PITTSBURGH,  — The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix (#PVGP) is delighted to unveil the theme for the 2024 Proiettore Macchina at the Cortile Italian Car Show: AUTOVETTURE PICCOLE. This Italian phrase, translating to "small cars," celebrates the elegance and innovation found in compact Italian automobiles.

The PVGP Cortile  invites enthusiasts to explore the charm and craftsmanship of small Italian cars that have left a lasting impact on automotive design. From iconic microcars to stylish compact models, this theme promises to showcase the diversity and ingenuity of Italian automotive engineering.

Participation and Highlights
Owners of AUTOVETTURE PICCOLE are encouraged to participate in the Cortile Italian Car Show, contributing to the vibrant display of Italian automotive excellence. The event promises a captivating experience for both participants and spectators.

How to Participate
For those wishing to showcase their AUTOVETTURE PICCOLE at the Cortile Italian Car Show, registration details and additional information can be found on the the registration link which will open in January 2024.

Below is a list of cars that we want to invite to our 2024 event.  Did we miss anyone?  Let us know in the comments! 

On March 6 2020, Managing Director of the Cortile, Bernard Martin took a tour of John & Suzanne Campion's Collection of Lancia race cars.  Prior to the pandemic the Macchina of Lancia had been selected as our 2020 Proiettore Macchina but with the cancellation of the 2020 events we have now moved our celebration to 2021.

Six of the eight stunning cars in our video have been offered for sale through London’s Girardo & Co for sale. John Campion is creating an Irish Race team.  But more about that in the video.  As you watch, you'll  quickly realize that these aren’t just any Lancia race cars, they’re some of THE MOST significant Lancia race cars.

Bernie met with Ben Kruidbos of CJJ Motorsports in between the Porsche Werks Reunion Tours that where happening during this years Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.  Little did anyone who attended the Concours suspect that this kick off of the automotive car season would also probably mark the end of the 2020 automotive events. 

Here's the list of cars that covered in our interview below.

• 1981 Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo, Group V
• 1982 Lancia LC1, Group VI
• 1983 Lancia LC2, Group C
• 1988 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 8V, Group A
• 1985 Lancia Delta S4, Group B
• 1984 Lancia 037 Rally Evo, Group B
• 1975 Lancia Stratos HF Works WRX, Group 4
• 1969 Lanica Fulvia 1600 HF "Fanalone" Rally Car
  

Sometimes there is some confusion around what the various racing groups mean and what cars are in them.  Rightly so.  The definition of which cars fit in which group can change over time, and often do! In addition to that, Groups can come and go only to return at a later time.   Below is a qucik summary of the groups that are mentioned in the video.

Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5 litre engine capacity. The Group 5 Sports Car category was redefined in 1972 to exclude the minimum production requirement and limit engine capacity to 3 litres.

From 1976 to 1982 Group 5 was for Special Production Cars, a liberal silhouette formula based on homologated production vehicles.

4th Generation Group 5 – "Special Production Cars" (1976 to 1982)
For the 1976 season the FIA introduced a new Group 5 "Special Production Car" category, allowing extensive modifications to production based vehicles which were homologated in FIA Groups 1 through 4. These cars would contest the World Championship for Makes series from 1976 through to 1980 and then the World Endurance Championship in 1981 & 1982. The FIA rules restricted the width of the car, therefore cars were built with standard body widths but wide mudguard extensions. The regulation required only the bonnet, roof, doors and rail panel were left unmodified.

The rules however did not mention headlight heights, therefore when Porsche originally were to enter the 935 with the production headlight, they read the rules and discovered the loophole, therefore they raced the 935 with the hallmark flat nose. The category was also mostly associated with the wide boxy wheel arches and extravagant body style. The category would be banished after 1982 in favor of the Group B regulation, but continued to compete in JSPC, IMSA GTX category and other national sports car racing championships for a few more years. The only non-circuit events that used Group 5 cars were in the Giro D'Italia Automobilistico rally.

Group 4
The Group 4 racing class referred to regulations for cars in sportscar racing, GT racing and rallying, as regulated by the FIA. The Group 4 class was replaced by Group B for the 1983 season.

The Group 4 regulations were also used as the basis for the World Rally Championships until they were replaced by the Group B regulations. In mid 1970s to early 1980s rallying, it was necessary to produce 400 identical cars for homologation as a Group 4 rally car. Notable cars included the Ford Escort RS1800, Fiat 131 Abarth, Lancia Stratos HF and the Audi Quattro.

The Killer B's
Group B was a set of regulations introduced in 1982 for competition vehicles in sportscar racing and rallying regulated by the FIA. The Group B regulations fostered some of the fastest, most powerful, and most sophisticated rally cars ever built and is commonly referred to as the golden era of rallying. However, a series of major accidents, some of them fatal, were blamed on their outright speed and lack of crowd control at events. After the death of Henri Toivonen and his co-driver Sergio Cresto in the 1986 Tour de Corse, the FIA disestablished the class, dropped its previous plans to replace it by Group S, and instead replaced it as the top-line formula by Group A. The short-lived Group B era has acquired legendary status among rally fans and automobile enthusiasts in general.

By contrast, Group B had few restrictions on technology, design and the number of cars required for homologation to compete—200, less than other series. Weight was kept as low as possible, high-tech materials were permitted, and there were no restrictions on boost, resulting in the power output of the winning cars increasing from 250 hp in 1981,[2] the year before Group B rules were introduced, to there being at least two cars producing in excess of 500 by 1986, the final year of Group B. In just five years, the power output of rally cars had more than doubled. 

Group VI Two-Seater Racing Cars (1976 to 1982)
In 1976, the FIA reintroduced the Group 6 classification, now officially called “Two- Seater Racing Cars”.

Various production based categories, spearheaded by a new Group 5 for “Special Production Cars”, were now to contest the World Championship of Makes whilst the Group 6 cars were awarded their own title, the World Championship for Sports Cars. Three engine capacity limits were applied to Group 6 cars for the 1976 and 1977 championships:

• 5000cc for cars fitted with engines using a production car block
• 3000cc for cars fitted with naturally aspirated racing engines
• 2140cc for cars fitted with turbocharged racing engines  (capacity equivalence factor of 1.4)

1981 saw the series expanded with an official Drivers’ title awarded by the FIA for the first time and drivers of Group 6 cars were eligible to compete for this. Group 6 was then effectively replaced by the new Group C Sports Car class for 1982 but the FIA granted a concession which allowed the Group 6 cars to compete in the 1982 World Endurance Championship alongside the new cars

Group A
Group A was a set of motorsport regulations introduced by FIA covering production-derived vehicles intended for outright competition in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed technology and overall cost. Group A was aimed at ensuring numerous privately owned entries in races.

Group A was introduced by the FIA in 1982 to replace the outgoing Group 2 as "modified touring cars", while Group N would replace Group 1 as "standard touring cars". The FIA continued to promulgate regulations for Group A Touring Cars until at least 1993, and the category survived in domestic championships until 1994. However, Group A is still used as the basis for most rally competitions around the worl

It was with the Fulvia that Lancia went officially back into racing after its withdrawal from Formula 1 in 1955; this time the effort was focused on rallying. In 1965 the company absorbed the HF Squadra Corse, a privateer racing team founded by Lancia enthusiasts which previously received some factory support, which became the works team under the direction of Cesare Fiorio.

The same year the Fulvia Coupé made its racing debut at the Tour de Corse, placing 8th overall. Starting with the lightened and more powerful 1965 Rallye HF, special HF version were put on sale to the general public to homologate improvements for the rally cars. In 1967 the larger displacement Rallye 1.3 HF followed. As the V4 engine had reached the limit of its development, an all-new 1.6-litre V4 engine was developed and installed on the 1967 Rallye 1.6 HF. The car raced as a prototype until August 1969, when it received FIA homologation.

With the exception of 1970, Fulvias won the Italian Rally Championship every year from 1965 to 1973. The Fulvia's rallying career reached its zenith in 1972, when Lancia won the International Championship for Manufacturers two rounds in advance.

First placements at rallies valid for the Championship were three: included Sandro Munari and Mario Mannucci at the famous Monte Carlo Rally, with a 10' 50" margin over the runner up, Larrousse/Perramond on a much more powerful Porsche 911 S,  Lampinen/Andreasson at the Rallye du Maroc, and Ballestrieri/Bernacchini at the Rallye Sanremo.

In 1973 Lancia did not score any podium finishes valid for that year's first-ever World Rally Championship season; though at the hands of Munari the Fulvia won its second European Rally Championship, after the 1969 victory by Harry Källström. During the 1974 season the Lancia Stratos  replaced in rallying the—by then ageing—Fulvia. That year Lancia won its second World Championship, also thanks to points scored by the Fulvia in the first rallies—such as the third place Munari caught in the grueling East African Safari Rally.

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...

by Bernard Martin, Managing Director, Cortile Italian Car Show

The 2017 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance exemplified grace under pressure. With a 100% chance of heavy precipitation forecast for Sunday for the scheduled Concours d'Elegance and a sunshine-filled Saturday in the mix, Bill Warner and his team chose to move Sunday’s award-winning Concours to Saturday.  No small undertaking.
​

As I was having lunch on Friday with several other writers, I noted that I had heard that Warner and his team had come up with a "Plan B" back in 2000 if a weather event caused the the Concours to be moved.  As happenstance would have it, one to the people at the table chimed in "I'm on the Board and THIS is Plan B. We are in it. There isn't a Place C. We'll see if it works"

​It's a momentous task shoehorning a full schedule of Saturday and Sunday events into one day.  The Concours show would now coincide with Saturday’s "Cars & Coffee at the Concours presented by Heacock Classic Insurance".  The entire Cars and Coffee show field had to be relocated to an adjoining field, transport staff had to move up plans for unloading Concours cars by a full day; with cars that where still en route!  It required parking two different cars shows at the same time.   

Warner and his staff, according to rumor, had to make it all happen with 40% less volunteers who where only scheduled for a Sunday event. No small undertaking. It went off gracefully. It was a tremendous show. Warner and his team pulled a rabbit out of their hat while herding cats and looked great doing it!

It also made the task of trying to see over 600+ cars in a short period of time just as daunting.  Nevertheless, I was able to find some very nice examples of rolling Italian art on both the Concours and Cars and Coffee Showfield. 

Easily befitting our 2017 Proiettore Macchina, The Best of Show - Concours de Sport, was a 1939 Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B Lungo Spider from the Dano Davis Collection.

In the 1930s, the 8C 2900 Alfa was not a mere sports car but was the most advanced, modern and compelling sports car money could buy.  Milan's own Carrozzeria Touring patented the "Superleggera" construction which coincided with the birth of Alfa Romeo's masterpiece. 

​Approximately 32 of the 2.9 chassis were made and it is believed only 12 are Touring Spiders, seven of which are the long chassis like this car.  This car's known history starts in 1949.  In February 1949 it was raced in Sao Paulo by amateur driver Mario Tavares Leite who had the car imported from Italy to Brazil.  Mario won races with the car in 1949 and 1950 after which the car disappeared.  

Later it had a Corvette engine installed and the chassis was modified.  It is possible this car traveled to Brazil from Argentina in the mid to late 1950s without the Touring body and with the Corvette V-8 only to be reunited with the original Touring coachwork some four decades later. ​

Alfa Romeo Images courtesy of Nathan Deremer, Lead photographer and owner of Deremer Studios, the official photography studio of the 2017 Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance.

The Bonhams Amelia Island 2017 auction was held Thursday, at the Fernandina Beach Golf Club. It generated nearly $10.2 million in total sales with an 87% sell-through rate. A selection of more than 85 automobiles were offered at Bonhams’ 3rd annual sale. 

​Amongst the auction results, of the cars pictured below, the 1955 Ferrari 250 GT Europa Coupe was the top dollar car sold at the auction for a whopping $2,227,500. Bringing in the 3rd top dollar position was the 1986 Lamborghini Countach LP5000 Quattrovalvole for $335,500 while the 1968 Lamborghini Islero 400 GT, sold for $247,500, the 8th biggest sale of the show.

The Gooding & Company’s East Coast auction showcased at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation, a classic beachfront resort.  Held on Friday before the celebrated Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance, Gooding & Company’s auction showcased a curated lineup of cars, invited spirited bidding.  Since debuting at Amelia Island in 2010, Gooding & Company’s prices realized have more than doubled, earning the event its reputation as the premier East Coast collector car auction.

Pictured below are some to of the examples of Italian design that went up on the block.  

The little 1958 Fiat 1200 TV Trasformabile pictured at the beginning of the slide show was a car I first saw at the Concourso Italiano show in 2015 during Monterey car week. It was based upon the Turismo Veloce, or fast touring, version of Fiat’s 1100 series, the limited-production 1100 Spider delivered fine details, a luxurious cockpit with swiveling seats, excellent road manners, and a handsome body designed by Fabio Luigi Rapi. By 1957, larger engines inspired the 1200 TV designation. While more revisions came in 1959, the 1957–58 models captivate today’s collectors. 

Along with a green convertible top, this sporting 1200 TV is presented with the body handsomely painted Gray Beige over upgraded green leather upholstery highlighted by white piping. It includes twin fog lamps, whitewall tires, correct spin-off hubcaps, a discreet modern radio, plus a factory-type steering wheel.  As you can see in the slideshow, we opened the hood to make sure that the olive oil can was still in place.  A rather humorous touch by the previous owner.

One of the marvelous things about the Amelia Island Concours d'Elgecance is the extremely rare cars that you can only find on display at Bill Warner's event.  

As you look through the slide show below, you'll find a one-ff 1930 Alfa Romeo 1750 GS Testa Fissa.  Its the gray colored race car featured at the beginning of the slide show.  It has a very unique body that was recreated on the original chassis.  Just three months after its introduction, a 1750 driven by Giuseppe Campari and Giulio Ramponi would win the 1929 Mille Miglia. Later that year, Marinoni and Benoist won the Belgian 24 Hour Race at Spa. Alfa would take the Targa Florio, too, and one year later, the company won its second Mille Miglia, in addition to a host of other events. In short, Alfa Romeo began the 1930s as it ended the 1920s—utterly dominating Italy’s sports car and competition scene.

The Alfa 3000CM was featured in the Alfa Romeo booth again this year.  If you recall from last years report, it was campaigned at the PVGP back in the early 1980's and is part of the Auriana Collection. 

​When you get to the end of this slide show you'll see a lovely 1933 Alfa Romeo 8C 2300. The 8C 2300 Tipo Le Mans' was the sport version of the '8C 2300' and it had a successful debut in the 1931 Eireann Cup driven by Henry Birkin. It won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1931 (Howe-Birkin); 1932 (Chinetti-Sommer); 1933 (Nuvolari-Sommer) and 1934 (Chinetti-Etancelin).

One of the most interesting vehicles at Cars and Coffee at the Concours was this 1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint Veloce "Confortevole" pictured in the first few slides below.  The production total of the Confortevole (comfortable) variant of the Sprint Veloce (SVC) was 199, the first 50 having aluminum framed windows. An SVC seems to be an SV which falls between the SVAlleggerita (SVA) and the 101 body based SV which began production in early 1958 and upon which 101 mechanical components were gradually phased in until the 750 bits were all used up, sometime in 1960.

​Basically, the Confortevole is an updated version of the race-bred lightweight  "Allegerita" Sprint Veloce but has a more comfortable interior and lacks the aluminum body panels & plastic windows of the lightweight.  It still maintains all of the high-performance mechanical features of the lightweight but in a grand touring version.  

​As a side note, the folks pictured in the lawn chairs behind the red caravan turned out to be from Pittsburgh originally, just like the van which had a pre-insterate Pennsylvania map sitting on the dash.  

We're also very excited to welcome Heacock Classic Insurance to the 2017 Cortile as a sponsor and they will be providing Coffee on both Saturday and Sunday morning July 15-17 during the arrival of the show cars!

In 1896 the first Italian car was produced. 10 short years later, in 1906, the Targa Florio race was started. The Targa Florio race drove much of the passion of the early Italian Automobile manufacturers who’s names have become the legends of today.

The Targa Florio open road endurance race was considered one of the toughest competitions in Europe. The 1906 first running covered 3 laps equalling 277 miles through multiple hairpin curves on treacherous mountain roads, and at heights where severe changes in climate frequently occurred.  Then, just as today, automobile manufacturer’s and drivers proved their mettle by winning races.  It was out of that heat of racing competition that fueled many of the iconic Italian car marques of today.  

Alessandro Cagno won the very first Targa Florio in 1906. He was employee #3 at the Fiat automobile company that had formed in 1899. Fiat was one of the first Italian manufacturers to be involved in racing.  In 1908, Vincenzo Lancia, finished 2nd at Targa Florio. Lancia had been a race driver for Fiat starting in 1900. In 1906 he had started is own automobile manufacturer and launched his first production car, the Lancia Alpha, in 1908. By 1913, Lancia introduced the the very first complete electrical system as standard equipment on his cars. No doubt that innovation was derived from his racing experience.  Although Vincenzo Lancia started his company in 1906, at the 1908 Targa Florio he was driving a Fiat.  Not only where the boundaries of the race courses muddy at that time, so where the relationships between those early manufacturers. They shared component parts and people.  It's always been a melting pot in that sense...

Some have said that the history of Italian car manufacturing reads like a soap opera, with tales of arguments and agreements, of splits, mergers and acquisitions. Indeed, the tales of who worked for whom, who raced for whom and who supplied what for whom are so very intertwined and melded together that it is often difficult to know where any single bit of innovation originated. Enzo Ferrari once said "If you see what a competitor is doing and it is better than what you are doing, you have to surpass them to ensure your cars are better." Italian manufacturer’s where constantly stealing away the best talent or forging new alliances, whether it be engineering, design, production or racing drivers.  It’s that hot blooded molten cauldron of racing competition that forged Italian cars from the very beginning.

In 1922 Lancia introduced the very first monocoque bodied car. That is, the first car that had a body that supported the structural load by using the car's exterior body, rather than an internal frame. The idea of a monocoque was not well received in 1922 even though it is the standard design in Formula One and Indy Car Series racing today.  This was primarily because of the use of Carrozzeria. In those early motoring days, you see, when series production did not yet exist, the process of acquiring a new vehicle required two major decisions by a car buyer: 

1. First, customers already accustomed to ordering carriages from a coach builder, would select an automobile manufacturer to provide only the rolling chassis, comprised of the chassis, drivetrain (engine, axles, wheels), suspension, steering system and the radiator - the radiator, usually its shell, soon became the only visual element identifying the rolling chassis brand.   
   
2. Second, the customer would approach a Carrozzeria, a coachbuilder, requesting a personal body design to be fitted on the new chassis. Initially, the long-established and refined skills used to build the wooden and metal bodies of vehicles were so specialized that most manufacturers had contracts with couchbuilders to produce bodies for their chassis.   Such is the case with many Italian marques who, to this day, utilize Carrozzeria with famous names such as Bertone, Carrozzeria Touring, Ghia, Pininfarina, Scaglietti, Vignale and Zagato for their body design.

The Carrozzeria influence runs deep in Italian Automobile history. Diatto was an Italian manufacturing company founded in 1835 in Turin to make 'carriages for wealthy customers’ and rail coaches for the Orient Express. By 1905, Diatto decided that automobiles where the future of transport.  By 1921, Milanese Carrozzeria Ugo Zagato designed a lightweight and aerodynamic body for the Diatto chassis while brothers Alfieri, Bindo and Ernesto Maserati built 2-litre Grand Prix Rolling chassis cars for Diatto. The Maserati brothers, Alfieri, Bindo, Carlo, Ettore, and Ernesto had started Maserati in 1914 and all the brothers had been involved with automobiles from the beginning of the 20th century. In 1926, Diatto suspended the production of their race cars, leading to the creation of the first Maserati badged car and the founding of the Maserati marque as we know it today. One of those very first Maseratis, driven by Alfieri Maserati, won the 1926 Targa Florio.  In 1925 Vittorio Jano, Alfa Romeo’s Chief Engineer, (who had started at Fiat in 1911 and was coerced to join Alfa Romeo by Enzo Ferrari in 1923) asked Zagato to create a body for the Alfa 6C 1500, which should be “light and fast”. Ugo Zagato, using his Aeronautics background, succeeded in creating a sleek and light “Rosso Corsa" bodies for the car.

Why Italian Cars are Red
In 1904, many national motor clubs banded together to form the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) which is the predecessor to the current FIA governing board which it become known as in 1950.  Originally the country colors where: Blue to France, Yellow to Belgium, White to Germany and Red to the USA. Italy “adopted” its famous 'Racing Red' when a red Itala (Itala was a car manufacturer based in Turin, Italy from 1904-1934) won the Peking to Paris race in 1907 but it really wasn’t ‘established’ until the “Rosso Corsa" Alfa Romeo’s began to dominate racing events in the 1920’s.

The Quadrifoglio
The cloverleaf or “quadrifoglio” has been used on Alfa Romeo cars since 1923. As a friend of Enzo Ferrari, Ugo Sivocci was hired by Alfa Romeo in 1920 to drive in the three-man works team, called "Alfa Corse",  with Antonio Ascari and Enzo Ferrari. 

Upon Sivocci's death, the quadrifoglio was adopted for all Alfa Romeo racecars. The quadrifoglio emblem 'cloverleaf' has been the symbol of Alfa Romeo racing cars since1923. Since WWII, it has also been used to designate the higher trim models of the range. The quadrifoglio is usually placed on the side panels of the car, above or behind the front wheels—on the front wings in the case of modern vehicle.

Ferrari begins at Alfa Romeo
Which brings us back to Alfa Romeo who won the inaugural Grand Prix world championship in 1925 with Enzo Ferrari at the helm of the team. 

Scuderia Ferrari
In 1929 Ferrari started the Scuderia Ferrari team in order to enter amateur drivers in various races primarily racing Alfa Romeo’s. In 1930 Tazio Nuvolari won the Mille Miglia in an Alfa Romeo 6C. In 1933 Alfa Romeo experienced financial difficulties, and withdrew its in-house team from racing. The Alfa Romeo racing team was privatized and officially named Scuderia Ferrari with team leader Enzo Ferrari at the helm.  Few people realize that the DNA for every Ferrari was actually born on Alfa Romeo's payroll. Enzo built a robust racing team from scratch starting in 1929, tapping some of the greatest pre-war drivers in Europe to lead the Scuderia to victory. 

In 1937, the Maserati brothers sold their shares of Maserati to Adolfo Orsi, although they continued working for the company as engineers under a 10 year contract.

In 1938, Alfa Romeo management made the decision to enter racing under its own name, ere-establishing the Alfa Corse organization, which absorbed what had been Scuderia Ferrari. Enzo Ferrari disagreed with this change in policy and was dismissed by Alfa Romeo in 1939. The terms of his leaving forbade him from motorsport under his own name, for a period of four years. However, Ferrari managed to manufacture two cars, named the AAC Tipo 815’s, for the 1940 Mille Miglia, engineered by Alberto Massimino and driven by Enzo’s old racing partner Antonio Ascari’s son, Alberto Ascari.  This name comes up again later…

in 1939 and 1940, a Maserati 8CTF won back-to-back wins at the Indianapolis 500, the only Italian manufacturer ever to do so.  World War II, however, brought a halt to most racing. 

After WWII new key people joined the Maserati team. Alberto Massimino, the Fiat engineer, with both Alfa Romeo and Ferrari experiences oversaw the design of all racing models for the next ten years. The focus was on the best engines and chassis to succeed in car racing. The new projects saw the last contributions of the Maserati brothers, who after their 10-year contract with Orsi expired went on to form O.S.C.A. in 1947.  Also in 1947, Ferrari decided to start making cars bearing his name, and founded Ferrari S.p.A.

By 1949 Ilario Bandini was producing his own car and entered Mille Miglia with his new 1100 siluro, featuring torpedo-like bodywork car and used the a Fiat engine, modified with a twin overhead camshaft cylinder head based on an Alfa Romeo design.  Carlo Abarth had been sporting director of the Cisitalia factory racing team since 1947. In 1948 begun the financial downfall of Cisitalia, spurred by the investments needed to put the 202 coupé into production; the following year the manufacturer went under. Carlo Abarth took over Cisitalia's assets and in March of 1949 and Abarth & C. was founded.  As you can see once again, just a before the war, Italian auto manufacturing was a melting pot and one of the reasons people are often confused about Italian marques.  Interestingly, the Cisitalia 202 is featured in the 2011 video game “L.A. Noire” by Rockstar Games and Team Bondi as a secret car called the Cisitalia Coupe.  The game resulted in the liquidation of Team Bondi.

Iso Autoveicoli S.p.A. was founded in 1953 by Renzo Rivolta with the introduction of the Isetta “bubble car”  The Isetta is always a hit when kids see them at the PVGP and “It’s so cute!” is often heard at both the Cortile and the BMW show. The Isetta was designed to be an ‘everyman car more or less in the same spirit of Henry Ford’s Model T, to enable the Europeans get back on their feet after the war and move into the use of cars again and away from motorbikes which had been the defacto form of transport in the immediate post war era.  Demand for the Isetta was so great that eventually BMW stepped in and took over production.

The mixing and matching of components, teams and drivers in the 1950’s was both confusing, exciting and exactly where the legend of Italian performance took it’s grip on the asphalt and has not let go since. In 1950 Nino Farina won the first Driver’s Championship in an Alfa Romeo.  In 1951 Alfa Romeo won again with pilot Juan Manuel Fangio.  By 1952, facing increased competition from their former employee, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo, by then a state-owned company, decided to withdraw after a refusal of the Italian government to fund the expensive design of a new car. 

In 1952 Alberto Ascari gave Ferrari its first Drivers Championship and then again in 1953. Ascari drove for Ferrari, Lancia and Maserati for the 1954 campaign.  Ascari won the Mille Miglia driving a Lancia sportscar. 

Enzo Ferrari is famously quoted: “Second is the first of the losers.” Being first in racing was everything for him and he dominated the 1950’s in World Sportscar Championship winning in 1953, 1954, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1960 and 1961 but Maserati was always close at hand, especially in 1956 with a Maserati 300S driven by Stirling Moss. 

Notably, 1957 marked the year that Argentine-born Alejandro de Tomaso made his Formula One debut as a driver.  That becomes rather important later in our story as de Tomaso became the owner of Maserati and many other iconic marques in the 1970's.  But, again, we're getting ahead of ourselves in the story....

After 1957, Maserati began focusing on building road cars due to financial difficulties. Some have said it was the Italian passion for the racing business that drove up the performance innovation of not only Italian cars but all automotive manufacturers in this period. Alas, it may also have been the focus on the racing business that took the focus off of selling consumer cars, and, by the 1960’s, many Italian Marques where experiencing lots of "financial difficulty." 

In 1959 Alejandro de Tomaso founded De Tomaso Modena SpA . 

1961 marked the year that Alfa Romeo started importing cars to the United States.  Meanwhile at ISO, after the success of the Isetta bubble car, and together with engineer Giotto Bizzarrini, and chassis builder Bertone, Renzo Rivolta began developing the Iso Rivolta in 1962 and moved ISO into the “GT/Gran Turismo” (Grand Touring) & performance sports car manufacturer category.

1964 marked the founding of by Bizzarrini S.p.A. by former Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and ISO engineer, Giotto Bizzarrini. The company built a small number of highly developed and advanced sport and racing automobiles. [Be sure to click on the Bizzarrini link for more of the story]

Fiat Powered
Although race cars did not bear the name Fiat on the their grill in the postwar period, Fiat became the power plant of choice for many companies.  An alliance with Fiat was crucial to the success for many of the iconic racing names.  Since it’s founding, Fiat had expanded manufacturing into farm equipment, marine engines and even airplanes while at the same time supporting many many of the Italian marques who's focus was on racing and performance....

During the 1960s and 1970s, Former F1 driver, de Tomaso acquired Ghia and Vignale coachbuilding studios, and gained control of the Benelli and Moto Guzzi motorcycle firms, the Innocenti car company, and, in 1975, the celebrated sports car maker Maserati, which de Tomaso rescued from bankruptcy. de Tomaso originally produced various prototypes and racing cars, including a Formula One car for Frank Williams' team in 1970 as well as the famous Pantera and Longchamp.

Automobili Lamborghini was founded in 1963 by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini. A former mechanic during World War II, Lamborghini started a tractor business, Lamborghini Trattori, in 1948, using leftover military hardware. By 1955, his tractor company was one of Italy's largest farming equipment manufacturers. Finding himself in a position to indulge his passion for luxury cars, Lamborghini began buying Alfa Romeos, Lancias, Maseratis, and Ferrari’s.

Lamborghini thought Ferrari's cars were good, but too noisy and rough to be proper road cars. Most annoyingly, Lamborghini found that Ferrari's cars were equipped with inferior clutches, and he was continuously forced to return to Maranello for clutch rebuilds. Ferrari technicians would take the car away for several hours to make the repairs, not allowing the curious Lamborghini to view the work. Frustrated with the recurring nature of the problems, during one particularly long wait, he took the matter up with the company's founder, "Il Commendatore", Enzo Ferrari.

What happened next has become the stuff of legend: Ferruccio complained to Enzo in "a bit of an argument", telling him that his cars were rubbish; the notoriously pride-filled Modenan was furious, telling the manufacturing tycoon, "Lamborghini, you may be able to drive a tractor, but you will never be able to handle a Ferrari properly. You stick to building tractors and I will stick to building sports cars.” Enzo Ferrari's snubbing of Lamborghini had profound consequences. Lamborghini later said that it was at that point that he got the idea that if Enzo Ferrari, or anyone else, could not build him a perfect car, he might be able to simply make such a car himself. An the birth of the Lamborghini Bulls began.

In 1971 the Fiat 124 Sport Spider was prepared for Rally Competition when Abarth became involved with its production and development. From 1972 on they had relative success with wins in 1972, 1973 and 1974.  The Fiat 131 Abarth was a very successful rally car replacing the 124. Between 1976 and 1981 Fiat Abarth won 18 World Rally Championship events, and won the WRC three times: in 1977, 1978, and in 1980. Notably in 1973, De Tomaso also purchased Italian motorcycle company Moto Guzzi.

The Lancia Delta is the most successful individual model designation ever to compete in rallying. All this gave Lancia a total of 11 Championships over the years.  Lancia took over the role of motorsport for the Fiat Group during the 1980s. In 1988 Lancia was the Marque of the Year at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.

In 1972, Al Garthwaite, of Algar Ferrari of Philadelphia fame, and Luigi Chinetti partnered to create an automobile importing company in the United States which was fundamental in giving birth to the East Coast American Ferrari Dealer Network. Establishing retailers from the Atlantic coast to the Mississippi River and through the lower half of Texas, the Chinetti-Garthwaite enterprise imported over 1600 Ferraris to this network through a distribution facility in Paoli, Pennsylvania. 

Enzo Ferrari was once quoted as saying “I have yet to meet anyone quite so stubborn as myself and animated by this overpowering passion that leaves me no time for thought or anything else. I have, in fact, no interest in life outside racing cars.”  

However, to fund the racing cars, Enzo needed to sell cars and the Chinetti-Garthwaite enterprise SOLD cars. In fact, many have said that the sales of the cars in North America funded the technical developments in Ferrari F1 cars in the 1970’s and led to the success Ferrari in F1 with Niki Lauda piloting in in 1975 and 1977 and Jody Scheckter in 1979.  We are very honored at the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix Cortile to welcome Algar Ferrari as one of our sponsors of the Marques of Italy in 2015 and Tom Frasca, who was Luigi Chinetti's personal secretary for over 30 years as one of our Cortile Cup Judges. 

With the loss of new Italian cars being exported to the United Stated, interest waned for several years in the United States with the exception of the Italian car aficionados. 

By 2007 a group of Italian Car enthusiasts prompted the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix to showcase as Marque of the Year “All Italian Cars” . This included Marque of the Year Chairman, Bernard Martin, and Pam Martin, Chad Pcsoyler Ian Martin.

The celebration in 2008 was so well received that the following year saw the founding of the Cortile Italian Car Show at the PVGP. Word must have gotten out about the resurgence of Interest in Italian cars because in June of 2009, Fiat Group and Chrysler Group LLC formed a strategic alliance. Consequently, Fiat has become the sixth largest car manufacturer in the world and it foretold the return of Italian marques Fiat and Alfa Romeo again being exported to North America.

The Proiettore Macchina concept was introduced a the second year of the Cortile in 2010. Proiettore, in Italian, is the word for headlight. "Headlight" encapsulates our goal for Proiettore Macchina which is to shed light on the robust history of Italian motorsports and motorcars. 

The Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix, presented by the Greater Pittsburgh Automobile Dealers Foundation, has a mission is to produce a world-class vintage racing event in order to raise funds that help provide residential care, treatment and support individuals with autism and intellectual and developmental disabilities in the Pittsburgh region through the Autism Society of Pittsburgh and Allegheny Valley School. Both of these charities play a key role in our success, supplying volunteers at all of our events.

Cortile Lunch Saturday, July 18
All Italian race cars are invited to drive up to the Italian Cortile at the Pittsburgh Golf Club on the golf course for lunch on Saturday. There will be 300-400 Italian show cars displayed on the 18th fairway. Joe Parlanti will lead the cars through the city streets, departing the Italian Paddock at 11:15 am. Details on Cortile – Saturday

Eligible Cars
Qualified Italian cars of all marques manufactured before 1973 are eligible. See our Approved Car List for specifics. We already have commitments from several racers and we’re looking forward to featuring 20-25 cars. If you believe your Italian car is eligible and can not find it on our list please email Alain Raymond.

Contact
Alain Raymond is a long time supporter of the PVGP and a familiar smiling face throughout vintage racing. He has volunteered to help recruit and manage our Marque of the Year race. If you have any questions regarding the Italian Marque or any aspect of our races please email Alain Raymond

Entry Form
To enter the Marque of the Year Race you will need to register for our race and add an additional $50 to particpate in the Marque of the Year race. Your grid position will be determined by your best time on Saturday afternoon.

The cost is $125 to participate in our Marques of Italy, the Cortile and the Fiat FreakOut.  Register and pay on-line here. All proceeds benefit the Grand Prix Charities. If you are with the Fiat FreakOut you must register on the Fiat Club America website in order to have your car qualified for judging.

Here are the events during our ten day festival where Italian car’s will take center stage:

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."  

David Adams was of the "Best Lancia 2011" Cortile Cup Awards. This article originally appeared in the August, 2012 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.

A friendship forged over coffee leads to the heroic 6 1/2-year rescue of a rare, alloy-bodied Lancia Flaminia GTL

Feature Article from Hemmings Sports & Exotic CarAugust, 2012 - Words and Photography by David LaChance

Had he lost his chance to buy the car? Dave Adams hadn't been able to make a deal with the owner of the decrepit Lancia when he first saw it; now, a year later, he learned that a group of prospective buyers were flying in from Europe, and were likely to take the car home with them.

But the Europeans lost interest when they saw just how far gone the coupe was. Though it was rare, one of just 303 Flaminia GTLs built, it was literally falling to pieces, and had already been stripped of some of its parts. If Dave had listened to the experts' advice, he, too, would have forgotten about the GTL. But that's not what happened.

When he learned the deal had fallen through, Dave didn't hesitate. "I gave [the owner] what he wanted and brought it home. I didn't know what I was getting into, or I might not have done it."

Dave had first seen the Flaminia in 1999, when he went with a friend to look over a collection of Lancias at the Fiat-Lancia Parts Consortium on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, and the stylish coupe had caught his eye. "It was in very poor condition; most of the controls and the instrument panel had all been robbed out and sold for parts. And the car actually looked beyond restoration--it was buckled in the center and rusted out down underneath and the doors wouldn't open," Dave recalls. "But I'd never had a European car, and I just liked the idea of the aluminum body, the four-speed and three two-barrels."

Yes, you read that right--Dave had never before owned a European car. In fact, he was sitting on a collection of Pontiac GTO project cars when he first saw the Lancia. "My wife fussed because I had so many [GTOs], and I hadn't restored any, because that's what I was going to do when I retired. And she was giving me heck, so I just sold all of them, and bought this one Italian car."

It's also worth mentioning that he had never before restored a car, and that a hand-built car like the GTL, with its Superleggera aluminum-over-steel coachwork by Carrozzeria Touring, would be a challenge even to a seasoned restorer. But Dave had a number of factors in his favor: He doesn't discourage easily. He ran an auto parts store for 20 years. And he had found a mentor in an old-world craftsman named Dick Frye.

Dick and Dave had met at Dave's store in Shelocta, Pennsylvania. "He was down there every morning, drinking coffee. I had free coffee. It drew in a lot of people--they'd stand around and BS. It was kind of a hangout." Dick had earned his skills at a Cleveland-area shop during the post-war years, learning about gas welding, lead filling and other techniques involved in European coachbuilding; he returned to Pennsylvania in 1958 to open his own shop.

"My mentor, Dick Frye, told me that anything that was hand-built can be rebuilt," Dave says. "And these cars were hand-built. They took the frame and hand-bent each panel; a fender might be five or six pieces of aluminum welded together, and formed to create the car."

The Flaminia, first shown as a prototype in 1956 and put into production the following year, was the successor to the successful Aurelia. Like the Aurelia, it was powered by a 60-degree V-6 engine, initially displacing 2,458cc, and growing to 2,775cc in 1962. The clutch and gearbox were rear-mounted, providing excellent balance.

In addition to the Pinin Farina-styled Berlina, four Flaminia variants were produced: Coupes by Pinin Farina, Zagato and Touring, and a convertible by Touring. The GTL, a 2+2 version of the GT with a wheelbase that was 80mm longer, arrived in 1962. Dave has become an unabashed admirer of the entire Flaminia family. "That was like the Rolls-Royce of Italian cars," he says. "They didn't have the power that a Ferrari or a Maserati had, but as far as build quality, they were the best."

Dave trailered the GTL home from the Fiat-Lancia Parts Consortium, but not before thinking to conduct a search of the shop's shelves, which turned up every one of the switches his car was missing. Then, he and Dick got to work.

The aluminum skin was the first to go. "Dick and I cut the body in sections, because it's a one-piece body, and took the body off. I think we ended up with seven or eight pieces," Dave says. They used a cut-off wheel to slice the aluminum, and drilled through the hundreds of rivets holding the body to the steel structure below.

It was at that point that Dave realized just how badly damaged the floorpan was. Had the discouraged Europeans been right after all? Not by a long shot. Dave knew that the Consortium had, among its other cars, a Flaminia Berlina that had suffered an engine fire. The bodywork was ruined, but the floorpan was solid. He bought the Berlina, brought it back to his shop and stripped it down.

Putting the GTL's body on the Berlina's floorpan was no simple matter. The tubular steel frame that supports the coupe's body had to be transferred over, a job requiring a seemingly endless number of measurements. The Berlina was a longer car than the GTL, too, so Dick had to slice 2 1/2 inches out of the wheelbase. The GTL stored its spare tire in a horizontal well in the trunk, while the Berlina's was mounted upright. None of these required changes proved to be a roadblock, thanks to Dick's skill with the oxyacetylene torch. "If you get the right flux and the right torch, oxyacetylene will work," Dick tells us. "I try to put it back together the way it was built."

"This new chassis, in addition to being too long, the inner fender wells were approximately two inches too wide," Dave says. "So we had to cut all of them off, and then Dick re-bent all the lips by hand. He was such a fanatic about it, that when we got to the final installation of the body, we didn't have to re-drill the rivet holes. It was close enough that we could pry or bend, and use all the original rivet holes."

Before they could get to that point, there was much more work to be done. Dave sandblasted the chassis, using fine white sand. "I had a rotisserie on wheels, and I could wheel it in and out of my shop every day I went to work on it," he says. He primed the chassis in Rust-Oleum red oxide primer before applying 3M Body Schutz rubberized coating, for the original factory look, and finishing with black Rust-Oleum semi-gloss paint. "As far as preserving old metal, I feel that [Rust-Oleum] is one of the better products.

"I'd halfway learned to spray-paint--I'm not a professional, but I believe in doing everything I can myself," he continues. What brand of spray gun did he use? "I can't even tell you--it was maybe a $29.95 one," he laughs. "A different body shop owner told me, buy a cheap spray gun to prime; when you're done with it or it acts up, throw it away and buy another one. He said it'll do as good a job as a professional gun. So that's what I did."

Dave and his auto parts employees stripped the aluminum bodywork, using chemical aircraft stripper to avoid damaging the .030-inch-thick skin. They covered the stripper with plastic wrap and let it work for a half-hour or so, scraping off the softened paint with a rubber spatula. Though it's hard to believe from Dave's "before" photos, the paint was the original silver-gray finish. "The only original paint I found that looked good was up in under the dash. There was a little removable panel; I took that out, cleaned it off and that brought out the original color. I had that spectrographed and came up with what I wanted to paint the car."

After Dick had used his hammer and dolly to erase all of the dings and dents in the bodywork, Dave brought the panels to a local shop that specialized in aluminum welding to have all of the small cracks and tears in the bodywork mended. Once the bodywork fit perfectly, the aluminum welder visited Dave's shop to stitch the panels back together again. Then came the final riveting.

More welding was required for the steel frames of the doors, which had rusted away along the bottom. Dick removed the aluminum door skins, fabricated and welded in repair panels for the frames, and reattached the skins, annealing the aluminum with a BernzOmatic torch before hammering the edge around the repaired frame.

Dave brought the Flaminia to Dick's shop for paintwork. It received a coat of etching primer, and small imperfections were filled in with Evercoat's Chrome-A-Lite lightweight filler. "I like the way it works," Dick says. "It doesn't shrink, and it blocks well." Three coats of high-build acrylic polyester primer were applied, followed by much block sanding.

Dick chose PPG products for the basecoat/clearcoat finish. "I like their clears," he says. "They have buffability, and quick turnaround. You can water sand them the next day." He applied three coats of the base finish, and three coats of clear. Although two coats of clear would be sufficient, he likes applying the third coat, so that there's enough depth to allow future damage to be buffed out without having to repaint the car. The paintwork was done with all of the panels--doors, hood and trunklid--on the car.

In the meantime, Dave had carried out whatever mechanical work was needed. He had rebuilt the braking system, as well as the starter motor, carburetors and other ancillaries of the V-6. Parts were ordered from Mike Kristick, an East Coast Lancia specialist. Dave put the engine on a stand and soaked the bores with PB Blaster and kerosene to get the pistons unstuck, but decided not to tear the engine down. "It fired up, and it's been running great ever since," he says. "I've probably only put a total of less than 1,000 miles on it." The gearbox, too, was left as it was, though Dave installed a new clutch kit.

Dave ordered new leather from Hirsch Automotive Products, in the original red. "I told him I wanted the best leather I could get, the softest," he said. The upholstery was done by Larry Learn at Learn's Upholstery Shop in Indiana, Pennsylvania, who had come highly recommended. Though Larry suggested that he could save some money by having the seat covers machine-stitched, Dave chose to have the original hand-sewing recreated. New wool carpeting was installed, as well as new headliner, using matching material Dave purchased from Mike Kristick.

The majority of the car's brightwork is either stainless-steel or aluminum, and could be restored back to its original shine. Dick used an English wheel to remove deep dents from the stainless-steel bumpers, which Dave then spent days sanding and polishing by hand. The transformation is amazing. "Like he said, anything that was built can be rebuilt," Dave laughs. He found a new-old-stock taillamp bezel for the driver's side, and is still looking for a replacement for its pitted counterpart. One of the Superleggera script badges was a Christmas present from a friend.

Six and a half years after he had begun, the Flaminia was completed. Dave first showed it at the 2007 Le Belle Macchine d'Italia in the Poconos; he brings it to Italian car meets, where it's usually recognized for what it is, and almost always brings home a trophy.

Not only does Dave have no regrets about the project, he's since found himself a second GTL, a two-owner car that was in sound running condition when he bought it from a West Coast president of the American Lancia Club. "I'm doing the second one now because I have two granddaughters, and they're both going to have a GTL and a Flavia Pinin Farina coupe," he tells us. "I figure I'll have them done when they're old enough. If they decide to sell, well, they're marketable, and they'll have college money.

"On the second one, I'm being a little fussier. I told my wife, the first one came out good; the second one will be perfect."

This article originally appeared in the August, 2012 issue of Hemmings Sports & Exotic Car.