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Author Topic: From autoUniversam http://autouniversum.wordpress.com/category/lancia/  (Read 11929 times)
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fay66
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« on: 19 June, 2013, 12:21:10 AM »

From Auto universam re 1963, nice write ups. for added comments and photos see http://autouniversum.wordpress.com/category/lancia/

Brian 8227 Cool

The Gentleman’s Conveyance: NLA (No Longer Available)
Posted on 19/12/2009 by J Kraus by J Kraus


—Lancia Aurelia 2.5 Gran Tourismo
There are few gentlemen left in the world today and that has unfortunately led to the demise of the Gentleman’s Express. A true gentleman eschews common ostentation and can normally be outwardly recognized in public solely by the fit of his shirt or the cut of his suit.

Such a man for example, would have been unlikely to dangle his Rolex Submariner or Breitling Super Ocean on his wrist whilst driving to dinner at Lucas Carton. Rather, lurking beneath his Turnbull & Asser Cocktail Cuff one would more likely find his Breguet Classique or Patek Philippe Calatrava.


In the halcyon days of yore, such a man had the choice of a number of proper motorcars to suit his lifestyle. Such cars could cover ground quickly without drawing undue attention, and had a certain panache, without being in any way flamboyant. Stylish, but not too stylish. Not for him the flashy machines and glitzy nameplates lusted after by the masses and favoured by the fast-money crowd.

The Gentleman’s Car: understated, discreet, a bit of élan. Performance and roadholding sufficient to satisfy the enthusiastic driver. Capable of good transit times over a variety of road conditions, so as to never cause the driver to be late for an engagement. Anything generating bragging rights at the local pub is unnecessary, as the gentleman has no need to boast. Performance should simply be, in the manner Rolls Royce once used to describe their power outputs; adequate. At the same time, the performance available should be easy to extract so that rapid journeys can be undertaken in a comfortable and relaxed fashion. Here are some notable exemplars:


—Aurelia GT
The first postwar car to handily fulfill this criteria was the Lancia Aurelia Gran Tourismo. In many ways, this car defined the category. The Aurelia, along with the 356 Porsche, advanced the sporting car firmly into the postwar era, both cars ably demonstrating that a harsh ride was not prerequisite to superlative handling and roadholding. The Aurelia also demonstrating that high noise levels were not a necessary companion of good performance.


—Aurelia GT, 6th Series, 1957
The Lancia was mechanically intriguing, with the world’s first production V6 engine, a rear transaxle, fully independent suspension and equipped with the revolutionary new Michelin radial tires. The Ghia-penned body was decidedly sporting, while at the same time offering the precise subtlety and understatement of a Gieves & Hawkes suit. There was no model designation affixed to the exterior, and the only Lancia identification was a cloisonné logo incorporated into the grille surround. The right-hand number plate lamp cleverly doubled as a boot lid release.

The Aurelia was no slouch in the performance arena, being the only car other than the Porsche 911 to ever win both the Targa Florio and the Rallye Monte-Carlo.


—Lancia Flaminia Coupé Pininfarina
In 1957, the Aurelia lineup began to be replaced by the newer Flaminia series, marking a turning point in automotive styling. The Flaminia range was the first squared, flat-plane razor-edge Pininfarina design that would proliferate and become widely imitated in the 1960’s with Pininfaria’s own Peugeot 404, the Lincoln Continental and the Fiat 1800/2100, among others.


—The Flaminia Pininfarina Coupé in black with brown leather. Perfect for the drive down from La Turbie to the Principality dressed in a white dinner jacket for the annual Red Cross Ball
The Flaminia rode on a more modern chassis than the Aurelia, with upper and lower front wishbones supplanting the venerable sliding pillars used by Lancia since the 1920’s. Four-wheel disc brakes replaced the former drum system and featured typical Lancia dual independent hydraulic circuits.

Search   Main menuSkip to primary contentSkip to secondary contentHomeContactAboutSubject IndexJet Age CookingPost navigation← Previous Next → Driver’s Eye View: Lancia Flaminia GT 3C Touring
Posted on 17/08/2009 by J Kraus by J Kraus


—Lancia Flaminia GT 3C Touring Coupé


—Lancia Flaminia GT 3C Touring 2.8. Grigio Metallizzato with Black leather. Instrumentation by Veglia. Owned by John Möllenkamp, Huizen, The Netherlands.
The Pinninfarina-styled Lancia Flaminia Berlina was introduced in 1957 and in 1959, the line was expanded to include a Pinninfarina designed Coupé, a Zagato Sport Coupé and the Touring GT Coupé shown here. In 1960, a Convertible version of the GT became available.

This GT is one of only 168 built by Carrozzeria Touring in the 2.8 litre triple-carburettor configuration.

The classic body-color instrument panel, dominated by two large dials, is a study in elegant simplicity. It was designed in a symmetrical fashion that was unique to the Touring-bodied Flaminias with the glove box lid echoing the shape of the instrument cluster.

The speedometer incorporates the minor gauges for fuel, oil pressure, oil temperature and water temperature, while the tachometer includes various warning lamps and a tonneau-shaped clock at the 6 o’clock position. A typically subtle yet stylish Lancia detail is the triangular-shaped bezel between the speedometer and tachometer that houses the turn-indicator and main-beam lamps.

As with most of John’s cars, this Flaminia is actively rallied, which explains the three stopwatches in the centre of the instruent panel, which were put through their paces during numerous events including the 2000 Tour Auto and 2008 France Tour Classic.

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  TumblrGoogle +1LinkedInPinterestRedditDiggStumbleUpon    This entry was posted in Driver's Eye View, Lancia by J Kraus. Bookmark the permalink. One thought on “Driver’s Eye View: Lancia Flaminia GT 3C Touring” Santo on 20/08/2009 at 11:31 AM said:
I believe the Touring bodied versions had the most attractive instrument panels of all the Flaminias. The design has an inherent simplicity that is the hallmark of a true Lancia. The instruments were mounted too low for optimum visibility (a characteristic shared with the later Fulvia), but as often is the case in life, beauty extracts a price.

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Post navigation← Previous Next → Tribute: Lancia Fulvia
Posted on 01/06/2009 by J Kraus by J Kraus


—Fulvia Coupé
I never enjoy being coerced into selecting some favourite or best car. First off, for almost any given occasion or individual there is a vastly different car which would best warrant such a distinction.

Yet I must admit that there are a few vehicles that for me personally always seem to float to the top. The chosen few generally feature unique and technically intriguing engineering. Their uncompromising, sometimes idiosyncratic design show complete contempt for market research, study clinics or other dilutive influences. They represent what their designers thought right and proper for a motorcar and damn the torpedoes. The Fulvia is one of these.


The various Fulvias never excelled in generating flashy performance numbers in the realm of speed or acceleration; thus they were mercifully spared the attention of those enthusiasts who deign to judge cars by such simplistic criteria. Nevertheless; because of its overall competence in real-world performance, the Fulvia acquitted itself well in competition. As an example, the Fulvia 1.2 HF finished the 1966 Targa Florio 11th overall, posting an average speed less then 5 kph slower than an 1.8 litre MGB driven by rally legend Timo Mäkinen. In the 1970 Targa, a 1.6 HF driven by Cladio Maglioli and Sandro Munari finished 9th overall ahead of all production cars including a phalanx of nine Porsche 911’s. The only finishers ahead of the Fulvia were the sports-racing and sports-prototypes entered by Ferrari (the 512), Porsche (908), Alfa Romeo (Type 33) and Abarth (2000 S).

Lancias were cars designed for and driven by the cognoscente. An old Italian expression held that Fiat sold cars to the masses, Alfa to sportsmen and Lancia to connoisseurs. One Australian motoring writer compared driving a Lancia to savouring a good Shiraz, no doubt envisioning swirling a goblet of Penfolds Grange Hermitage ‘55.


—Fulvia Berlina
The Fulvia line began in 1963 with the introduction of the 1.1 litre Berlina designed under the direction of Antonio Fessia. Hailed by many journalists as the King of Small Cars, the Fulvia was small, but by no means inexpensive to build or inexpensive to buy. The Fulvia was the second Lancia to utilize front-wheel drive, following on the heels of the Flavia introduced three years earlier. Unlike the French front-wheel drive designs that placed the engine behind the front axle for better weight distribution, or the transverse layout pioneered by the BMC Mini, Lancia located their engines ahead of the front axle, and the transmission behind. To keep front end of the car from becoming too heavy and too long, Lancia used the shortest possible engine configurations. Where the Flavia was designed around a horizontally opposed four-cylinder engine, the Fulvia incorporated an exquisitely engineered narrow-angle (13 degree) V4 designed by Zaccone Mina.

Lancia was long a proponent of the vee configuration; having produced the worlds first V4 in 1922 and the first mass-produced V6 in 1950. While their V6 was a 60 degree design, all the Lancia V4 engines featured very narrow angles of between 10-20 degrees, allowing both banks of the engine to share a single common cylinder head. The Fulvia’s predecessor, the Appia, utilized a V4, but that engine had reached the limit of its development due to breathing limitations. This was due to the fact that the long ports traversing across the single cylinder head to service the far bank had to wind their way through a nest of pushrods, thus limiting their size and shape. Eliminating the pushrods in favour of overhead camshafts neatly addressed this problem in the new Fulvia engine. One of the two chain-driven overhead camshafts operated the intake valves on both banks through rocker arms, the other similarly controlled all the exhaust valves.

The mating surfaces of the block and cylinder head were machined flat to simplify manufacturing. To compensate, the tops of the pistons were slanted 6.5 degrees to properly match up to the combustion chambers. The entire engine was canted over a full 45 degrees to allow a lower hoodline.


—Fulvia 1.1 litre Aluminium 13˚ DOHC V4
The cylinder head and crankcase were die cast aluminium. Only the very compact cylinder block was cast of iron. There were no pressed metal parts on the engine; all major bolt-on pieces were beautifully finished aluminium castings including the cam cover, oil sump and asymmetrically staggered four-blade cooling fan. The engine was little short of a masterpiece. Its design was resurrected in the 1990’s by Volkswagen, who continue to use this narrow V configuration (VW use 10.6 and 15.0 degree versions) to create V5’s, V6’s, and cast in pairs or sets, W8’s, W12’s and the W16 of the Bugatti Veyron.

The suspension was fairly straightforward with upper and lower wishbones in front and a beam axle at the rear. In common with many German cars, the Fulvia incorporated very large rubber progressive bump stops that acted as supplementary springs. In the front, these came into play after only 45mm of jounce travel.

The real key to the Fulvia’s acclaimed ride and handling was its De Carbon high pressure monotube gas-charged dampers. Christian Bourcier de Carbon developed and patented this design in 1953. Lancia engineers were among the first to recognize the performance advantages of the gas-charged concept and fitted the De Carbon units to the Flavia and Fulvia. The De Carbon technology was later licensed to Bilstein, who popularized the principle.

Lancia also spared no expense with tires, fitting the Fulvia exclusively with either Michelin X or XAS radial ply tires. Lancia was the first automobile manufacturer to seize upon the benefits of the belted radial ply design and began phasing in the radically new Michelin tires as standard equipment beginning in May of 1950.

The braking system used discs on all four wheels, the first such application (in a tie with the Renault R8) on a small sedan, putting the Fulvia in elite company; the only sedans available at any price with four-wheel disc brakes were Daimlers, Jaguars, six-cylinder Fiats, three-litre and V8 Mercedes and Lancia’s own Flaminia and Flavia.

Lancia were never meant for the buyer that purchases cars by the kilo or believe that bigger is better, and the Fulvia was no exception. It was the most expensive 1.1 litre car on the European market. Those seeking the most size or power for their money would have to look elsewhere. What the Fulvia buyer got instead was a precision-engineered car built like a fine Swiss chronograph.

In addition to the finely crafted mechanical components, the Fulvias bodywork was built to a similarly high standard with some of the smallest and most consistent panel gaps to be found in the 1960’s. One never found a Fulvia with dull, corroded or pitted trim because the exterior brightwork was neither chromed metal or anodized aluminium. It was all polished stainless steel, even the bumpers.

Many details were incorporated to enhance the enjoyment of the discerning owner. The lids of the engine and luggage compartments were counterbalanced and both compartments illuminated.  The spare tire was discretely enclosed in a vinyl cover. The edges of the doors had red warning lights that illuminated when the doors were opened. The centre panel of the dashboard hinged downward to provide for easy access to the switches, fuses and relays. Standard equipment included a dipping day/night mirror, passenger vanity mirror and fully integrated reversing lamps: all luxury items in 1963.


—Fulvia Coupé
In 1965, Lancia introduced the Fulvia Coupé. In a break with tradition, Lancia eschewed the Italian carrozzerias and produced a model designed in-house by Piero Castagnero. The Coupé debuted with an engine enlarged to 1.2 litres, the addition of twin dual-throat carburettors and a higher 9.0:1 compression ratio. While sharing the suspension and drivetrain with the Berlina, the wheelbase was shortened by 150mm and a rear anti-roll bar was added. The latter is eminently desirable on a front-wheel drive car to extract the best ride and handling since the resulting roll stiffness at the rear will aid in attenuating understeer. Nonetheless, they would not become commonplace for another decade.

A few months following the launch of the Fulvia Coupé, Lancia introduced what would become the most illustrious and celebrated of all Fulvias; the HF. This corresponded with the debut of Lancia Squadra Corsa, managed by Cesare Fiorio, the first Lancia works competition department since 1954.

The HF was lightened through the use of aluminium for the doors and engine and luggage compartment lids, Plexiglas rear and quarter windows and deletion of much of the trim, including removal of the bumpers. All together, 170 kg was eliminated, bringing the weight down to a svelte 860 kg for the stradale version and only 790 kg for the corsa variant which did without a heater, air cleaner housing and other non-essentials. New camshafts added eight extra horsepower and an oil cooler was fitted.

Meanwhile, twin-carburettor versions of the 1.1 and 1.2 litre engines were offered in the Berlina and in accordance with a long tradition of working with the Milanese carrozzeria, Lancia offered a Zagato-bodied coupé in 1967. The new Sport Zagato was based on the shortened platform of the Coupé and coincided with the introduction of a 1.3 litre version of the V4.


—Fulvia Sport Zagato
The Zagato Coupé body was crafted from aluminium and had slightly lower aerodynamic drag (mostly from being 100 mm lower) than the standard coupé. The Fulvia Sport was the top-line Fulvia, being considerably pricier and rarer than the standard Coupé. The Sport was fitted with a taller final drive with the result that the lighter Sport and heavier Coupé were evenly matched in performance until speeds were reached where the lower drag of the Sport began to show to advantage.

As with most Zagato designs there were some interesting touches. Like the earlier Flavia Zagato, the rear hatch could be raised several millimetres via an electric motor to increase cabin ventilation. The engine lid was not hinged at the front or rear, but on the right-hand side. With the 45-degree canted engine lying completely to the left, this made perfect sense. The spare tire and tools were under the rear luggage floor and slid out via a fold down panel between the bumper uprights in a manner similar to many 1950’s sports cars. On the minus side, the aluminium construction and hatchback configuration of the Sport Zagato left it with less chassis rigidity than the Coupé, despite having the world’s first factory strut-bar connecting the rear suspension towers.


—Fulvia 1.3 HF
The 1.3 litre version of the V4 was also fitted to the Coupé and HF. The new 1.3 HF immediately proceeded to take second place honours in 1967 at the Rallye Monte-Carlo and at the Acropolis Rally. In 1969, the final driveline development of the Fulvia range was introduced for the HF: a 1.6 litre version of the V4 coupled to a new five-speed gearbox. Also new were 6” Cromadora alloy wheels and 175 mm wide tires. The 1.6 litre engine would remain an HF exclusive for four years, after which it was also available in the Sport Zagato.


—The Fulvia 1.3 HF of Hannu Mikkola and Anssi Järvi on the way to 2nd Overall in the 1968 Austrian Alpine Rally
The 1.6 litre HF’s won the RAC and Portugal rallies in 1970 and in 1972 were victorious in the Monte, the Moroccan and the San Remo rallies. The points from these and other wins during the season brought the Fulvia the 1972 International Rally Championship crown. That was the peak of the Fulvias competition career but it wasn’t quite finished. In 1973, a 1.6 HF helped Sandro Munari secure the European Rally Championship.

The Fulvia was the last true thoroughbred Lancia designed and produced prior to the takeover by Fiat and its passing was appropriately mourned by aficionados of engineering creativity and quality. The eminent British road tester John Bolster once declared that The Lancia owner is not afraid to pay for more engineering quality, and every part of the car must appeal to him for its mechanical excellence; merely functional adequacy is not enough. An Australian automotive reviewer recommended the purchase of a Fulvia as a corrective for the man who had thus far failed in all other ways to become a gentleman.

We will most likely never again see a car like the Fulvia. In an era where people choose their next car by a tenth of a second in zero-to-sixty acceleration or a few seconds difference in lap times around the Nordschleife, too few enthusiasts remain that would appreciate the subtlety and nuance embedded in the engineering and design solutions that were hallmarks of the cars of Lancia.
« Last Edit: 19 June, 2013, 12:31:56 AM by fay66 » Logged

Own 1966 Fulvia 2C Berlina since 1997, back on road 11-1999.Known as "Fay"
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« Reply #1 on: 19 June, 2013, 08:25:45 AM »


I need to read up on the 1970 Targa Florio now.  That's as impressive a performance as the Aurelias' in their day...

David
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David Laver, Lewisham.
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« Reply #2 on: 19 June, 2013, 08:49:51 AM »

Thanks Brian, had a sneaky feeling we were on to a good thing! Cool

Robin
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Robin Lacey 3222

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« Reply #3 on: 20 June, 2013, 07:48:55 PM »

.
« Last Edit: 19 January, 2015, 04:41:49 PM by Richard Fridd » Logged

Richard Nevison Fridd                                                                      Happy Lancia, Happy Life
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« Reply #4 on: 27 September, 2013, 08:27:37 AM »



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1970_Targa_Florio

http://iedei.files.wordpress.com/2011/11/lancia_fulvia_targa_florio_crash.jpg

http://images.forum-auto.com/mesimages/503366/1970%20-%20Lancia%20Fulvia%20HF%20-%20Munari%20-%20C.Maglioli%20-%20HF%20Squadra%20Corse%20-%20A3.jpg

http://www.targapedia.com/album_targa_florio/1969_1977/1970/TARGA%20FLORIO%201970%20-%20LANCIA/slides/178%20Lancia%20Fulvia%20HF%201600%20%20Giancarlo%20Galimberti%20-%20poker%20(3).jpg
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David Laver, Lewisham.
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