Explaining the Fulvia HF
Factory brochure for the Fulvia HF Lusso.The standard S2 1600HF, with standard stainless windshield trim, standard nose badge, and standard S2 Coupé bumpers. The bumpers have both front and side brackets, with side bracket holes below the marker lights.
[Lancia Fulvia 1.6HF chassis number 2269 was covered in detail by Andrew Coles last week. Today, Edward Levin gives us further information about how the HF series developed. Ed.]
By Edward Levin, American Lancia Club
Perhaps because he had raced for Fiat at the beginning of his automotive career, Vincenzo Lancia had always forsworn racing. Others raced his cars, and racing drivers from Nuvolari to (later) Hawthorn chose Lancias as their road cars. But Lancia feared that the enormous expense of a factory competition team would detract from his main aim—selling well-engineered, solidly-built cars to a monied audience.
Vincenzo’s fears were proven prescient when, after the founder’s death, his son Gianni embarked on an ambitious program of sports prototype and formula one racing. While this program had yielded some success and led to the development of some advanced competition cars, it also helped propel the firm into the financial difficulties that led to the family’s sale to a private investor in 1955.
The “High Fidelity” Lancias
For the decade following the sale, only privateers raced Lancias. One such privateer group, the HF Squadra Corse had been organized by Cesare Florio, son of Lancia’s marketing director. The Squadra borrowed the “HF” designation from the HiFi Club, a group of lancisti who bought only Lancias, thus exhibiting their “high fidelity” to the marque. When the factory decided to re-enter competition in the mid-‘60s, it must have seemed natural for the factory to essentially absorb and build upon the HF Squadra Corse.
Therefore beginning around 1965, the factory reconstituted a works racing team, the Reparto Corse, and began to prepare its new front-wheel drive Fulvia model for road racing and rally. And although the newly-introduced Coupé (1.2) saw some initial success, its power-to-weight ratio limited its competitiveness. To address this, in 1966 the factory created a lightweight homologation version of the Coupé, officially known as the “Coupé HF”, but now referred to as the 1.2HF.
Fiat Invades the L.A. Auto Show
Fiat and fun in the sun. Look out, Mini Countryman.
By Eric Musarra
Photos courtesy Fiat
Buyers these days seem to want cars that only look tiny; a personal tardis if you will. The Minis of the 60s were tiny then, but today they are merely a figurine for anyone over six feet tall. Over years, the new Mini Coopers seem to steadily gain size and weight, creeping the scale along and distorting the beauty of the original. Thankfully a model that doesn’t cheat on her diet continues to be offered.
Now Fiat, still considered a new car in America is fattening up its models, and unveiled a four-door (five if you count the hatch) 500 L at the L.A. Auto Show. It made sense to debut the car in California which accounts for a quarter of Fiat’s sales in America.
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Our Features This Week, November 28th, 2012
Pinin Farina Poster Offer Valid Until December 4th!
We thank all of those who became new Premium Subscribers and received a free Pininfarina 60s poster from Mark Stehrenberger! It was so successful that we decided to do one more offering, this time of the 1950s Pinin Farina.
So, now through December 4th: Become a NEW VeloceToday Premium Subscriber and receive this Mark Stehrenberger Art Poster of Pininfarina in the 1950s! The first TEN NEW PREMIUM SUBSCRIBERS (1 year subscription) TO VELOCETODAY will receive this 18 inch by 12 inch poster, shipping is free! Just become a new Premium Subscriber and email me (vack@cox.net) with your full name and address before November 19th, when contest ends. This is poster is valued at $40!
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Driving the Lancia Fulvia 1.6HF Works Rally Car
Adelaide, Australia
Collectors aside, how many real enthusiasts are able to walk out to their garage, lift the door and see their own genuine ex-works Lancia rally car sitting there?
This is a reality for Jeremy Browne, a man who has immersed himself in his passion for rallying and the Lancia marque for most of his life. Whilst his fascinating stories from competing all over the world offer remarkable distraction, it’s the journey that Jeremy has taken with his Lancia Fulvia 1.6 HF, a works car used by the factory to win the International Rally Championship (the forerunner to the WRC) in 1972, that brings us here today.
Jeremy Browne is one of the few who can experience a Works Rally car by lifting his garage door.
One can see these genuine works cars from time to time at historic events and in museums, but they’re often part of large collections, desired because of their status and traded like commodities. What makes Jeremy’s Fulvia unique is that its owner is a genuine enthusiast who holds a lifelong passion for Lancia, and who has actually used it enough over the past two decades to build his own special relationship with the car.
The Saga of the Caswell BNC Part 3
The Caswell BNC Ford as it appears today, cleaned up but unrestored 'as last raced,' to quote Fred Simeone. Photo courtesy George Lymber.
Preserving History
By Eric Davison
It is hard to determine the ownership succession of a car like the BNC. We do know that Caswell bought it as a used car, after which he modified it and competed with it before it changed hands. To whom it went next is a mystery.
It was reportedly in the hands of Eric “Sonny” Grainger for a time. Grainger was the track announcer at the Islip, Long Island race track for a period and in 1955 was one of the founders of the Bridgehampton circuit.
The Brooklands windscreen with the Bridgehampton Paddock pass.
NEC Show, Birmingham England, November 16-18, 2012
Lancia Appia Furgoncino Series 2. Supplied new on January 1, 1959 to Signor B. Caberlotto of Cornuda (TV). He used the vehicle up until 2006 for the delivery of wines and spirits to his local customers. He nicknamed the van ‘The Earl’. Caberlotto sold the van to the Appia consortium in 2010.
Photos and Captions by Jonathan Sharp
This year’s annual Footman James-sponsored NEC Classic Motor Show show at the sprawling National Exhibition Centre (NEC), Birmingham England was the largest yet. spread over 11 halls. The visitor number was also the largest ever with just shy of 58,000 attending over the three days. The show has certainly grown in size and stature since the early days at dear old Alexandra Palace in London (or as us ex locals call it Ally Pally). It is very much a show built by the attending owners clubs – everything from Alfa Romeos to Zastavas. Each year, many of the clubs try to outdo each other in their imaginative display settings. They also bring different cars each year which keeps everything fresh.
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Grand Prix of Brazil: All Great Things Happen in Threes
Philippe Defechereux
Photos courtesy and copyright Ferrari Media and Planet F1
Before reaching Brazil, its grand and final destination, the 2012 Formula 1 season had already given us a thrilling cornucopia of high excitement. A relentless unfolding of momentous events throughout the year – eight different winning drivers and six different manufacturers, for instance – had already marked it for the history books once the teams had taken to the air in Texas only days earlier. And we all knew the World Driver Championship would be at last decided in São Paulo.
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Our Features This Week, November 21st, 2012
Looking for VeloceToday in your mailbox? Apparently a high level of holiday Internet traffic has delayed the sending out of VeloceToday. We hope there will be some relief by Friday.
The Alfa 8C2900 Experience
By Alan Yankolonis
In preparation for the 100th birthday of Alfa Romeo, the staff at the Simeone Foundation brought out the famous 8C 2900. This car is the “crème de la crème” of Alfa Romeo race cars; the 1938 8C2900B MM serial #412031 which won the 1938 Mille Miglia. Of the five original Mille Miglia cars only two remain intact and restored to the 1938 configuration (Simeone Museum & Ralph Lauren’s). There are two others that have been extensively modified with different body styles and chassis changes and look nothing like the Mille Miglia cars; the last car was the Le Mans coupe that had been reconfigured from the 1938 Mille Miglia Spider and is now in the Alfa Romeo Museum. (see Mike Sparken)
What’s nice about this author’s job at the Foundation is working on the cars. What is really great is that the Foundation’s collection focuses on sport racing cars that have two seats. In this case, one for the author and another for curator Kevin… who did the driving “chores”.
The staff at the Simeone out in the Alfas. Alan is in the 8C2300 in this shot.