We love classic Lancia’s in general here at ViaRETRO – who with a soul doesn’t? – and in the same way that I was surprised we hadn’t previously featured a VW Beetle in our Saturday Prime Find slot until a couple of weeks ago, I was equally taken aback to find that we had yet to have a Lancia Fulvia Coupé as our Prime Find for the week.
Not so long ago, these were pretty easy to find for less than our theoretical £20k budget but finding one of these exceptionally pretty little coupés in the £10,000 to £20,000 bracket is rather more difficult than it was. Nevertheless, a bit of digging has turned up this week’s car, a 1.3 S2 for well under that budget.
The Fulvia Berlina, or saloon, was launched at the Geneva Motor Show in 1963, with the name coming from the Via Fulvia, the Roman road between Tortana to Torino. The coupé followed two years later, and although based on the Berlina, there is little to connect the two visually, with not a single body panel in common. In addition, the coupé sits on a wheelbase shortened by very nearly six inches – hence the lack of rear legroom…
The basic coupé originally came with a 1216cc engine – later enlarged slightly to 1231cc – that produced 79bhp. Top speed was around the 100mph mark, not bad for such a small car. 1966 saw the launch of the Coupé HF, with the same engine but tuned to produce 87bhp. It had also been on a weight-loss programme, being equipped with aluminium bonnet, bootlid, doors, plexiglass side and rear windows and no bumpers, making it effectively the first performance version of the Fulvia.
The Series 1 received a number of upgrades over the next few years, with the ultimate versions being introduced in 1969 in the form of the 1.6HF Fanalaone – so called because of it’s inner headlamps that were larger than the outer pair – and the Rallye 1.6HF which, as the name implied, was Lancia’s rally competition car until the arrival of the ultimate wedge, the Stratos. The Fulvia enjoyed much success in rallying competition, peaking with the marque’s first World Rally Championship win in 1972, a feat it was to repeat for three consecutive years with the Stratos from 1974 onwards.
The Series II in 1970 saw a slightly enlarged engine to 1298cc with power output increased to 89bhp, and a five-speed gearbox was now standard. Top of the Series II range was the 113bhp 1600HF, which could top 110mph. The final versions of the coupé were the Coupé 3, which appeared in 1974; it was recognisable by it’s matt black grille and frame.
A little over 117,000 Fulvia Coupés of all types were made, and while the demon rust has claimed many – as it has most 1960’s and ’70’s cars – there seem to be a decent number left. Here in the UK, 64 Series 1 and fifteen Series II’s remain on our roads, with another 45 SORN, and there are doubtless many more in Italy.
Zagato also created a version of the Fulvia, a two-door fastback coupé that looked very different to the regular coupé; not everyone likes these – I do – but it does lack the finesse of the standard car.
In terms of pricing, there’s a Fulvia to suit a number of bank accounts – the base saloon tends to be the least expensive, followed by the standard Coupé – examples of both can be found for under £20,000, though it’s getting more difficult to find good coupés for this money. Serious cash is required for the HF and Zagato versions, with prices upwards of £50,000 not unusual.
Fulvia’s have a reputation for being superb drivers’ cars, and the motoring press praised this aspect of the model back in the day. In a 1967 joint-test of the Series 1 Coupé together with a Zagato version, Road&Track magazine noted that “these Lancias are the best-handling FWD cars we have ever driven, and that’s saying something”, concluding that they were “both absolutely delightful cars to drive”.
By the time of the Autocar’s test of the Series 2 in their November 1974 issue, it was clear that overall standards had risen, and while the magazine’s testers still had good things to say about the Lancia’s performance, handling, ride and brakes, they weren’t quite so effusive as R&T had been, while they criticised the car’s fuel economy and the engine’s inflexibility at low speeds – the small engine delivered much of its poke at higher revs, which in turn contributed to its thirst.
They managed to reach a top speed of 109mph one-way, but acceleration was somewhat wanting compared to the other cars they compared the Fulvia to. Interestingly, these were all bigger-engined cars yet cost less than the Italian – the Renault 17, Toyota Celica, Capri 1600GT and VW Scirocco. Having said all that, it seemed that their “staff compete to drive it with a fervour they rarely show for other makes” – in other words, the Fulvia was then, and is now, a driver’s car.
Some rivals to the Fulvia – tough choice?
As with the other four in that test, the Fulvia is at best a 2+2, with very limited room at the back for anyone bigger than a young child, and then only if the driver is about 1m 70cm.
This all brings us nicely to our Prime Find for this week, which is a 1971 Series II 1.3S, finished in British Racing Green (sic) with a tan interior, not a common colour on these cars, but it works for me, as does the interior shade. It was brought into the UK from Italy in 2016, so is left-hand-drive, and is for sale through a dealer in Reading, South-East England, for £16,500.
There isn’t a great deal of information about the car in the dealer’s advert – I do wish people selling cars, whether privately or in the trade, would provide a reasonable amount of detail about the car they want someone to buy – other than to mention that the history file includes invoices for work done by them and some past MOT’s.
They state that the car “performed very well on roadtest with lively engine, slick gearbox and typically powerful servo four wheel disc brakes” and that “the paintwork presents very well and the bodyshell appears to be in excellent condition with good panel fit typical of Fulvias”. Obviously we can’t comment on the car’s driving characteristics, but based on the photographs we have borrowed from the dealer’s website, the paint does indeed look pretty good, and the interior is smart and clean, the door cards look to be almost unmarked, and devoid of tears or rips. Some of the varnish on the dash has faded, but it’s nothing major.
Mileage isn’t stated but the odometer shows 03165, so it’s safe to assume this very pretty little car will have 103,165 miles under it’s wheels, making it a car to be driven and enjoyed, not to be stored to protect its value. I like the Fulvia Coupé almost as much as I do the BMW 2002 – it isn’t quite as quick (unsurprisingly) nor as practical, but it is prettier, and if I had enough room, I’d have one. Though there’s also the Alfa Type 105…
You can see the full dealer ad, and a decent number of photographs, here – and as usual, should this delightful-looking classic Lancia appeal – and why would it not? – we recommend arranging prior inspection if possible before you open your banking app.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk