The Lancia Flaminia Sport and Zagato:

Post-war, Lancia was well-known for producing some of the most sophisticated, technically advanced and elegant cars in the world.

The Lancia Flaminia began production in 1957 and replaced the Aurelia as the flagship model. It was available throughout its lifetime as a saloon, coupe and cabriolet with the most sought-after example being the Sport coupe which was a two-seater built on a short wheelbase chassis. Of these sport examples, the most collectible are the 99, Series 1 cars which were bodied by Zagato, featuring covered headlights and the synonymous ‘double-bubble’ roof with improved aerodynamics. These Zagato Series 1 cars remain the rarest and most sought-after of all variants that were built before production ended in 1967.

The Flaminia Sport Zagato Series 1 cars were powered by Lancia’s legendary 2,458 cc free revving and torquey V-6 engine which was mated to a four-speed manual transmission. The engine design was hugely successful, it showed how advanced Lancia’s 1950’s designs and technology really was.

This Zagato-bodied, Lancia Flaminia Sport Series 1:

The series 1, Zagato-bodied Flaminia Sport offered here, chassis 824.02-1020 was built in 1959 and first registered in Italy with license ‘GO 015053’ to Cotonificio Triestino S.A who paid 2.4 Million Lire for the car when new. It remained in this ownership for ten years before being registered to Franco Vassena, a resident in Milan, who maintained ownership for a further ten years before being registered to Giancarlo Balestra in San Remo. Mr Balestra kept the car for only a brief period before selling it to Antonio Violante, a resident in Catona who maintained ownership for over 20 years. Mr Violante re-registered the car in Italy with license ‘RC 269693’, which it retains to this day.

The cars next owner was Carmelo Grandi who quickly embarked upon a complete cosmetic restoration in 2005, lasting three years. During this restoration, the car was repainted silver (argento auteuil). Before passing to the next owner, the car participated in, and completed, a rally in Sicily, covering over 400 kms with no troubles reported. In March 2009, this car was bought by Mr Pier Luigi Chiesa, a resident in Biella, where it joined a sizeable collection of mainly Italian classic cars.

The car has recently been inspected and confirmed to retain its original engine, gearbox, rear suspension and body and is also accompanied by its Certificato di Origine from Lancia Classiche. With these very rare and hugely elegant cars hardly ever appearing on the market, this is a fabulous opportunity for the discerning collector to add one of the 99, Zagato-bodied, Lancia Flaminia Sports to their collection.

Price Upon Request

Images courtesy of Cymon Taylor for Girardo & Co.