VeloceToday.com

The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts

buying a lancia

Amore mio Ardea

By

Fancy an Ardea?

Story and photos by Luc van Dobben

From the VeloceToday archives, May 2021

Luc van Dobben is no stranger to Lancias or VeloceToday. To read more about his adventures with Lancias, click here.

In 2019, after selling my last race car project, there was room for something else. But what? Due to my age, I didn’t want another project. So it had to be good restored car, and the only brand for me was Lancia, so the search began.

I preferred a model with the old Lancia grille shape and in a reasonable price range. I began searching for an Ardea, a lovely model, and several were offered for sale in Italy, from projects to fully restored examples. After a lot of Internet visits, I found one to my liking near Pisa. I was contacted by the daughter of the seller, who was helping facilitate the sale. She was familiar with our country, as she had studied in nearby Leiden’s University. She sent extra information, pictures and promised a chrome Ardea sign on the grille as well. All technical questions were correctly answered, and I made arrangements to collect the car ourselves.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

The Search for an Appealing Appia

By

A hint of what was to come.*

Story and photos by Luc van Dobben
From the VeloceToday Archives, May 2021

Read The Search for the Perfect Ardea

The search is complete.

After two disastrous trips to Italy to find a correct Ardea, I came to the conclusion that an old Lancia for nice trips in the country should at least have some more legroom and sufficient power to move around. An Appia it had to be, but at least one with the lovely old type grille so I went for a second series.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Ardea in Australia

By

Upon reading of the Ardea adventures of Luc van Dobben, Australian John Pagan was prompted to tell us his own tales of purchasing an Ardea from Italy. He wrote, “The car is from 1951, I bought and imported it in 2017. The first outing was in 2018; the serious recommissioning and Castlemaine Rally were in 2019. Since then of course there’s been very little car club activity because of COVID, even here … I’m set to do Castlemaine again this coming October though!” Below is his Ardea story.

By John Pagan

One of the first things people ask me is, “Why an Ardea?” This is my fourth Lancia; like me, they’re getting older and slower. For those who don’t know, at 903cc the Ardea has the smallest-ever engine in a Lancia, developing only 30bhp or 22kW, and is flat out doing 110km/h under the most favorable conditions.

My previous Lancia, an Aurelia B10, was a very satisfactory touring car of endearing character. We did about 40,000 miles over ten years together, including trips to all the other States including Tasmania and Western Australia. Despite a deal of mechanical work done over that period to make it useable and keep it that way, however, it remained a well-used example, lacking that crispness of response that I’d loved in the Fulvias I owned before the Aurelia.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

Goodbye Ardea, Hello Appia

By

A hint of what was to come.*

Story and photos by Luc van Dobben

Read The Search for the Perfect Ardea

The search is complete.

After two disastrous trips to Italy to find a correct Ardea, I came to the conclusion that an old Lancia for nice trips in the country should at least have some more legroom and sufficient power to move around. An Appia it had to be, but at least one with the lovely old type grille so I went for a second series. [Read more…] about Goodbye Ardea, Hello Appia

In Search of the Perfect Lancia Ardea

By

Fancy an Ardea?

Story and photos by Luc van Dobben

Luc van Dobben is no stranger to Lancias or VeloceToday. To read more about his adventures with Lancias, click here.

In 2019, after selling my last race car project, there was room for something else. But what? Due to my age, I didn’t want another project. So it had to be good restored car, and the only brand for me was Lancia, so the search began.

I preferred a model with the old Lancia grille shape and in a reasonable price range. I began searching for an Ardea, a lovely model, and several were offered for sale in Italy, from projects to fully restored examples. After a lot of Internet visits, I found one to my liking near Pisa. I was contacted by the daughter of the seller, who was helping facilitate the sale. She was familiar with our country, as she had studied in nearby Leiden’s University. She sent extra information, pictures and promised a chrome Ardea sign on the grille as well. All technical questions were correctly answered, and I made arrangements to collect the car ourselves. [Read more…] about In Search of the Perfect Lancia Ardea

Luc van Dobben and a Life of Lancias

By

sfsfasd

Lancia racing mechanics with a Flavia on the 1970 Tulip Rally. Lucas is in the middle.

By Pete Vack and Lucas van Dobben

From the VeloceToday Archives, April 2017

Of all the weird and wonderful marque enthusiasts, Lancisti are among our favorites. They are technically astute, very intelligent, well-spoken and articulate and yet have a burning passion usually reserved for Irish soccer fans. Recently when a reader wanted to know if one of our archived Lancia stories was still available (yes, they are), he attached a photo of his daily transportation in the sixties with his young son in the car. It was an ultra-rare Appia Zagato Sport. Are we on this? You bet. A correspondence began and became the story of one Lucas van Dobben and his life of Lancias.

This content is for Premium Subscriber members only.
LoginSubscribe

A Life of Lancias, Part 2

By

Lucas picked up this B20 in 1970 for 1300 Gulden. But there were TWO more B20s in the same deal!

By Pete Vack and Lucas van Dobben

Last week in A Life of Lancias Lucas wrote about his experiences working at the Lancia dealership and the Tulip Rally. Along the way, he naturally found many Lancias for himself. He had no less than FOUR B20s, “one with all the Nardi extras and Borani bimetal wheels.” [Read more…] about A Life of Lancias, Part 2

A Life of Lancias, Part 1

By

sfsfasd

Lancia racing mechanics with a Flavia on the 1970 Tulip Rally. Lucas is in the middle.

By Pete Vack and Lucas van Dobben

Of all the weird and wonderful marque enthusiasts, Lancisti are among our favorites. They are technically astute, very intelligent, well-spoken and articulate and yet have a burning passion usually reserved for Irish soccer fans. Recently when a reader wanted to know if one of our archived Lancia stories was still available (yes, they are), he attached a photo of his daily transportation in the sixties with his young son in the car. It was an ultra-rare Appia Zagato Sport. Are we on this? You bet. A correspondence began and became the story of one Lucas van Dobben and his life of Lancias.

sdafdsf

A Lancia Sport Zagato for daily transportation, and van Dobben’s son seems to enjoy it too.

[Read more…] about A Life of Lancias, Part 1

Arutunoff and the Appia

By

The Arutunoff Appia Zagato at the Walter Mitty at Atlanta in 1984. Photo by Pete Vack

By Toly Arutunoff

In 1964 it seemed like I needed a companion in the garage for my Lancia Flaminia Zagato. The previous year, after our good finishes in the Targa Florio, Nurburgring 1000km, and Spa 500km, the factory offered me a straight swap for my car and one of the GTS Appia Zagatos, guaranteed for 117 mph. I turned the offer down, but later I saw an ad for an Appia Zagato in Rhode Island for $900. I heard it call my name and before I knew it we were on our way east from our lair in Oklahoma. [Read more…] about Arutunoff and the Appia

MENU