Rare, historic, and potentially quite valuable, this 1965 Zagato-bodied Lancia Flavia is nonetheless pretty pig-ugly.
Carozzeria Zagato penned the lines for this Flavia Sport re-body and it isn’t one of the legendary design house’s better efforts. The car’s bizarre roof may offer the rear passengers a view of a bit more sky, but also serves to accentuate the strange humpback profile. Similarly strange is the Flavia’s grille which is neatly folded three-quarters of the way up, giving the car a long and flat nose.
There’s no doubting the rarity of the car though and we were a bit shocked to learn that as many as 626 examples were built and sold from 1963 to 1967. That small sample may, as the seller suggest, lead to the Flavia being a good investment over time, but it hasn’t helped spark bidder’s interest as yet, as there are currently zero offers on the table at eBay Motors.
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Although we’ve been shown countless special editions of the Ypsilon compact, Lancia actually brought a new production model - the Delta five-door - to the 2008 Geneva Motor Show.
Based off the same underpinnings used in the Fiat Stilo, the Delta makes liberal use of the wedgy design form common among current Lancias. We think the look isn’t bad, but we question the use of the Delta name. The moniker previously (in Integrale forms) represented power and muscle, whereas the current car looks slender and feminine. (Click through to read more about the Lancia Delta.)
Lancia has scheduled to launch its Delta model on March 3, a day before the Geneva Motor Show, on Second Life. Second Life is a PC game based on a virtual world where players create themselves (or, who they want to be) as avatars and interact with others.
The company has established itself in the game with the “Lancia Village” which consists of five buildings and four different cars.
Lancia Automobiles CEO Olivier Francois, told Automotive News, “Lancia had always been searching for new languages and new technologies to talk to people. The Lancia Village on Second Life is a meeting place for our customers, but also for those who do not know our brand and our products.”
When we think of names of legendary Lancias, our minds immediately dart between “Stratos” and “Fulvia,” but quickly make their way around to Delta - the Greek letter applied to the boxy hatchback that all but dominated the rally scene in the 1980s. That name is back, as Lancia’s newest car - a compact five-door hatch based off Fiat’s Bravo - will debut at the Geneva Motor Show under the Delta moniker.
Looking much like the Delta HPE concept shown at the 2006 Paris Auto Show, the Delta isn’t at all a retro throwback, like the brand’s Fulvia concept. Rather, the car carries styling themes introduced with the Ypsilon to a new level, increasing the angular sheetmetal while retaining a traditional Lancia grille.
(Click through for a gallery on the Delta and a release from Lancia)
If there was one word to describe Lancia’s Group-B rally weapon, the Delta S4, it likely would be “overkill.” The same could also be used to convey wringing an S4 around an indoor karting track, which is exactly what we see here.Switzerland’s Race Inn includes an indoor track as part of their motorsports theme. Normally, track size relegates traffic to packs of shifter karts or, at the most, Formula Vees, but driver Bruno Ianiello managed to fling the 550-hp Lancia around the tight course.
The sight may not be as impressive as seeing the car sliding through the Alps or up Pikes Peak, but it’s still enjoyable to see how he slides the car through some tight corners - not to mention how amazingly quick that turbo spools up. Oh, how we miss Group B…
Lancia is moving up plans for a new Fulvia coupe and the new model could appear as early as this fall’s Frankfurt Show.
Back in 2003, on the same site, Lancia unveiled the Fulvia Coupe concept car seen above to huge acclaim, a beautifully styled model by Lancia Centro Stile which perfectly brought the essence of Lancia’s classic front-drive coupe from the Sixties and Seventies up to date in a very stylish, modern way.
In the aftermath, the Fiat Group didn’t have the cash or platform to bring it into production but now Fiat’s healthily back on track, so is the ‘new Fulvia’ program, albeit with a difference.
While Lancia’s ’03 car was retro, the new one will be a thoroughly modern, forward-looking design, or so we hear. The Lancia fans among us just hope Fiat’s made the right call on that one as retro or not, the ’03 car still had many of us reaching for their check books.
Proving that once again you can find anything on eBay is this unrestored 1952 Lancia Aurelia B52 Ghia Coupe. Built for the 1953 Turin Auto Show, this is reportedly one of three Lancia such examples rebodied by Ghia.
The right-hand drive car actually looks like the designer had a thing for American cars. If it weren’t sacrilege, we could see this making a really interesting lead sled, what with its Mercury-esque lines. That being said, we’d much prefer to see it restored to its original state.
According to the seller, the design is believed to be attributed Gian Paolo, Mario Boano’s son. Boano, history buffs may recall, was one-time co-owner of Ghia, and had a hand in designing the original Aurelia, as well as the Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia and several Alfa Romeos.
Sadly, the car isn’t equipped with its original drivetrain, though the seller is tossing in some other Lancia bits as part of the lot, and it does appear to have a full interior in good condition.
Judging by the car’s location (Auburn, Indiana) and the seller’s name, it would appear that the rare car might be a part of the region’s famed Auburn-Cord-Deusenberg Museum.
(Click through to the jump for some additional images and the auction link)
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