very plain. None of the instruments worked, and it had
no oil pressure. We couldn’t understand it because it
ran beautifully! I took the engine to pieces, got the oil
pump rebuilt, put it all back together – exactly the
same, no oil pressure.” This conundrum was eventually
solved by distinguished Wrexham-based Lancista (and
fellow Augusta owner) Morris Parry, who correctly
diagnosed a missing 14mm O-ring twixt block and
crankcase... Welcome to Planet Lancia!
Anyway, the Augusta is far from sad now. Sound in
wind and limb, she’s smart but not toosmart, retaining
enough patina to remind you that she’s really quite an
old lady – but a truly elegant one, from every angle.
Farina got the proportions exactly right (well, when did
he not?) and the cabriolet shares that Tardis-like
characteristic of so many pre-war cars – an interior
spaciousness, especially in the back, seemingly quite
at odds with its external dimensions.
So everything augured well for a gentle drive
through some very pleasant Herefordshire
countryside, and so it proved to be. Up front, thingsrecent Fiat, an immaculate (thanks to 23 years spent
in the south of France) 2300 Coupe, as well as two
quirky but cute American machines. The 1937
Hillegass and 1928 Dreyer are tiny, no-nonsense Ford-
based single seaters built for ‘sprint’ racing on dirt
ovals which Doug, clearly something of a racing junkie,
uses for hillclimbs and VSCC events.
So how did he come to own a rare, and
comparatively staid, vintage Lancia? “I don’t know
really. I’ve never been a Lancia person, but I saw this
one advertised and just fell in love with it – the shape
was right. We’ve done three [VSCC] Measham Rallies in
it, and she’s a class-winner at the Welsh Rally – she’s
very useable, even in the winter. The hood’s all spring-
loaded, just pops up straight away; wind-up windows.
She’s as good as a vintage saloon, yet she’s a full four-
seater summer tourer.”
Obviously a very capable and hands-on engineer,
Doug likes to work on his cars and the Lancia is no
exception. “It was a bit sad when I bought it,” he told
me. “It was all this burgundy colour, which just looked
Augusta is the ‘sensible’
car in Doug’s fleet, which
also includes Ford-based
single-seaters