Forgotten Classics: Lancia Flavias by Pininfarina, Vignale and Zagato

In the late Fifties, the Pesenti family that had taken over Lancia after Gianni Lancia's racing expenditures had bankrupted the firm sought a design to fill the gap between small V4 Appia and upper-crust V6 Flaminia. Engineer Antonio Fessia came up with an aluminum horizontally-opposed four, initially in 1.5 liter form, driving the front wheels through a 4-speed transaxle and with 4-wheel disc brakes (2 firsts for an Italian car). The flat four was the first for Lancia, which had gained fame with its V4 Lambda in the Twenties before producing V8s and then the first production V6 with the 1950 Aurelia.  The body design of the Flavia sedan, however, appeared to have been designed (unlike, for example, the Citroen DS) to show no hint of its advanced engineering. Instead, it was boxy, slab-sided and charmless. The year after production started, Lancia attempted to remedy this, not by restyling the sedan, but by launching 3 sports versions by 3 different carrozzeria: a coupe shown above by Pininfarina, a cabriolet by VIgnale, and a lightweight Sport by Zagato. The Pininfarina coupe turned out to be the most popular of the three, with production topping 19,000 units, most of these being the 1.8 liter.

The instrument panel signalled the deluxe GT character of the car, which substituted a steeply-angled floor shift for the column shift in the sedan.  The roof and side window design was similar to that on Pininfarina's Ferrari 250 GT 2+2, though the Lancia received horizontal tail lights...

Starting in 1962, there was also a cabriolet version designed by Giovanni Michelotti and built by Vignale.  The car's restrained lines seemed aimed at the same clientele of doctors or lawyers that adopted the Pininfarina coupe. The dark blue over tan color scheme of this example seems to suit its personality.

Unlike the PF coupe, the Vignale cabriolet used the same instrument cluster as the Flavia sedan, a decision that seemed to undercut the sporting character of the car. Though Flavia berlinas originally came with a steering column-mounted shift lever to go with the less-sportive ribbon speedometer; the coupes and cabrios had a floor shift controlling 4 speeds.

Of the 1,601 specimens of the Vignale Flavia produced, only 40 were confirmed to have right-hand drive like the silver example below, which also features the optional hardtop.  Production of the Vignale cabrio ended after 1967.

The Zagato-bodied Flavia Sport, also introduced in 1962, was aluminum-bodied, and equipped with either a 1.5 or 1.8 liter four and 4-speed transaxle, though some higher-performance fuel-injected 1.8 versions featured a 5-speed.  Just under 630 examples rolled out of Zagato's workshops, including 3 prototypes, and 512 of these had the larger engine. They all, however, had somewhat polarizing styling by Ercole Spada.  This included a folded version of the vaguely shield-shaped grille, and chunky proportions belying the car's light weight.

Like Vignale, Zagato adopted the Flavia sedan's instrument cluster, and it seems a bit more surprising in this context. 

The rear view shows off side windows that curve into the roof, recalling the Panoramica* show cars Zagato built in the late Forties and early Fifties, but unlike on those cars create a discontinuity with the front door windows.  The backlight is concave, anticipating a theme that would appear on some GM production cars, and the low rectangular shape of the rear wheel arch seem out of character with the car's sporting intentions.  The Zagato and Vignale cars, unlike the PF coupe, use tail lights from the Flavia sedan.

Production of Zagato's Sport ended after 1967, and Ercole Spada's proposal for a successor car reflected contemporary trends at the same time it suggested a design language that could be applied to the rest of Lancia's product line. 

The Flavia Super Sport Zagato prototype shown above and below, one of two built in 1967-68, represented Spada's response to the creased, wedge-shaped cars then appearing from Giugiaro at Ghia. Spada managed to include plenty of curves as well, in profile, plan and section. This car, from the Lopresto collection, is the 2 liter prototype from 1968; a 1.8 liter car to the same design appeared in the previous year.

This modernist take on the traditional shield-shaped Lancia grille gives the nose more character than the simple rectangle on Zagato's Fulvia Sport, or on the various 1960s Lancias from Pininfarina, Touring or Vignale.  Like the crisply creased and sleekly proportioned profile of the Super Sport, it could have served as a template for establishing a strong Lancia identity across the rest of the line.

Unlike the Zagato Sport, the Super Sport received an instrument panel designed for the car.

In the photo below, the 1.8 liter Super Sport prototype shows off its concave rear window, which is better integrated into the form than on the previous Sport model.  The 1.8 liter engine in it was actually a new unit based on the Type 820 two-liter, and with the same 80mm stroke.  Elio Zagato, son of founder Ugo, liked this car so well he used it as his personal transport for years.  It's possible to imagine a whole line of Lancias based around this design, including sport wagons, sedans, and spiders.  Instead, Fiat management decided to pursue a less risky path...

Not surprisingly given its financial trouble and a need to cast a wider net, what Lancia did authorize for production next was an updated Flavia in factory-bodied sedan form, and in coupe form with a thoroughly revised Pininfarina body.  It was the last Lancia designed before Fiat took over the company late in 1969, and was introduced at the Geneva Show in March 1969.  Engine displacement was increased to 1,991 cc, placing the car in the increasingly popular 2-liter class. Fuel-injected and carbureted versions were offered from the beginning. Your faithful scribe has been hanging out with this carbureted, 4-speed PF coupe for the last 7 years...

It's a 1970 model, and though at first glance looks like a light restyle of the 1962 design, there are almost no interchangeable body panels between the two. Drivers faced the same instrument layout, but initially the only wood was on the steering wheel.  Fiat changed that in 1971, reintroducing wood veneer on the dash. 

Our example has the Lancia Flavia nameplate flanking the trunk latch, with a small "2000" script above the right tail light.  For the 1971 model year, Fiat would rename the series Lancia 2000, and drop the Flavia nameplate.  Of the special-bodied models, only the Pininfarina coupe was continued once the 1.5 and 1.8 liter engines were dropped.  According to Richard Langworth, 6,791 of the the Flavia 2000 and 2000 series coupes with the Type 820 engine, were built.

As with the smaller, more rally-oriented Fulvia V4 cars, Lancia offered an HF version of the Flavia coupe, renamed 2000HF when this version was launched in 1971.  Only 1,229 left the factory before production closed for 1975.  Features included Bosch D-Jetronic fuel injection, a 5-speed transaxle, and power steering.

This 1973 example shows off alloy wheels and a chrome-framed, black-finished grille.  Under hood, the geometry of the engine is concealed, unlike on Lancia's V4s and V6s, by intake plumbing and accessories. One misses the visual clarity of the V-engined Lancias, but specialists liked the low profile and center of mass, and employed the drivetrain in a couple of mid-engined prototypes*

The HF has the wood veneer dash and instrument cluster Fiat brought back, but details are different from the dash in our 1970 car; for one, the 3 small instruments centered in the binnacle are now in a 2 over 1 arrangement.  Despite the 2000 HF's refinement, Lancia's sporting program was headed elsewhere under Fiat management.  A Fulvia HF* won the Monte Carlo Rally the year before this '73 HF was built, and the mid-engined Lancia Stratos* would win the World Rally Championship in 1974, '75 and '76.  In the WRC, Lancia's all-wheel drive Delta Integrales would take all Constructors' Championships from 1987-92, and 4 Drivers' Championships.  But the Stratos story has been told in our blog before*, and the Delta story will need to wait for another day.

*Footnote:  Zagato Panoramica bodies on Maserati and Ferrari chassis appear in "Body by Zagato Part 1:  Ferrari and Maserati in the Fifties", posted here on March 31, 2020.  Fulvia HFs were surveyed here in "Hi-Fi: Racing Red Elephants from Lancia", posted Oct. 3, 2016, while mid-engined Flavia-powered specials were the focus of "The Etceterini Files Part 15", posted Oct. 26, 2018. The Lancia Stratos is featured, along with a doomed effort to revive it, in "Lost Cause Lancias", our post for February 15, 2018. 

Photo credits: 
Top & 2nd from top:  bringatrailer.com

3rd:  Wikimedia
4th & 5th:  bringatrailer.com
6th:  RM Sotheby's Auctions
7th thru 9th: bringatrailer.com
10th thru 12th:  George Havelka

13th:  carrozzieri-italiani.com

14th:  classicdriver.com

15th thru 18th:  the author

19th thru bottom:  classicautoinvest.fr