Story and History

1964 Lancia Flaminia 2.5 3C GT - 1 of 12 RHD produced

These tasty Lancia's, probably the last of the truly exotic cars from the manufacturer, cost as much as an Aston Martin DB4 ( funny that this car also had carrosserie of the Superleggera variety too ) and the Flaminia's roster of jet-set customers included film stars Sofia Loren, Brigitte Bardot and Audrey Hepburn; racing drivers Juan Manuel Fangio, Peter Collins and Paul Frere; and playboys Roger Vadim, Prince Ali Aga Khan and Francoise Sagan

All the more amazing then, that the cars are so hugely undervalued today - ours at our asking price is a mere smidgen of the price of the similar bodied Maserati 3500 GT or even a DB4 Aston (probably £400.000 today)

If it was so sexy at the time, how have they fallen so by the wayside now - perhaps we are all missing a thing or two?

Powered by a magnificent V6 engine (which again powers the highly valued B24S Spider - $1.800.000 nowadays) and with triple twin choke carbs, mechanically these cars are way ahead of the period

Aluminium, handbuilt coachwork by Touring of Milano these were really the creme de la creme in their day and priced accordingly

As with all Lancias of this era, the car was a technical tour de force with features like Dunlop disc brakes all round (inboard at the rear), a De Dion axle, independent front suspension and perfect 50:50 weight distribution by virtue of its all-synchro gearbox being mounted in unit with the rear axle

The quality of materials used and the standards of engineering excellence applied were far in excess of other, supposedly more illustrious, Italian marques

Indeed Italians have always regarded the Lancia as their finest, most aristocratic car, and not for nothing are they known as 'the thinking man's Alfa Romeo

Ours has had but a few owners since supplied new to the UK and is one of only 10 (or is that 12?) right-hand drive Touring-bodied 3C GTs - there were about 1700 in LHD really showing how rare these are in reality in UK form

The preceeding owner kept her from 1989 until 2009 and spent £20.000 keeping her in fine fettle during his ownership, all works being undertaken by respected Lancia guru Peter Harding at Classic Restorations

Not included within these costs was a complete repaint in 2005 - works also carried out in his period of ownership were a stainless steel exhaust, re-chromed bumpers and grille, new carpeting and mats, re-stuffed original seating, heads off with new valve guides, cleaned block and compression tests to validate all OK down below (figures produced were healthy 150 - 175 happily)

When acquired in 1989, the Flaminia displayed a total of 65,000 miles on the odometer and having been driven approximately only 1,000 miles annually since then (the current mileage is 88,250)

Our Flaminia has been displayed at the NEC Classic Car Show and in 2005 won the Best Lancia award at the Italian Car Concours

Since the last owner took over from renowned classic car intellectual David Saltzburger (2009 - 2012) works have been entrusted to the king of UK Lancia specialists Omricon, who in April of this year ensured everything is in "just so" condition - and all for just £10.000 (how lucky was he......?)

Anyway, whatever, he's spent the money and for sure it shows - this car drives in a phenominal manner and one can understand why period road testers universally admired the engineering excellence of these Lancia's, their superb brakes (discs all round as previously mentioned) not to mention the tremendous ride and handling qualities which imparted uncanny stability at all speeds and on all surfaces

These really were a "tour de force" and will surely soon be recognised for their outstanding qualities

When only a dozen were produced in RHD this really does have to be a car for the serious collector who recognises true style and class