1,6 HF
21st January 2009, 02:57 AM
Well, OK, since my car rated a ‘cameo’ in Shaun’s post, I’ll jump in.
I’ve been into Lancias since 1972, when I did a college summer session in Italy. I loved the lines of the Fulvia Coupe, although I remember thinking that the back seat was a joke. But Fulvias were no longer being sold in the US--no Lancias had been imported since 1967. So, in 1976, my first Lancia was a 1 year-old Beta Coupe (1800), which served as my daily driver in Pittsburgh, where I was teaching at the time, and then in upstate New York, where it did the 110-mile round-trip commute from Ithaca to Syracuse 3 days a week for two years. Great car--brilliant handling, and it never missed a beat, even doing the Syracuse drive in winter blizzards. And I drove it to Watkins Glen, where I was a ‘stringer’ for AP for the USGP and the 6-Hours/Can-Am, from the mid-‘70s until I moved to LA in the fall of 1981. I really enjoyed having a Lancia (make that the only Lancia) in the press paddock when the Beta Montecarlo Turbos finished 1-2 in the 1980 6-Hours and then repeated 1-2 the following year. I have some shots from the1980 race in one of my photo albums
I sold that first Beta Coupe when I moved to LA, but after bouncing back to NYC and then back to LA in 1986 (don’t ask), I picked up a 1979 Beta Coupe (2000 carb), and then a 1981 (2000 injected). The ‘79 had a sieve for a body and I was constantly chasing electrical faults [I won’t name the current forum member I bought it from back then], but the ‘81 was fantastic. Fortunately in dealing with the crap ‘79, back then my Lancia mechanic was only 2 blocks away--all of it downhill. But both Coupes had to go in the mid-‘90s recession (coincidentally about the same time that mechanic packed it in).
I love the Beta Coupe, but about 6 years ago, when I decided I absolutely needed a Lancia again, it had to be the Fulvia Coupe that I’d admired in Italy, and I really wanted a 1.6 (I’ve always been a rally fan). Of course, that really meant an S2 HF1600; an S1 ‘Fanalone’ was too impractical, too expensive, and too hard to find–they only made 1258 (+/-) of them. Besides all the books said the S2 HFs have better brakes and better ventilation. Turns out there aren’t a lot of HF1600s available, either. By the time I saw an article in Hemmings Sport & Exotic on Adan Figueroa’s Fanalone, in the LA area, I’d been looking for about 3-1/2 years, but he wasn’t about to sell it. 6 months later, though, I was still looking when he decided to part with it. At that point, I’d been searching for the right car for 4 years, and even though I’d reconciled myself to an S2, there was no way I was going to pass up a Fanalone, even if it was more of a stretch. I mean, who needs brakes and ventilation, anyway? (OK, by then I’d figured out that stuff wasn’t really true.) So after looking as far away as Switzerland, I ended up buying a car 25 miles away.
Thanks to the work that Adan had put into it, the car was in great shape when I got it, but he’d put in a modern race interior, which really didn’t look right, so I’ve now put it back to period correct. There are still a lot of details to chase, but which of us can’t say that? The results, such as they are to date, are also in my photo albums. Like Shaun, I do some of the work myself, and some of it with Adan’s help, but there’s a good, reliable mechanic (Alfa specialist, but knows Lancia well) not far away–not 2 blocks, though.
Being in West Hollywood, I don’t take a back seat (good thing with a Fulvia Coupe) to Shaun when it comes to climate or roads. I live less than a mile south of Mulholland Drive, with a choice of about 4 or 5 canyon roads to get there and back. As my office is at home, I can’t claim that the Fanalone’s a daily driver, like Shaun’s Fulvia, nor does it do the 12,000 miles a year that he manages. But between errands, events, and night drives on Mulholland, it gets out at least a couple times a week for about 5000 miles a year. So not a daily driver, but a driver nonetheless. And this year, I’ve committed to joining Shaun and the other Lancia guys in the Bay Area for some events, to return the favor of his coming down here to do the SoCal TT last October.
When I jumped back into the Lancia world 2 years ago, I joined the ALC and immediately volunteered to do the design and production work for Lanciana, the club quarterly. With each issue taking at least 40-50 hours worth of work, it’s a great demonstration of going from zero to over-committed in a matter of months. But it’s been gratifying work, and what fun is it doing anything halfway?
So that’s my long-winded story. Who’s next?
I’ve been into Lancias since 1972, when I did a college summer session in Italy. I loved the lines of the Fulvia Coupe, although I remember thinking that the back seat was a joke. But Fulvias were no longer being sold in the US--no Lancias had been imported since 1967. So, in 1976, my first Lancia was a 1 year-old Beta Coupe (1800), which served as my daily driver in Pittsburgh, where I was teaching at the time, and then in upstate New York, where it did the 110-mile round-trip commute from Ithaca to Syracuse 3 days a week for two years. Great car--brilliant handling, and it never missed a beat, even doing the Syracuse drive in winter blizzards. And I drove it to Watkins Glen, where I was a ‘stringer’ for AP for the USGP and the 6-Hours/Can-Am, from the mid-‘70s until I moved to LA in the fall of 1981. I really enjoyed having a Lancia (make that the only Lancia) in the press paddock when the Beta Montecarlo Turbos finished 1-2 in the 1980 6-Hours and then repeated 1-2 the following year. I have some shots from the1980 race in one of my photo albums
I sold that first Beta Coupe when I moved to LA, but after bouncing back to NYC and then back to LA in 1986 (don’t ask), I picked up a 1979 Beta Coupe (2000 carb), and then a 1981 (2000 injected). The ‘79 had a sieve for a body and I was constantly chasing electrical faults [I won’t name the current forum member I bought it from back then], but the ‘81 was fantastic. Fortunately in dealing with the crap ‘79, back then my Lancia mechanic was only 2 blocks away--all of it downhill. But both Coupes had to go in the mid-‘90s recession (coincidentally about the same time that mechanic packed it in).
I love the Beta Coupe, but about 6 years ago, when I decided I absolutely needed a Lancia again, it had to be the Fulvia Coupe that I’d admired in Italy, and I really wanted a 1.6 (I’ve always been a rally fan). Of course, that really meant an S2 HF1600; an S1 ‘Fanalone’ was too impractical, too expensive, and too hard to find–they only made 1258 (+/-) of them. Besides all the books said the S2 HFs have better brakes and better ventilation. Turns out there aren’t a lot of HF1600s available, either. By the time I saw an article in Hemmings Sport & Exotic on Adan Figueroa’s Fanalone, in the LA area, I’d been looking for about 3-1/2 years, but he wasn’t about to sell it. 6 months later, though, I was still looking when he decided to part with it. At that point, I’d been searching for the right car for 4 years, and even though I’d reconciled myself to an S2, there was no way I was going to pass up a Fanalone, even if it was more of a stretch. I mean, who needs brakes and ventilation, anyway? (OK, by then I’d figured out that stuff wasn’t really true.) So after looking as far away as Switzerland, I ended up buying a car 25 miles away.
Thanks to the work that Adan had put into it, the car was in great shape when I got it, but he’d put in a modern race interior, which really didn’t look right, so I’ve now put it back to period correct. There are still a lot of details to chase, but which of us can’t say that? The results, such as they are to date, are also in my photo albums. Like Shaun, I do some of the work myself, and some of it with Adan’s help, but there’s a good, reliable mechanic (Alfa specialist, but knows Lancia well) not far away–not 2 blocks, though.
Being in West Hollywood, I don’t take a back seat (good thing with a Fulvia Coupe) to Shaun when it comes to climate or roads. I live less than a mile south of Mulholland Drive, with a choice of about 4 or 5 canyon roads to get there and back. As my office is at home, I can’t claim that the Fanalone’s a daily driver, like Shaun’s Fulvia, nor does it do the 12,000 miles a year that he manages. But between errands, events, and night drives on Mulholland, it gets out at least a couple times a week for about 5000 miles a year. So not a daily driver, but a driver nonetheless. And this year, I’ve committed to joining Shaun and the other Lancia guys in the Bay Area for some events, to return the favor of his coming down here to do the SoCal TT last October.
When I jumped back into the Lancia world 2 years ago, I joined the ALC and immediately volunteered to do the design and production work for Lanciana, the club quarterly. With each issue taking at least 40-50 hours worth of work, it’s a great demonstration of going from zero to over-committed in a matter of months. But it’s been gratifying work, and what fun is it doing anything halfway?
So that’s my long-winded story. Who’s next?