Wild and Crazy Guys

Hi Pete, God, I hope this works! This *&%#@ computer has swapped my email to Internet Explorer again so I couldn'd find the scanned photos of Toly! (Read Toly and the Appia). I found these while looking for something else(naturally). Clipped to the cars pic was a note saying,"Sorry the other print did not come out." I'll bet! The "other" print was of Toly and I with the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism gal who was with the photographer. Was she ever a knockout!

Dick Irish

Nassau, 1964. Toly Arutunoff is at left in the one piece shorts outfit, Dick Irish on the right. The Appia, number 29, is behind them. (Read review of "Bahamas Speed Weeks").

"The light colored Corvette was one of those Guilstrand cars, I think, though. I don't recall ever having a program of the race so it's hard to identify all the cars--except Toly's! It was sort of a laid back holiday and loads of "how the other half lives" FUN! Also, gorgeous beaches (and girls)".

Racing Giuliettas

Carl,
Love your story about Racing Giuliettas.

The photos from Put in Bay 1958 show what you call a LWB coupe. This is a 410S. It is 0713 SA. The Ohio plate is W8HHM. It was delivered new in Sept 1957 in Europe. Richard Wolfe ordered the car and specified a lot of unique features. He collected the car at the factory with his mother in tow.

David Seielstad

Carl Goodwin's story on Racing Guiliettas reminds me of a picture in a booklet which I have longer than I care to remember. The booklet is called "Guide to Competition Driving" the author is Paul O'Shea, one of the most promising of America's younger driving stars. That is, according to the editor in 1957. The book was published in NY by Sports Car Press Ltd. In some photos I can identify one Porsche and a host of Alfa's and MG's. Other pictures in the book feature mostly MG T Types, XK Jaguars and Austin Healeys, which confirms the relative rareness of Alfa's in the fifties. I like your website, keep up the good work!

Jan de Heer, The Netherlands.

Thank you for the long list of links to great articles and photos about ALFAs. Several of our Sedona, "Red Rock Racers", are afflicted with ALFAs, so I wanted to humor them, and feed their insatiable addiction. I was once one of those poor misguided souls, having earned my first competition licence from the Alfa Romeo Owners Club, at Wilmot Hills, WI, in 1961. I escaped the grips of the "Serpent", to seek refuge with Porsche, but now after my retirement, and while racing a Porsche in SCCA and vintage events, I feel a strange urge, to return to my ALFA racing roots. ( Bad habits really do die hard. )

My Alfa racing friends in our vintage racing group, are using their best efforts to draw me back onto the "Dark Side", and your VELOCE TODAY publication, isn't helping at all.
Tom Hettinger

Sedona, AZ

Appia Details

A few more thoughts on the Appia. Having been involved with Appias for more years than I care to remember , not only my own but many other owners and members of the Appia Consortium with whom I have been in touch with through supplying spares and technical assistance, perhaps I may add the following.

One thing is clear, when dealing with Lancias you can never make a definitive statement, because as soon as you do somebody will be in touch to say I have had my car since new and it has xyz which is at odds with what was previously thought.

For example I had always believed from reading the various sources that Piniin Farina designed the Appia Coupe and built the 2nd Series cars and that Viotti built all the subsequent Series 3 cars. However a recent article came to light concerning Carrozzeria Ellena in whch it was claimed that Viotti built the first 300 or so and that Ellena built the remaining 785 cars. Can anybody throw any further light on this subject.

I have included two attachments showing the bare chassis as supplied to the various coachbuilders, they are not very good pictures, has anybody got any better ones?

I mention Series 2 and Series 3 cars and one of the major changes was the move from the Simplex braking system to the Duplex system, but again I found out that some Series 3 cars supplied to the USA did have the Simplex brake system because the owner told me he had his car from new and it was fitted with the Simplex system.

Series 2 Chassis cars were fitted with the standard 6 port cylinder head but with a 36 DCLD 3 Weber giving 53bhp.
Series 3 Chassis cars were fitted with an 8 port head and a 36 DCD 5 Weber giving 60 bhp, but the Drivers Handbook for the American market says a Weber 36DCLD3 giving 54bhp!. The chassis cars all had different back axle ratios compared to the Sedans as did the commercials.

Also another curiosity on 2nd series Sedans and Vignale Convertibles supplied to the USA, was that the rear lights were different, in fact they are Lucas items and are the same as those fitted to the Nash Metropolitan.

With regard to trim levels, Series 1 cars were cloth trimmed and had individual front seats, Series 2 cars were mainly cloth or vinyl or a mix of cloth with vinyl facings and had bench front seats. Series 3 were as Series 2 but with optional choices of leather, individual front seats or reclining bench seat( my Series 3 has red leather reclining bench seat).

Body work I believe the following to be correct but.... Series1 Sedan was fitted with removable steel front wings/ fenders, rear wings/ fenders were aluminum and removable, doors , bonnet/hood and boot/trunk lid were all aluminum.
Series 2 Sedan was fitted with removable front and rear wings made of steel, bonnet and doors were aluminum, but the boot was steel.
Series 3 the only part made of aluminum was the bonnet all other items were steel. The rear wings were removable but the front wings were welded to the body shell .

Just one final thought, all the various commercials were fitted with a five speed gearbox, this was not the Ardea gearbox , but an adaptation of the standard Appia 4 speed box by the addition of a modified rear transmission case to include the fifth gear, externally it looked no different to the standard box. Many commercials and Jolly vans were robbed of the five speed box by Zagato owners to give them that bit extra.
I think that enough for now.

Don Cross
Manager Appia Consortium