40 auto italia
And then there was the 1996 LeJog rally – a disaster
after a crash in the dark near Inverness. Anthony’s
navigator, the well-known motoring journalist, Phil
Llewellin, later headlined his story in the Daily
Telegraph: “LeJog Ends in Le Crash!” What happened?
Anthony reckons an oncoming Peugeot was blinded by
headlights and a head-on collision resulted; fortunately,
no one was too badly hurt. “For the car this meant a
rebuild which was done by marque specialists, Omicron,
and I took the opportunity to change the colour to
Aquaverde, which was one of the factory colours
available in 1955. Originally it was red.”
So, what are the Aurelias like to drive? Once
inside, the slim, large-circumference steering wheel
dominates. Start the 2451cc V6 engine (by key in
the Spider, a little chromed button in the Coupe)
and a pleasant growl stirs the tachometer. Peak
power is 118hp at 5000rpm, giving a top speed of
around 115 mph.
The gearchange in the Spider feels extremely
strong; the lever is quite long, but the movement is
short, whether up and down, or across the ‘H’. In
the Coupe, it feels notchier, but both are a pleasure
to use, and double de-clutching with a blip on
the throttle is very satisfying, both in a tactile
way and aurally.
With Lancia’s familiar sliding pillar front suspension
and de Dion rear axle on semi-elliptic leaf springs, the
cars have more neutral, predictable handling than
earlier Aurelias. In bends, there’s perhaps a degree or
two of lean as you keep your foot on the accelerator.
As centrifugal forces increase, you grip the wheel more
firmly and then release gently as you ease onto the
next straight... delicious!
Anthony has a story that sums up the Aurelia’s
prowess. “I and a friend, Roger Bowen, in his black B20,
were running together in one of the early Pirelli
Marathons. We were lying somewhere in the second
half of the field and loving every minute of it – driving
as hard as we wanted in the company of like-minded
people and not really caring where we ended up on
the leader board, as long as it wasn’t plumb last. We
were in the company of John Handley and Tony Moy’s
Volvo PV544, which had a trick engine. Aurelias aren’t
the fastest accelerators but, with the gearbox in the
back balancing the engine, the front brakes become
almost redundant. Huge speed, for those days, can be
carried through corners, which is why the likes of
Fangio, Ascari and Behra used them as road cars.
Roger and I arrived at the control just in time, and
paused to have a chat. Two or three minutes later the
Volvo appeared and a very red-faced John exclaimed:
‘Now I know why people rave about Aurelias. I couldn’t
keep up. Time after time you went into corners at
what looked like crazy speeds. You weren’t throwing
them into slides, they just looked balanced. And it’s
not as though you even know how to drive!’ A
wonderful driver and a dear friend.”
What does each owner think of the other’s car?
Anthony: “Will’s B20 made my B24 feel elderly and
sluggish, which was no surprise. My drive confirms
that the Spider is overdue a service. I need a very
heavy foot to get full power, the edge is off the tune
and the gear change feels clunkier. Handling is pretty
much the same, though. Aurelias carry so much speed
that when they do cut loose you have to be quick to
catch them, and the Spider on its shorter wheelbase
is a touch more nervous than the B20. Will’s gear
change is faster than mine, more switch-like. His car
feels lighter, more agile.”
As for Will in the Spider: “It’s completely different to
my B20 Coupe. The wheelbase is 200mm shorter and
it’s 100kg lighter. The feel is much sportier – it may be
the wind in the hair, but the handling feels sharper and
more positive. It is unkind to the Spider to compare it
with the Coupe, though, as my car has had a complete
ground-up restoration by Adam Atfield and a shed-load
of new parts.” IIIConsidering how close
they are to each other
technically, the Aurelias
feel very different to drive