposite to trying the same process with a motorcycle previously.
  Frank, if your rear lamp remains surplus, is it the type with the reverse lamp lens? Not sure if there was a change over date for these or for different markets.
  Looking at the other offerings this RHD car could be rewarding, especially if the cost so far hasn't been excessive.

  Richard

I don't envisage any issue with getting a current logbook with this number, it's just a case of sending to DVLA as normal, as we did with my lads' Imp and several others. I haven't done it yet simply as it will ad me to the list of owners, wouldn't matter if it was a 20 owner car so much, but 3 owners is worth preserving.
Having said that I will do so if nobody here wants to take the car on, or if there's a concern.

Price wise I'm not looking to make a profit on so am willing to listen to sensible offers, probably less than the start price on that LHD project really as is. I know there's bodywork to do but that's just time and effort. Admitedly though if you were paying someone to restore it then it would get tight on being sensible, but a self restoration would be both satisfying and finacially worthwhile.
For instance the interior is a good condition and complete, so apart from re foaming the seats the original material (leather?) can be used. The dash and dials are in great shape, all glass is good, it looks like Tony had fitted new discs and pads all round whilst it was sat in his garage, most likely will need a light skim to rid the surface rust but they are very thick and will stand a skim.

If I end up spending time and whatever money it needs to sort the engine then that will increase what I need to get back from it, which I don't mind doing as it looks a nice task to do, but it moves it further away from a cheap/affordable project. On the engine front I have taken the spark plugs out to see what the bores looked like and using an endoscope they look remarkably clean and shiny, I had wondered if they'd be pitted or even caked in rust but no, not bad at all. Not sure what has caused the engine to be locked, could be a number of things I guess. Plan was to lift the engine out to isolate it from the transmisson then drop the sump to inspect the crank etc. Could be something as simple as a siezed camshaft ?

If anyone is interested then please do just ask. I could do with the space back, and another project off the to-do list tbh, saving the car and finding an owner was the reason for buying it. As I said before, my Flavia has been a long time waiting and if I'm honest I prefer the looks of, although it doesn't have that lovely V6 up front! Any offer would be subject to a logbook being sorted of course, in case that is a worry to anyone, I'm sure it won't be but I wouldn't expect a deal without that being sorted.   

I would love to take that on, but don't have the space at the moment. If I can resolve that problem I'll be in touch, Kevin! And, as you say, there will be no problem with the registration number if you have an old registration document - the number will probably be retained on a non-transferrable basis, but so what?

The way I think the registration number thing works is that it continues to be assigned to the original car until dvla hear differently, as in you inform them that it's been scrapped or exported for example.
Let's face it, if the number had been put back in the pot and was now on another car it would show up on a search as on whatever it now belonged to via a private plate transfer, as its still out of the system then I'm confident it's still assigned to the Flaminia.

Mike, if you are interested then I can hang onto it if a deal can be done, until the summer in reality. Once we get to March I'll be bringing either the Dedra (assuming I get it finished...) or the integrale home so that will free up space to get at my Flavia. Not ideal, but I don't mind storing it for a while longer if someone with the needed enthusiasm comes along. The right buyer to take it on is more important to me than getting it gone quickly, although every time I think about it going the more I think about keeping it! But reality is that I have the Flavia along with 3 other classics so how many can  I really justify keeping.. So a new buyer is preferred

To the best of my knowledge registration plates don't go back into the pot. Once issued that stay attached to the car they were assigned to until it's either transferred off as a cherished plate (and replacement number issued that may be non transferrable), exported (in which case it's recorded and can be reassigned if the car comes back to the UK) or killed off completely when the car is notified as scrapped a tend of life.

I know there's a number plate I'd pay (some) money for but the car was exported so it's not available.

If DVLA were to put plates from known scrapped cars back on the market there'd be demand for quite a lot but that's not how the system works.

Guy

I missed the bit about having the 1980s paper log book. DVLC started computerising in the 1970s, a cousin of mine worked on setting up the system. My Flaminia had been off the road so long it was never on the system hence the need to "recover" the original plate.

I'll try and upload some underside pictures, front floor pans here.

Around rear spring hangers/chassis rails

Front crossmember where subframe attaches

Front suspension

Engine

Again..

Transaxle. As you can see, as per the front, the brake discs are thick enough to stand a very light skim to rid the surface rust, not pitted so should be fine with a light pass. Not maybe the finest detail but new discs are very expensive!

Last picture, so it's not all doom and gloom!
What a set of dials to be looking at once done  8)

Rust is rust, just pieces of metal to clean or replace, some will clean up but a lot will need to be replaced if it was me, do it once thoroughly and you won't need to be doing it again in 5 years time.

Guy is correct.

When SORN was introduced you had to contact DVLA with details of any off road cars that you wanted to be retained on the system. If this was not done the registration number was deleted from the system but not retained or re-allocated in any way by DVLA.

If you have old logbooks or V5s from pre-SORN DVLA are usually OK about re-allocating the original number back to the car on a non transferable basis, but often ask for a Club letter to avoid re-shelled/built up from bits cars obtaining 'nice' old registration numbers. I say usually because they can be pedantic depending on who picks up your case.

Neil (Club DVLA Liaison)

Thanks for the confirmation Neil, I do have the last issued V5 that is in Tonys' name still so should be fairly straightforward to transfer to the new owner.  8)
Although Mitka keeps tempting me with his stuff, maybe I'll just keep it!

If anyone is still interested, but hasn't seen the "coupe resurection" thread, I have partly stripped the engine down and found it was mostly just gummed up.
The heads though remain stubborn to remove.
As it is I will still be willing to sell, but be quick as I may grow to like it!
Now we know the engine isn't destroyed internally and is salvageable then surely that's a better prospect?
Just ask, I don't need a fortune for it, anything over £2k will be enough I'd reckon. Get me my money back if not anything for time invested.
Failing that I will keep plodding on.