Lancia Fulvia 1.6 HF

[Fessia fancier]

[RC1807]

I read the first couple of sentences, and thought it had been sold.

I’m pleased you preserved, and whilst I’m sure 180 hours work wasn’t cheap at all, it’s a great car.

[P5BNij]

I'm castigating myself for somehow missing this thread - what an absolute gem of a car OP! I was wondering, did you buy it from Max at Modern Classics in the US? He's had some lovely cars go through his hands over the last few years, I still watch some of his older videos on youtube when the mood strikes.

The colour really suits it too - most that come up are 'resale red' but the grey really suits it, especially with the addition of the Cromodora alloys. I've been keeping my eye on the ads on carandclassic.com and a couple of tidy looking blue examples have appeared, as well as an early S1 in silver. There was a late red example in the NEC auction a couple of weeks ago which looked like a nice 'driver' but it didn't sell for some reason.

[As an aside, 'BS9ider' posted a lovely pic of his white Fiat 124 Spider next to a rally spec Fulvia in here last August - I've been offered first dibs on a very nicely restored 124 Spider 2.0ltr in white with a red interior which is just tempting as the Fulvias, the trouble with these Italian cars is that they're so inviting, not to mention distracting!]

[Fessia fancier]

RC1807 said:

I read the first couple of sentences, and thought it had been sold.

I’m pleased you preserved, and whilst I’m sure 180 hours work wasn’t cheap at all, it’s a great car.

Thanks, re-reading it I can see why you thought that, but no plans to sell.

[Fessia fancier]

P5BNij said:

I'm castigating myself for somehow missing this thread - what an absolute gem of a car OP! I was wondering, did you buy it from Max at Modern Classics in the US? He's had some lovely cars go through his hands over the last few years, I still watch some of his older videos on youtube when the mood strikes.

The colour really suits it too - most that come up are 'resale red' but the grey really suits it, especially with the addition of the Cromodora alloys. I've been keeping my eye on the ads on carandclassic.com and a couple of tidy looking blue examples have appeared, as well as an early S1 in silver. There was a late red example in the NEC auction a couple of weeks ago which looked like a nice 'driver' but it didn't sell for some reason.

[As an aside, 'BS9ider' posted a lovely pic of his white Fiat 124 Spider next to a rally spec Fulvia in here last August - I've been offered first dibs on a very nicely restored 124 Spider 2.0ltr in white with a red interior which is just tempting as the Fulvias, the trouble with these Italian cars is that they're so inviting, not to mention distracting!]

Thanks P5B, I didn't get it from Max at Modern Classics, it was an impulse auction buy but I could see from the photos that it looked really original. Sometimes you just get a feeling.
Any Fulvia is lovely, I very much think they offer so much more than many other contemporaries for the money. That said, I was ogling a boat tail spider at a cars & coffee meet this morning. It wasn't being offered for sale, which was probably a good thing!

[P5BNij]

Fessia fancier said:

P5BNij said:

I'm castigating myself for somehow missing this thread - what an absolute gem of a car OP! I was wondering, did you buy it from Max at Modern Classics in the US? He's had some lovely cars go through his hands over the last few years, I still watch some of his older videos on youtube when the mood strikes.

The colour really suits it too - most that come up are 'resale red' but the grey really suits it, especially with the addition of the Cromodora alloys. I've been keeping my eye on the ads on carandclassic.com and a couple of tidy looking blue examples have appeared, as well as an early S1 in silver. There was a late red example in the NEC auction a couple of weeks ago which looked like a nice 'driver' but it didn't sell for some reason.

[As an aside, 'BS9ider' posted a lovely pic of his white Fiat 124 Spider next to a rally spec Fulvia in here last August - I've been offered first dibs on a very nicely restored 124 Spider 2.0ltr in white with a red interior which is just tempting as the Fulvias, the trouble with these Italian cars is that they're so inviting, not to mention distracting!]

Thanks P5B, I didn't get it from Max at Modern Classics, it was an impulse auction buy but I could see from the photos that it looked really original. Sometimes you just get a feeling.
Any Fulvia is lovely, I very much think they offer so much more than many other contemporaries for the money. That said, I was ogling a boat tail spider at a cars & coffee meet this morning. It wasn't being offered for sale, which was probably a good thing!

Sometimes the impulse buy turns out to be the best there is! (I bought a 2014 Abarth 595 'Anniversario' last week pretty much that way). I was quite tempted by the red Fulvia Coupe at the NEC, good job I haven't got anywhere to put it really...







As well as a few Fiat 124 Spiders and S2 Alfa Spiders I've got my eye on a few Lancias - three RHD Fulvia Coupes in particular, a '67 and a '72 Fulvia Berlina (both LHD) and a very nice looking '64 RHD Flavia 1800 Coupe.

I trust you won't be doing this sort of thing with yours...?

[Fessia fancier]

That Fulvia looks neat, quite sporty.
I'd hope not to put my Fulvia at quite that angle of roll!

[Fessia fancier]

Out and about today

[Mr Tidy]

Good to know you are pleased with it OP, and good luck getting the niggles sorted.

Even the mainstream Italian manufacturers made some stunning cars in the 70s, and yours is one of them!

Mind you Maserati got the QP just right too.

[Fessia fancier]

Belated thanks Mr Tidy, and I 100% agree re the QP

[daqinggregg]

It never ceases to amaze me, the amount power Italian designers/engineers could extract in relation to capacity, for production cars.

If that wasn’t enough, they then throw the kitchen sink of handling, chassis and braking (I’m sure at a cost) components, to make sure it does as it should.

Not finished there, the cheeky sods have the audacity to wrap it all in something so beautiful. No wonder the Italian language, can make the most mundane of things sound exotic.

What a car OP, very special.

[Fessia fancier]

daqinggregg said:

It never ceases to amaze me, the amount power Italian designers/engineers could extract in relation to capacity, for production cars.

If that wasn’t enough, they then throw the kitchen sink of handling, chassis and braking (I’m sure at a cost) components, to make sure it does as it should.

Not finished there, the cheeky sods have the audacity to wrap it all in something so beautiful. No wonder the Italian language, can make the most mundane of things sound exotic.

What a car OP, very special.

Thanks. Funnily enough the high specific output was what first caught my eye for numbers as a kid. Relatively little literature and lots of time lead to that! I guess it has roots in the tax system in Italy, with jumps at (I think) 1.3 and 2.0 litres. Hence a 1.3 Fulvia at 90hp had as much power as a 2.0 Pinto engine of the time.

In terms of style, the Italians also seem to get it right more often than anyone else whether cars are involved or not. The Fulvia Coupe was styled in-house but Pininfarina, Bertone, Guigairo, Zagato, Touring etc pretty much dominate the (my!) list of best styled cars.

[QBee]

Fessia fancier said:

daqinggregg said:

It never ceases to amaze me, the amount power Italian designers/engineers could extract in relation to capacity, for production cars.

If that wasn’t enough, they then throw the kitchen sink of handling, chassis and braking (I’m sure at a cost) components, to make sure it does as it should.

Not finished there, the cheeky sods have the audacity to wrap it all in something so beautiful. No wonder the Italian language, can make the most mundane of things sound exotic.

What a car OP, very special.

Thanks. Funnily enough the high specific output was what first caught my eye for numbers as a kid. Relatively little literature and lots of time lead to that! I guess it has roots in the tax system in Italy, with jumps at (I think) 1.3 and 2.0 litres. Hence a 1.3 Fulvia at 90hp had as much power as a 2.0 Pinto engine of the time.

In terms of style, the Italians also seem to get it right more often than anyone else whether cars are involved or not. The Fulvia Coupe was styled in-house but Pininfarina, Bertone, Guigairo, Zagato, Touring etc pretty much dominate the (my!) list of best styled cars.

I can confirm that re their tax system and engine sizes - TVR produced a special engine variant for Italy, with a 2 litre engine (presmuably just under 2 litres) instead of the usual 4 litre, 4.5 litre and 5 litre V8s. No idea if they uprated the output, but I expect they did.

[Fessia fancier]

Indeed you are right there were some oddities. Two litre Lancia Gamma, Lambo Uracco and Ferrari 208 (normally aspirated and turbo versions) spring to mind, as well as the first Maserati biturbo.