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So, I'm William van der Sman. A '71 vintage.
Actually, I've worked in aviation all my life
the technology very much appeals to me.
And that's why
so you only really end up with Lancia, if you have an Italian passion
And if you you're talking about Lancia, & talking about engineering quality
You're still talking Lancia It was really that simple that I ended up by that make of car.
But seeing my age, I should have been looking
more at a Lancia Beta Coupe.
Actually, this is considerably older and far nicer.
This was actually one of the First 'homologated' cars,
which basically means a car which leaves the factory ready to race.
This means parts of the car are already removed to reduce the weight
so the car can complete in a certain class.
So this car has fitted in the factory acrylic glass side windows, doors, boot & bonnet are from aluminum & the bumpers have been removed,
They've made the interior very minimalistic
and they only produced just a handful
that were race ready,
so as to keep them competitive
This is probably one of only a few survivors, the rest I reckon have all been written off
Later, much later had I once enquired what you should pay attention to
when buying a Fulvia
and when not to buy. This car had all the reasons why
it should be left alone,
And that was very annoying.
And later I realised after I had lovingly overhauling the engine
that this engine didn't even belong in this particular car.
You could say 'I can live with that, & just carry on driving the car'
Or think I'll just carry on looking for the right engine, because it should be correct.
Things like doors & the interior......, I had no idea, it was the first time I'd seen them
I ended up collecting half the parts for the car at various auctions & fairs
and buying & reading Italian magazines, phone calls and Faxing.
Italians like to Fax.
Eventually, after a number of years you assemble all the original parts.
This engine, the 1200HF was the First engine supplied at that time
with very special parts.
It was discovered
purely by chance in a friends shed
he had an old engine block stored & told me
"I have no use for it, do you want it? Maybe handy for spares?"
So I checked the motors serial number & it turned out to be
a 1200HF engine.
This is of course fantastic
If you look at the engine, and at the arrangement of the engine.
It's a tight V4 and it is also tilted, so the carburetors lay horizontal
So you even get a bit of a motorcycle idea. Nico Bakker, Dutch motorcycle frame builder
he once built a motorcycle with a Lancia Fulvia block it
Or rather around it
and that was fantastic, I have even ridden on that bike.
Amazing that you come across an engine
of which there are only 435 manufactured.
And one of them lies in a shed somewhere in Holland, How many
were sold in Holland? With a price tag of 18.000,- in 1966.
Who could afford a car like that in Holland? Must have been from a racing car driver,
So where did the car come from? To this day, I have no idea,
but of course it remains something special.
I suppose, like most people, I started just tinkering with mopeds.
You're 12 & you get your first Tomos moped
which I paid 12 Guilders for. Started riding it a bit 'off road'
See if I could bore out the cylinder
What makes it fast, what makes it too fast? Or why it doesn't work anymore? With a bit of trial and error
is how I learnt.
Yes, the technology,
look, at this, this is the cylinder head of 1600.
Look carefully how complicated it is, how these rocker arms are assembled,
the beautiful casting.
And that is,
what it's all about with a Fulvia,
The V4.
When you see that, with its spherical combustion chamber
and with those beautiful valves, and how it is connected to manifold.
It's really amazing that they can make something
that goes so fast & stays intact.
I bought this car in 1992, & since then have done nothing else than restoring it.
Sheet metal setbacks, bad welding, bad people.
You pay a levy the First time you restore a car.
You come across the wrong people, which sell you the wrong parts
or people not doing what they promised. The first nine years of the rebuilding of this car
was really not at all nice.
The First time I drove the car on the road in 1999 I thought:
"Is this what I've been doing for the last seven years?" Didn't perform well at all,
I found it all a bit tame, I thought, "A crying shame",
I started dotting the 'i's, crossing the 't's, started buying parts to boost the speed
and think of other things.
And so, after 14 years, I can finally say, I believe
It's finished
and now it really is a great car to drive.
Changes, alterations that fill more than 25 pages, & every time I think
of something new, or discover something that's just a bit better than what you originally had.
And then out comes yet again the perfectionist in me
& possibly the aircraft mechanic,
Actually, it's never good enough.
What is there still left to do? I've fitted high forged pistons, and the crankshaft is lightened,
balanced a very light flywheel built in a
modern diaphragm clutch.
I've fitted carburetors from a 1600, they are 42mm carburetors, which are actually quite large
for a 1200cc.
There are beautiful inlet chalices in the rear. Er zitten hele mooie inlaatkelken hierachter.
A four speed gearbox just isn't sportive enough, you have to have a five speed,
But not any kind of 5 speed gearbox can be fitted, as it is a homologous vehicle
So only an approved gearbox could be allowed and otherwise it would be a waste.
I finally settled for & fitted a gearbox from a fanallone
and that fanalone is, shall we say, the 1600 HF. This was, we can probably say, the last Evolvement of the HF
which was fitted with a 5 speed gearbox, and finally when it was allowed to rebuild this car
to a racing standard, so the gearbox is correct. But I didn't really want
adapt the car, so I ended up fitting the whole transmission mechanism to the car.
And that's a cool site just to see how you now can change gear. So when I had finally had found the original engine, I completely dismantled it
all the very best parts you can think of are fitted and can reach the 8000RPM,
Now that is really is pleasurable.
I've fitted another steering wheel, an original made by Fusina.
That was the original rally teams steering Wheel, Italians sit
A bit like this in the car
and the wheel is there, so you don't sit comfortable.
So I extended the steering column, so it's closer to me
so I can sit comfortably even with my European frame.
The sitting posture considerably altered from what it was
Without visibly be noticable
so you can just enjoy the drive & the gearstick falls exactly in your hand.
That's what it's about.
The red elephants of Lancia stand for
Power & stubbornness and the HF stands for High Fidelity, that was an elite Lancia club
They could afford to buy at least three new cars in a row
from the factory
And Finally Squadra Corsa, which actually is the rally department of Lancia
Used from 1965 onwards, as logo on their cars
It signifies the rally department of Lancia.
But the best thing about driving this car
is that is a completely different driving experience than in a modern car.
He sputters a bit, obviously having a bad morning mood
Even though it's the afternoon.
Careful as you change gear, especially when the engine is cold
as the car struggles to find 2nd gear
So, you learn to live with its idiosyncrasies. In many ways
it seems like the car is alive
So, you've made all these modifications, some work well, but from some of them you think:
"That could be better".
But whenever I step into the car I'm always kind of nervous & think:
"Hows it going to perform today?" en "Am I actually having fun here".
Then I see my reflection in a shop window passing by, & think to myself: "Wow, nice"
Then I'm happy.
And ah, the sound eh?
translation David Gibbs