Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

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Lightweight_911
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Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by Lightweight_911 »

.
Thought I'd start a new thread on my Fulvia 1.3HF in this section- so have copied some of my earlier posts here from here:
https://www.ddk-online.com/phpBB2/viewt ... =1&t=66526

- when I was looking & bought it ...

To provide some context, my criteria for an alternative 'fun' car limited the search to '60's/'70's makes/models which had:

- a max weight of 1000 Kg

- an engine of under 2 litres (& preferably no more than 1.5 litres)

- an advanced spec for the era

- a recognised Factory competition history

- & be in standard Factory spec or featuring only 'period'/reversible mods


It would also need to be LHD, ideally built in (relatively) small numbers, be in excellent condition requiring no obvious foreseeable expenditure – &, possibly most important of all, had to be a make/model the values of which weren't already prohibitively expensive …

.
Andy

“Adding power makes you faster on the straights;
- subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”
Lightweight_911
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by Lightweight_911 »

.

I eventually settled on a Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF & found/bought one via a dealer in the Netherlands (a car that I had been tracking for several months).

Unfortunately that was just before the Europe-wide 'lockdown' so I was unable to collect in in person ...

A few details on the car:

It's a 1968 model that has had 4 owners – 2 in France (the second person owning it from 1971 until 2008) & 2 in the Netherlands.

During the the past 52 years the car has only been driven ~ 24,000 km (approx 15,000 miles) from new (!!) & yet has had significant expenditure lavished on it.

Whilst I was in the Netherlands I drove over to the Hague to visit Ben Franke who runs the family business restoring & modifying classic Lancias – something they've been doing from the same premises since 1962.

The third owner of the car (who imported it into the Netherlands from France) was a very wealthy Lancia 'collector' who aspired to own the very best example of each model in his collection.

So, with this in mind - & having had several of his other classic Lancias worked on by them - he handed the car straight over to Franke with a directive to restore the car to 'concours' condition – money no object !!

Ben told me that there was nothing really wrong with the car other than that it had been unused for a number of years, requiring a degree of re-commissioning.

However, on the insistence of the owner, the car was stripped back to bare metal (whereupon the bodywork was found to require no remedial work) & treated to a windows-out respray in the original colour. In addition all mechanical components were checked over & anything even the slightest bit 'suspect' was to be replaced.

The degree of expenditure was staggering – amounting to several times the value of the car itself back then, but the end result met the owner's brief & the car won its class in the prestigious Paleis Het Loo Concours in 2010.

The car then got driven less than 7k km over the next 6 years – including taking part in the celebratory event at Zandvoort in 2012 to commemorate 50 years of the Fulvia plus as an entrant in the ZZF Rally the same year – before the owner sadly died in 2016.

The car was then bought by the fourth owner – another Dutch Lancia collector who kept it as part of his static collection, adding less than 1k km to the car's total.
Andy

“Adding power makes you faster on the straights;
- subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by Lightweight_911 »

.

I didn't take any pictures when I went over to look at/drive the car but here are some of the Dealer's photos:


Image

Image

Image

- sitting a little bit high at the moment - will see if/how it settles down with a bit of use

Image

Image


The only thing I didn't like about the car were the wheels – they were the standard/original 'as supplied' 1.3HF steel wheels.

Lancia homologated a few alternative wheels for the 1.3HF models – a slightly wider steel wheel & a 5.5 x 13 (magnesium) Campagnolo wheel.

Since I was fairly sure that, at some point, I would get an S1 Fulvia of some sort, I started looking about 6 months ago for a set of original 5.5in Campagnolos in Italy.

They were relatively rare in this size when new – the 6in version was far more 'common' – so are like the proverbial 'hen's teeth' nowadays.

Anything wider than 5.5in necessitates adding wheelarch extensions – something I didn't want to do – so the 6in wheels (original or repro) available weren't an option for me.

Rarity combined with the fact that they would now be at least 40+ years old & were manufactured from “Elektron' (essentially magnesium), ensured that it wouldn't be an easy task finding a set …

.
Andy

“Adding power makes you faster on the straights;
- subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by Lightweight_911 »

.

After several weeks of searching, during which I came across a number of unscrupulous 'sellers', I made contact with a very useful guy based just outside Bologna who specialises in buying/selling/restoring 'period' alloy wheels - mainly from the '60's & '70's.

He had a customer for whom he'd sourced & restored a set of Campagnolos a few years ago but who had subsequently sold his Fulvia & thus might be persuaded to sell the wheels.

The good news came that he was persuaded to sell them & a few weeks later they arrived in the UK (superbly packaged) – boy are they light !!

Each wheel weighs 4.2kg.


Image

Image



So, there was only one tyre that I was going to fit to these wheels – the same tyre that was fitted 'back in the day' - & it just happened to be one of the best & most recognisable 'period' tyres ever made …

The fabulous Michelin XAS !!

Now, anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I hate paying the full price for anything so, although I was determined to buy/fit Michelin XAS tyres, I wanted to get the best possible deal …

After a bit of time spent on the internet, I found that I could buy a set of four 165x13 tyres + four 13” Michelin tubes + carriage from a tyre dealer in Barcelona significantly cheaper than I could buy them here in the UK – result ! :cheers:


Image

Image
Andy

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- subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by Lightweight_911 »

.
In the meantime I managed to get the car collected from the Netherlands & delivered to me for a very reasonable figure by an excellent transport company (via Shiply):

Image.


Once the car was here I set about fitting the Campagnolos/Michelins.

I knew from my research that clearance between the inside of the wheels & the brake calipers was likely to be very tight – especially on the rear - & that indeed turned out to be the case.

This necessitated grinding small amounts of metal from the ends of the handbrake-actuating mechanisms – only a few millimeters - & repeatedly checking clearance until the wheels cleared any obstruction.

I think that the wheel/tyre swap totally transforms the look of the car:

- before:

Image

- & after:

Image


Image
Andy

“Adding power makes you faster on the straights;
- subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere”
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by Bootsy »

Looks great with the new wheels - love it
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by Peter »

That’s a beauty, love it.
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by neilbardsley »

Looks amazing and super attention to detail as always

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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by KS »

Looks fab, Andy!
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by one-two »

I'm guessing a slightly smaller steering wheel next Andy? Could be wrong, of course ...
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by impmad2000 »

Looks great Andy
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by DustyM »

Very Nice. I've worked on a couple over the years but never owned one.
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by Darren65 »

You have such wonderful taste in cars Andy and this one looks glorious 8)
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by jonno1 »

Wonderful car... :cheers:

Best steering wheel is:

https://www.catawiki.com/l/24164455-fer ... ring-wheel
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Re: Lancia Fulvia 1.3HF ...

Post by inaglasshouse »

Thanks for posting Andy. Always a pleasure to see one of your cars!
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