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- Deep inside
- N1Spandel
The Lancia Flaminia is indeed one of my favourite cars of all time, due to the combination of style, sophisticated engineering, quality and refinement.
The Flaminia was the first Lancia after the company was handed to Cavaliere Carlo Pesenti in 1955.
Like it's predecessor the Aurelia it was named after a Roman Road, the Via Flaminia. The Styling was heavily influenced by the Aurelia-based Florida I and Florida II showcars designed by Pininfarina. Random Fact: The Florida II was one of Battista "Pinin" Farinas favourite designs and his personal car until his death in 1966.
In typical Lancia tradition, it was front-engined with a rear-mounted 4-speed transmission. The front suspension contained of double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers and an anti-roll-bar, while the rear retained the DeDion-tube setup from the Aurelia. Early models had drum brakes, while later models had disc brakes all around. The engine was an evolution of the Aurelias OHC aluminium V6, but with increased bore and decreased stroke. Early ones had a displacement of 2458cc and 102bhp in the Berlina, 119bhp in the Coupe and 140bhp in the GT and Sport. In 1961, the Berlina received an upgrade to 110bhp, and in 1962 the displacement was increased to 2775cc, with the Berlina now producing 128bhp, the Coupé producing 140bhp and 150bhp in the GT/Sport/Super Sport. In 1963, the Series II was launched.
Like the smaller Appia, there were three two-door variants available, all designed by different Stylists. The Coupé was designed by Pininfarina and was almost identical to the Florida II. It was intended as a luxurious four-seater GT designed for cruising. The GT was styled by Carozzeria Touring and visually resembled the Maserati 3500GT also styled by Touring, leading to it's nickname "Working man's Ferrari" although the Lancia wasn't exactly cheap either. The Superlegerra body was almost 200Kg lighter than the Coupé which improved performance drastically. The GT was also available as a convertible and a 2+2 GTL with extended wheelbase. The Sport and Super Sport finally were styled by Zagato and were even lighter and more aerodynamic than the GT. The Super Sport was the only pre-FIAT production Lancia capable of over 125mph with a top speed of 131mph. There were also two Flaminia SZ works prototypes built on a steel tube frame chassis which only weighed 980kg.
The Flaminia was built with expensive materials and to a very high quality standard, therefore it was very expensive and the high taxes in Italia for cars over 2000cc led to poor sales with only 12.633 cars built in total between 1957 and 1970.
The Berlina was outsold by the 2-doors, a rather unusual occurrence.
The Pininfarina Coupé was the most successful of the lot, with 5.236 cars built until 1967.
3.943 Berlinas were built at the Borgo San Paolo facility until 1970.
1.718 GT, 847 Convertibles and 300 GTL were made until 1965.
344 Sport and 150 Super Sport as well as 99 preseries were made until 1967.
Flaminias were often driven by Italian government officials and Cardinals as well as Film stars and
Entrepreneurs.
The Flaminia was the first Lancia after the company was handed to Cavaliere Carlo Pesenti in 1955.
Like it's predecessor the Aurelia it was named after a Roman Road, the Via Flaminia. The Styling was heavily influenced by the Aurelia-based Florida I and Florida II showcars designed by Pininfarina. Random Fact: The Florida II was one of Battista "Pinin" Farinas favourite designs and his personal car until his death in 1966.
In typical Lancia tradition, it was front-engined with a rear-mounted 4-speed transmission. The front suspension contained of double wishbones, coil springs, telescopic shock absorbers and an anti-roll-bar, while the rear retained the DeDion-tube setup from the Aurelia. Early models had drum brakes, while later models had disc brakes all around. The engine was an evolution of the Aurelias OHC aluminium V6, but with increased bore and decreased stroke. Early ones had a displacement of 2458cc and 102bhp in the Berlina, 119bhp in the Coupe and 140bhp in the GT and Sport. In 1961, the Berlina received an upgrade to 110bhp, and in 1962 the displacement was increased to 2775cc, with the Berlina now producing 128bhp, the Coupé producing 140bhp and 150bhp in the GT/Sport/Super Sport. In 1963, the Series II was launched.
Like the smaller Appia, there were three two-door variants available, all designed by different Stylists. The Coupé was designed by Pininfarina and was almost identical to the Florida II. It was intended as a luxurious four-seater GT designed for cruising. The GT was styled by Carozzeria Touring and visually resembled the Maserati 3500GT also styled by Touring, leading to it's nickname "Working man's Ferrari" although the Lancia wasn't exactly cheap either. The Superlegerra body was almost 200Kg lighter than the Coupé which improved performance drastically. The GT was also available as a convertible and a 2+2 GTL with extended wheelbase. The Sport and Super Sport finally were styled by Zagato and were even lighter and more aerodynamic than the GT. The Super Sport was the only pre-FIAT production Lancia capable of over 125mph with a top speed of 131mph. There were also two Flaminia SZ works prototypes built on a steel tube frame chassis which only weighed 980kg.
The Flaminia was built with expensive materials and to a very high quality standard, therefore it was very expensive and the high taxes in Italia for cars over 2000cc led to poor sales with only 12.633 cars built in total between 1957 and 1970.
The Berlina was outsold by the 2-doors, a rather unusual occurrence.
The Pininfarina Coupé was the most successful of the lot, with 5.236 cars built until 1967.
3.943 Berlinas were built at the Borgo San Paolo facility until 1970.
1.718 GT, 847 Convertibles and 300 GTL were made until 1965.
344 Sport and 150 Super Sport as well as 99 preseries were made until 1967.
Flaminias were often driven by Italian government officials and Cardinals as well as Film stars and
Entrepreneurs.
