Show me a nice old car

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Fujifilm X100V
Yokohama, Japan - March 2021

All the best,
Mike
 
I've loved cars since I was a child. A particular dream has been to own and drive a Lancia Fulvia coupe since I was about 11 years old. When I first saw one, I didn't even know what it was, I just fell in love with it. And that first sight of one, the desire to have it, has never left me.

Well, I'm finally getting the chance. I'm buying this one soon, should have it within a month, and I'm so looking forward to it!

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1967 Lancia Fulvia Coupe​

G
 
Wow! Congratulations, Godfrey!

I still remember reading a road test about this car, in "Road & Track," I believe. I, too, thought it would be a neat car to have.

I was a fan of European cars in the 1960s and I sneered at American muscle cars with their horrible balance, primitive chassis, and abysmal brakes.

This was a really neat time for European cars, and I have a long list of personal favorites, myself.

- Murray
 
Godfrey said:
I've loved cars since I was a child. A particular dream has been to own and drive a Lancia Fulvia coupe since I was about 11 years old. When I first saw one, I didn't even know what it was, I just fell in love with it. And that first sight of one, the desire to have it, has never left me.

Well, I'm finally getting the chance. I'm buying this one soon, should have it within a month, and I'm so looking forward to it!

1967 Lancia Fulvia Coupe​

G
Click to expand...

That is a wonderful looking vehicle. I think this era of Italian design produced some of the prettiest cars ever made. The proportions are all just right - compact without being pokey, bold and purposeful without being obnoxious, beautiful without looking fragile. They just make you want to drive. A personal favourite is the Alfa 105 series.
 
Godfrey said:
I've loved cars since I was a child. A particular dream has been to own and drive a Lancia Fulvia coupe since I was about 11 years old. When I first saw one, I didn't even know what it was, I just fell in love with it. And that first sight of one, the desire to have it, has never left me.

Well, I'm finally getting the chance. I'm buying this one soon, should have it within a month, and I'm so looking forward to it!

51080999992_5bf4281d43_b.jpg

1967 Lancia Fulvia Coupe​

G
Click to expand...
Godfrey,
That is my idea of a beautiful car! You are very fortunate.

Of course like marrying a wife - you will find out what you really have later.
 
I've always loved the Fulvia. Pretty cars, but also with a real performance pedigree. From a driving standpoint, I'm very curious about the handling and how it behaves with the unusual-for-the-time FWD/V4 drivetrain. They certainly aren't slow:


3sep2017-2-33_modified_border_1024.jpg
 
CMur12 said:
Wow! Congratulations, Godfrey!

I still remember reading a road test about this car, in "Road & Track," I believe. I, too, thought it would be a neat car to have.

I was a fan of European cars in the 1960s and I sneered at American muscle cars with their horrible balance, primitive chassis, and abysmal brakes.

This was a really neat time for European cars, and I have a long list of personal favorites, myself.

- Murray
Click to expand...

I have always preferred light, responsive, and nimble over powerful and heavy in cars. 🙂

Doug said:
I expect you'll have a good time with it, Godfrey! Some stylistic resemblance to the Alfa Giulia GT which was my dream car...
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Ah, my brother and I (and many of my friends) were/are Alfa Romeo enthusiasts. My brother owned the '72 Alfa Romeo 2000GTV, sucessor on the 105 chassis to the Alfa Giulia GT; a friend had the 1300 Junior version. I had a '71 1750 Spider, and then a '78, a '79, and an '82 years later that were ultimately combined into a single car (the '78 was smacked into and the chassis destroyed, the '82 was stored in a field on grass for years and the body rusted out irreparably, the '79 was simply and completely neglected and needed a ground up refresh). The combined FrankenSpider took all the best pieces and made a superb driver car, which I enjoyed the heck out of for six years.

nickthetasmaniac said:
That is a wonderful looking vehicle. I think this era of Italian design produced some of the prettiest cars ever made. The proportions are all just right - compact without being pokey, bold and purposeful without being obnoxious, beautiful without looking fragile. They just make you want to drive. A personal favourite is the Alfa 105 series.
Click to expand...

49768351748_d3798118b5_b.jpg

1979 Alfa Romeo Spider, "FrankenSpider"​

besk said:
Godfrey,
That is my idea of a beautiful car! You are very fortunate.
Of course like marrying a wife - you will find out what you really have later.
Click to expand...

I try to figure out what I'm buying ahead of the purchase but, like any older 'specialty' car, full disclosure happens through owning it, using it, and making it what you wanted.

02Pilot said:
I've always loved the Fulvia. Pretty cars, but also with a real performance pedigree. From a driving standpoint, I'm very curious about the handling and how it behaves with the unusual-for-the-time FWD/V4 drivetrain. They certainly aren't slow:

3sep2017-2-33_modified_border_1024.jpg
Click to expand...

Lancia in their day was a leading edge innovator in automotive technology. They were the first to produce a V4 production engine, a narrow angle V6, unibody construction, and the five speed gearbox for example. They put an emphasis on build quality, reliability, fit and finish. The Fulvia proved a tough, reliable little beastie throughout its production run, one of the reasons they did so well in World Rally Championship racing.

I had a brief test drive in a 1.3S Coupe about a dozen years ago or so at an Italian car meet, when I still had the Alfa Romeo Spider, and I loved it. The little V4 loves to rev and handling didn't behave like a FWD car at all! Superb balance and feel. There's no wonder why these cars did so well in the rally championships!

The car I'm buying, '67 model year, has been uprated to the 1.3L engine and trimmed for the HF Rally model looks. The interior is stock, with the addition of carpeting (standard was rubber mat flooring); the passenger seat needs a little repair to the facings. It was originally black, had been painted the darker Alfa red when the current owner bought it, and was repainted to this sand-beige (a color out of the Fulvia book) when he had it apart for the engine swap. I might add an HF generation racing stripe and/or have the hood wrapped in flat black, just to complete the Rally spec looks.

I'm a little too excited by this. 😀

G
 
As seen as police cars on The Italian Job, I think.

Love the Fulvia - pretty yet macho, ballet dancer in DMs - but I always had a soft spot for the Stratos. Like someone tried to recreate the cheese they'd eaten before bedtime the night they took really bad acid.
 
CharlesDAMorgan said:
The problem with the sleeve valve engine was while reliable and silent, lubrication became problematic at above 1500 rpm, so were very limited in performance unless very large. Add in heavy coachwork, and the cars became renowned as rather stolid and old-fashioned and really rather fusty (like Queen Mary).
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Voisin used Knight sleeve valves in his cars with some success, producing a V12 and a prototype straight 12, strangely they were used in one of the most powerful piston Aero engines (the Napier Saber) and one of the most reliable (Bristol Hercules)
 
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