RE: Series 1 Lancia Fulvia for sale
Discussion
SmartVenom said:
ReverendCounter said:
SmartVenom said:
I want Dandi’s HF from Romanzo Criminale.
Wow, looks like a really cool version of the Sweeney!One of my aunts had a silver RHD Fulvia Coupe for a short period in the '70s, I think it was a Series 2 or 3 car with the raised outer headlamps, compared to all of the BL stuff she normally had at the time it looked positively exotic and very elegant.
I had a RHD Fulvia Series 1 coupe 1.2 many years ago and on a Christmas Day I had to drive 60 miles on mostly B class roads to get to the family for lunch. It was one of my memorable drives despite having owned more powerful cars. It drove beautifully and I averaged quite a high speed for the journey. At the time I also had a Cooper S 1275 and an Alfa 105 GTV. The Fulvia was the right car and as beautifully built as a Swiss watch. Lots of bits of it were parts also fitted on exotic motors of the day.
Edited by Tazar on Saturday 12th June 22:09
Edited by Tazar on Saturday 12th June 22:16
Those who are knocking how the Fulvia Coupe drives were simply driving bad / poorly looked-after examples. Well-sorted Fulvia Coupes are exquisite cars to drive, have beautiful handling, lovely steering feel and sound great. Any period road test or modern Classic Car mag review / test echoes that. They were also high quality (especially in the pre-Fiat days), beautifully engineered and expensive to buy new. OK, they weren't the fastest things especially in 1.2 or 1.3 guise but it wasn't all about outright performance. I remember one Classic Car mag saying something like "a precision instrument" to describe it,
HF versions have now reached crazy money, and rightly so. The standard Coupes like this are only ever going to appreciate in value particularly if they're in decent nick.
HF versions have now reached crazy money, and rightly so. The standard Coupes like this are only ever going to appreciate in value particularly if they're in decent nick.
geo1905 said:
Er.... no thanks. They’re made of really thin Italian steel, fine for warmer climes but in good old Blighty ? I’d be watching for rust all the time and that would ruin the ownership experience. Pretty little car though.
Fulvias were no more rust-prone than many cars of the 60s/70s and a lot better than most.The key corrosion weak-spot to watch out for are the front subframe mountings - look for vertical splits at the crown of the front wheelarches (or evidence that they have been there and repaired). That indicates that at least some of the subframe mounts on the bodyshell have rotted out and the subframe is pulling clear of the bodyshell under acceleration
Cart before horse!
The 2C saloon came along long before its lovely coupe sibling. (Same engine & underpinnings, but that boxy style was actually considered rather 'chic', c.1966...)
The coupe is rather different - we've had ours for nearly 28 years by now, from it first serving as our family's 2nd car. 'Ziebarted*' from new (*a 1970s rustproofing franchise) and waxoyled stem-to-stern once we got it, its pretty much rust-free, especially compared to the 17 Ford RS or rally Escorts which preceded it (primitive rot-boxes all of them, without an exception) while a Delta HF Turbo did the day-job.
Such a lot of post-Esther Rantzen 'Watchdog' rot was talked by men-in-pubs (about all UK Lancias & rust) that the Fulvia became another enduring victim of this folk-tale. Most Lancias have outlasted their contemporary Escorts, Cortinas, MGs and Marinas etc. - while the Fulvia's rally record was second to none, back in the day (e.g. 1st overall, Monte Carlo Rally 1973).
Its engineering/ quality remains likewise. Acceleration's nothing to write home about, but once you get a Fulvia properly wound-up, then there's no need to back-off thereafter - ideal on a rally. No wonder it took their development of something like the 'Stratos' for Lancia to maintain & recreate the Fulvia's line of consistent rally success to date.
For fans, it's all about their attractive lines, charismatic motorsport associations, beautiful engineering & uneconomic build-standards (a 1.3S Fulvia coupe, complete with vinyl floor mats instead of carpets, would have cost you more in the UK than an E-Type, yet still attracted a core of discerning, mainly 'professional' buyers). Even today, it's a concept you either get or you don't - why I always explain ours in shorthand terms of representing a 'Mini-Cooper in an Armani suit'.
Nuff said, save only to mention that the grey one in this PH article above had previously sold privately for about £17k, before popping -up in the trade now at this price.
Maybe why it's still for sale?
The 2C saloon came along long before its lovely coupe sibling. (Same engine & underpinnings, but that boxy style was actually considered rather 'chic', c.1966...)
The coupe is rather different - we've had ours for nearly 28 years by now, from it first serving as our family's 2nd car. 'Ziebarted*' from new (*a 1970s rustproofing franchise) and waxoyled stem-to-stern once we got it, its pretty much rust-free, especially compared to the 17 Ford RS or rally Escorts which preceded it (primitive rot-boxes all of them, without an exception) while a Delta HF Turbo did the day-job.
Such a lot of post-Esther Rantzen 'Watchdog' rot was talked by men-in-pubs (about all UK Lancias & rust) that the Fulvia became another enduring victim of this folk-tale. Most Lancias have outlasted their contemporary Escorts, Cortinas, MGs and Marinas etc. - while the Fulvia's rally record was second to none, back in the day (e.g. 1st overall, Monte Carlo Rally 1973).
Its engineering/ quality remains likewise. Acceleration's nothing to write home about, but once you get a Fulvia properly wound-up, then there's no need to back-off thereafter - ideal on a rally. No wonder it took their development of something like the 'Stratos' for Lancia to maintain & recreate the Fulvia's line of consistent rally success to date.
For fans, it's all about their attractive lines, charismatic motorsport associations, beautiful engineering & uneconomic build-standards (a 1.3S Fulvia coupe, complete with vinyl floor mats instead of carpets, would have cost you more in the UK than an E-Type, yet still attracted a core of discerning, mainly 'professional' buyers). Even today, it's a concept you either get or you don't - why I always explain ours in shorthand terms of representing a 'Mini-Cooper in an Armani suit'.
Nuff said, save only to mention that the grey one in this PH article above had previously sold privately for about £17k, before popping -up in the trade now at this price.
Maybe why it's still for sale?
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