auto italia 39LANCIA AURELIA TWIN TEST
tank from the fuel filter.”
Whereas the Coupe has probably suffered no huge
dramas in its life, not so the Spider. The scene is
Waterloo Bridge, 1971. A friend is driving Anthony’s
Spider when ‘bang!’ – the engine blows out both
sides of the crankcase (“He’s still a friend, no blame
attaches,” says Anthony). The car stays in thegarage until 1980, when the piggy bank is fat
enough for a restoration.
As a show car, XYR 317 has been to two Louis
Vuitton concours, Cartier Style et Luxe at Goodwood,
and has class wins at Salon Privé at Hurlingham and at
Brooklands Double 12, both in 2008. It’s also covered
many thousands of miles in a total of 21 events,
including Coronation Rallies, Circuit of Ireland Retros,
Pirelli Marathons, RAC Classics, Targa Rusticana, Coppa
Milano-SAN Remo and a snowy Monte Carlo Challenge
in 1991. Next up for Anthony and his wife-cum-
navigator, Lorna, is another challenge in Italy, La
Leggenda di Bassano.With admirable attention to detail, Will also travelled
to Italy to photograph a similar car which had not been
restored so that the creators of the new panels had
some reference. In the end, there was hardly any part
that did not need some restoration. Will did what a bad
back allowed him (having previously restored an Appia
by himself) and a variety of specialists had some hand
in the project. Omicron did the front axle that needs
specialist tools, for example. The body was painted
back into its original colour, Grigio Celeste (pale blue).
The end result earned Will the Best in Show award at
last year’s Lancia Motor Club Concours. It’s a
remarkable story for a car that, according to the
logbooks, has covered more than 350,000 miles.
Will has added some sensible safety and reliability
items. ‘“I have improved the car to cope with the UK’s
roads, including LED bulbs, hazard warning lights and
seatbelts. To ensure the car copes with today’s petrol
we’ve installed ethanol-friendly fuel pipes, and to avoid
fuel vaporisation, there’s a return pipe to the petrol
“
Rivals may run away from you on the straights,
but on the twisty bits you will beat them
”