| The history of the Lancia company starts in 1906.
During all these years Lancia kept developing cars with
new technologies and all sorts of innovations. Remember
the innovative monocoque and independent front suspension
of the Lambda, the volume produced Aprilia that was a
model for many others and the five speed gearbox of the
Ardea. Lancia had the first production V6 and the first
electrical system in a car. Also the rear mounted
transaxles and the De Dion rear axles were new inventions
that occurred on the Lancias. |
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Somehow Lancia could never take advantage of their
innovations and now the public doesn't even know what
innovative and special company is (was). I hope there
will be a worldwide event for all Lancia fans in 2006,
which would be a great tribute to the Lancia company and
to Vincenzo Lancia (the founder of the Lancia company). I
will leave the history of Lancia from 1906 till the
Fulvias for the rest of the world wide web. |
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| In the early fifties Lancia was besides Fiat the only
factory with mass production in Italy. Lancia was quite
successful with the Appia, which was more exclusive and
had better quality then the Fiats. Until now Alfa Romeo
produced only sportscars, but came in the fifties with
the Giuletta. This was a serious competitor for the
Appia. In the beginning of the sixties Lancia needed a
successor for the Appia that could stand the new Alfas. |
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Besides the Appia, Lancia was producing the new
Flavia. The flavia was one of the first cars with
front-wheel drive and had a flat-engine. The Appia had
rear-wheel drive and a V4 engine. The new Fulvia became a
combination of both cars. It got the front-wheel drive of
the Flavia and the V4 engine of the Appia. But just as
the rest of the technology, the engine was totally
different then the technology of the Appia. Where the
Appia had a block angle of 11 degrees, the Fulvia had a
block angle of 13 degrees. Furthermore the technology had
a lot of comparison with the Flavia, although through
changes in detail there is not a lot of
interchangeability. In general the following basics are
the same: The gearbox, the drive train, independent front
suspension, the Dunlop-Lancia disk brakes al around, the
wheelbase is as short as the Flavia coupe and the front
and rear track are the same as the Flavia berlina. |
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| The first public appearance of the Fulvia was at 1963
at the Geneva Motor Show. The design was 'boxy' and not
quiet exciting, although it proved its success and
practical use by the Fiat 124 that was born 2 years later
and had the same exterior. This car became a great
success for Fiat and later on in the shape of the Lada it
became the standard family car of whole East-Europe.
Lancia kept producing the berlina until 1973. |
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In 1962 the designers and engineers of Lancia were
told to develop a new coupe with the conditions that they
had to use as many parts of the berlina as possible
(including the floorplan) and that the concept would
appeal to a large public. There are several remarkable
things in this last sentence. First of all the idea for a
coupe and also the developing had started before the
introduction of the berlina. Then the coupe was designed
by the designers of Lancia itself, while it was common to
have coachbuilders design the special editions (coupes).
And the condition that the coupe had to appeal a large
public tells us that it was not an image-builder (as many
other coupes), but that it had to be a real drivers car. |
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| In 1965 the Fulvia coupe had its first
public appearance at the Turin Motor Show. Although the
design was unique in appearance and efficiency, the
performance was a bit tame. The engine of the berlina 2C
was increased to 1.216cc and 80bhp, not enough to make it
a real sprinter. But the public loved it and the
performance would come with time. |
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Soon after the introduction of the Fulvia the first
HF was born. Still with a 1.2 engine, but tuned to 88bhp.
By leaving all nonessential stuff out of the interior,
the weight of this car could be limited to 825. The
combination of more power and less weight made this car
suitable for racing and rallying. From 1967 there was a
slightly larger engine of 1.231cc, but with the same
power (80bhp). The same year the engine grew again and
became 1.298cc. This was the basic for the engines used
in all future Fulvias (except for the 1.6 HF). The first
car equipped with this engine was the 1.3 Rallye. It had
the same equipment as the first coupes, but with the new
engine and 87bhp. Based on this car, the new HF was
developed. It had the same 1.3 engine, but now with
101bhp. Most of these cars were custom-made and prepared
for rallying. |
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| As a tribute to the rally cars the 1.3S
Rallye became available. The 1.3 engine had 90bhp and it
had aluminum doors, bonnet and boot-lit. Finally in 1968
the fast and famous 1.6 HF was introduced. Except for the
bodyshell, almost everything was different then the
normal Fulvias. This car was specially developed for
winning races and that was exactly what it was going to
do! The car could be ordered with an 115bhp engine or
with a tuned 132bhp engine. This car is worth a story of
its own. A lot is written about it and at the page about
the 1.6 HF Fanalone I will provide a summary of this
along with some pictures. |
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| In the year 1969 the whole line of Fulvias get a
revision, and from then we talk about the second series.
From now all types (berlina as well as coupe) have the
1.3 engine. Further the main changes are: Another grill
with slightly different headlights, slightly different
dashboard with new meters and new knobs, five-speed
gearbox, new type of disc brakes, a diaphragm clutch,
stiffer springs, an alternator, an electrically operated
fan and the oil cooler was dropped. The 1.6 HF stayed
available next to the 1.3S versions. Eventually the 1.6
became available as 1.6 HF Lusso. It had the same
equipment as the 1.3S versions (including the bumpers),
but with the 115bhp of the 1.6 engine. In 1972 the
production of the 1.6 HF Lusso stopped. To keep a sporty
model available the Monte Carlo version came out in 1973.
It was a tribute to the rally cars that won that year the
Monte Carlo Rally and it had no bumpers, a black bonnet,
extra lights and a Rallye Monte Carlo plaque. But it had
the 1.3S engine and it is not exported a lot. |
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In 1974 the third series came out. The changes were
mainly in the interior, like new instruments and a new
steering wheel. A new batch of Monte Carlos was produced
and as a special edition the Safari came out. It had the
1.3S engine, but it had no bumpers and exclusive alloy
wheels. In 1976 the last Fulvia coupe was produced. |
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