Just in the nick of time for the Cortile! You can buy a Lancia Racing Legend to bring to the Cortile!

Jeff Peek
24 January 2020

John Campion once said he didn’t have time for racing, so he did the next best thing by collecting great rally cars and enjoying them at private track days and showing them at special events. Perhaps it’s your turn to do the same.

The Campion Collection, a group of six stunning Lancia racers, is being offered for sale through London’s Girardo & Co. They aren’t just six Lancia race cars, they’re the six Lancia race cars—the best of the best, resplendent in Martini livery.

“The Martini livery is one of the most iconic in all of racing,” says Hagerty valuation specialist John Wiley. “Six Lancias adorned with the Martini stripes—all in excellent condition and with notable racing history—is an unrepeatable opportunity.”

The cars’ price tags are not published—email inquiries only—but their cumulative value is $7.5 million, according to a press release. Girado & Co. says the cars will be unveiled at this weekend’s Palm Beach Cavallino Classic at Mar-a-Lago.

If you aren’t familiar with John Campion, you’re likely new to the Hagerty readership. The Florida collector and his Lancia race cars have been the subject of many stories in the last several years.
As a young racing fan in 1970s Ireland, Campion developed an early affinity for the Lancia rally cars that periodically tore through his region. His love of automobiles travelled with him to America, where he took a roadie job with a rock band as “the fifth man on a four-man crew.” He soon recognized that traveling bands often lacked the electricity needed to power their lights and amplifiers, and in 1987 he founded Showpower, Inc., a California company that provided portable generators for the Rolling Stones, U2, KISS, and AC/DC. Today he is chairman and chief executive of APR Energy.

Campion’s first collector car purchase (in 1994) was a 1969 Intermeccanica Italia. Although he ultimately amassed a collection of 14 Ferraris, “They didn’t connect with me like rally cars did,” so Campion turned his attention to Lancia rally cars. His first was a 1975 Lancia Stratos HF that competed in the 1977 Monte Carlo Rally. More would follow. A lot more. And the best of the best are now for sale:

1. 1983 Lancia LC2 Group C (#6)
2. 1984 Lancia 037 Rally Evo Group B, Turbo Group V (#27)
3. 1985 Lancia Delta S4 Group B
4. 1988 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 8V Group A (#4)
5. 1981 Lancia Beta Montecarlo (#65)
6. 1982 Lancia LC1 Group VI (#50)
   

To see more details on each of the cars click the READ MORE link below...

Originally posted by Geoff Goldberg at American Lancia Club

A very dear Lancista, Walt Spak, passed away recently. He had struggled with health issues for some time, but his passing was unexpected.

Walt was widely respected throughout the Lancia world for his dedication to the cars, his search for authenticity in details, his careful workmanship and most generous spirit. For the club, Walt would always answer questions, treating all with a remarkable sense of fairness. For those who knew him, he gave more to others than himself.

I first met Walt getting parts in the mid-1970s. Our friendship took off instantly, as Walt taught me the intricacies of the Lancia way. we would walk up and down corridors of parts, each in their own special place, as he showed how each was carefully arranged according the Parts Books, which he made clear was the guiding work for all serious Lancia enthusiasts. Questions were carefully considered, followed by thoughtful investigation into the books, answers always found. His was a reasoned way, a voice of calm. Rare was a mistake - he always got it right.

We grew closer, and I bought his Flaminia sedan with 12 shades of primer grey, a lovely car. Along with it came discussions of which was the best B20, a subject we never let go. In later years, we’d mull which engine to put in a Fulvia, as he pondered how to get a hand clutch in a Fulvia sport.

He took leave of Lancias in the 1980s, and it wasn’t until some fifteen years later we reconnected as if nothing had changed. Walt enjoyed the club reunions, going on back roads only he could find. In later years, he undertoook that thankless task of organizing reunions, one lovely one in Northern Pennsylvania. Cars were interspersed with nature, and a visit to the Corning Glass Museum - Walt wanted to make sure we had some culture along with the cars. His was an enlightened view. He would step back from the cars and see a larger picture and share that with you - and life was better for that.

One busy night in Pittsburgh he and I designed his loft apartment for the warehouse where he wanted to live. With a lovely view over Pittsburgh, Walt wanted the windows to be garage doors and open all the way up, and so it was. He was a meticulous craftsman, working closely with Bob Williams restoring Aurelias, with them being responsible for the best Lancias in this country. He worked with other industrial companies and some other business endeavors, but in the end, his love of machinery took him back to Lancias.

His knowledge and understanding of Lancia logic was unparalleled. Walt could tell you the plating on the engine hardware, and when it changed from this to that, and even why. He knew each camshaft, castings, bits and pieces, and enjoyed hunting down that which he didn’t know. We tracked down cams, castings, obscure details, and looked for the one magic parts book with the rare index no one knew. He went from Lancia motors to the more exotic Fiat 8V engines, always with attention to details. He loved riding his Moto Guzzi, and was active with Volkswagen Vanagons in PIttsburgh. His was a steady voice for the underdogs and for seeing the beauty in unrecognized motoring treasures.

His long-term difficulties with MS did not ease, but his cheer remained undeterred. He planned to restore his Fulvia Sport to drive across the country, and he remained active in the American Lancia Club, helping to spread the word and keep interest going. He single-handedly kept the east coast branch of the club active, serving as its Vice President for many years.

Walt is succeeded by his two sons, Ryan and Nathan and three sisters, to whom he was close. He will be deeply missed. Details of a memorial will be posted once known. (I got a call from Walt's son Ryan, and they are planning on a small memorial for Walt in Pittsburgh on August 24 2013 (Sat).)

Geoff Goldberg
7.1.2013

Originally posted by Harlan Hadley at American Lancia Club

It has been several weeks since Walt Spak succumbed to his illnesses in Pittsburgh. Although he had been enduring worsening MS for years and had recently been suffering from a difficult case of lymphoma, his friends and family never expected him to leave so soon. It’s been tough; he was a very bright light and a centerpiece of the Eastern faction of our club.

His memorial gathering was well attended and reflected the diversity of Walt’s interests. His interests were diverse:   there was his family, VW Vanagon enthusiasts, Moto Guzzi enthusiasts and of course some hard-core Lancisti. He would have loved it; a very diverse group meeting each other and learning about our differences and sameness’s.

The event was a great memorial to a truly great guy. He would have been proud. It certainly helped us move ourselves on and say goodbye to a good friend.

~ Harlan Hadley

A memorial service will be held Sat Aug 24th 2013 from 2-8pm, Valley refuge shelter located in Riverwiew park in the North side of Pittsburgh. http://www.pittsburghparks.org/riverview-directions   Walt's son Ryan expressed this, "I want everyone to know this will be come-as-you-are casual because I really think my dad would have wanted a nice remembrance of his life and for people to come together for him at least one last time without it being stuffy and formal."