AutoItalia – July 2019

LANCIA AUGUSTA CABRIOLET

(always worth checking in a pre-war car, that) and are

entirely quirk-free. The brakes do initially feel a bit dead

but work well when you need them to. And it’s probably

no coincidence that both Augustas I’ve tested for this

august organ (the other being a saloon, in Issue 240)

have had their original-equipment Zenith carburettors

replaced – the saloon’s by an SU, whilst Doug’s car now

sports a period Weber 30DO which, he avers, “improves

the performance quite considerably”.

And as long as your expectations are realistic, you’ll

not be disappointed on that score. We may well have

held up an in-a-hurry TIR super-tanker for a while on our

drive, and traffic-light Grands Prix are best avoided, but

with that familiar V4 ‘thrum’ your constant companion,

are pretty much where and what you’d expect them to

be. The driving position is good, although with the

adjustable seat set for optimum ‘reach’ to wheel and

pedals the starter button was a bit of a stretch – but

then it is on the floor, close to the bulkhead. All the

important gauges are present and (presumably)

correct, with ammeter and water temperature gauges

in an after-market panel below the dash.

How many times have you read about a ‘gangly gear

lever’? Well, here’s another – but it works much better

than you’d expect. Despite longish throws around the

conventional four-speed ‘H’, I only missed a few. A

double de-clutch is necessary on down-changes, less

so going up. The pedals are the ‘right’ way round

Pinin Farina shape is
upright and upstanding.
Whole car feels wonderfully
well engineered

“

Traffic-light Grands Prix are best avoided but

that familiar V4 is a doughty worker

”